Interviewing
A job interview is a two-way dialogue in which employers and perspective employees learn more about each other. It is important to realize that a “job interview” encompasses all interactions, not just spoken words. It is not just an interaction for the employer. The employee should use the interview to learn more about the company so they can make a better decision regarding a position.
Types of Interviews
- Over the Phone: Phone interviews are often used to screen candidates in order to narrow the pool of applicants who will be invited for in-person interviews.
- Individual one-on-one: This is the most common type of interview.In this situation you are invited to meet with one person whether a human resources professional, your potential boss, a co-worker, to speak in depth about your qualifications and how you might benefit the company.
- With a Group of Applicant: This is used to see how you interact with the other candidates. Your communication style along with your ability to work with others is very important in this interview.
- With a Board or Panel of Employers: This can be intimidating because several people can be asking you different questions.
- Case Study Interviews-- In this interview you will be given a problem or situation and it is up to you to come up with a solution.The intention behind this style of interview is not for candidates to fail, but determine whether one is good at thinking on their feet.
- Stress Interview-- This interview is specifically designed to see how you perform under pressure.
- Behavioral-based Interviews- In this interview the employer will ask you to recall a situation from your past to determine how you would react in the future.When responding to these questions you will want to use the STAR Method.The STAR method is a structured manner of responding to a behavioral-based interview question by discussing the specific situation, task, action, and result of what you are describing to validate you anwer.
- Screening interviews: These are used to screen potential candidates and choose candidates for more interviews.Your job during this preliminary meeting is to convince the person you are worthy to take the next step.
- In-Depth interviews: These are in-depth, qualitative interviews used in planning and evaluating candidates because they use an open-ended, discovery-oriented method, which allows the interviewer to deeply explore the respondent’s feelings and perspectives on a subject.
- Site interviews, informational interviews, or conversations -- This is an interview set up at your own request with a Human Resources Manager or a Departmental Supervisor in the career field you are interested in.The purpose of these interviews is for you to find out more information from these people in hopes that they might refer you to the someone else in their company or to somebody they may know outside their company who could utilize your skills.
What are the different stages of an interview?
- Greeting : An appropriate greeting and handshake is a great start to any interview.
- Introduction and Ice Breaking-- This stage usually deals with getting to know one another and comes before the largest part of the interview.
- Body/Employer's Questions-- This is the most important part of the interview. How you answer these questions more than anything else will have the greatest impact on your overall performance at the interview. Be thorough and try to get your point across, but do not go on too long and lose their attention.The interviewer will ask you questions about yourself, your education, your past work history, other items on your resume, your interests and goals.
- Body/Applicant's Questions-- It is a good idea to have at least three questions prepared to ask the employer at the end of the interview. Some good topics are advancement opportunities, training, and the future of the company.
- Closing/Wrap-up-- In this stage, you always want to find out what is going to happen next. When are they hiring someone? When will they contact you?
