The Job Interview Process
Is Crucial to Success

Have you started your interview preparation yet? Now's the time.

It's been a long road for some of you.

• Your career search activities to date may have included a career development plan and a successful job search strategy.

• You may have searched many job vacancy notices, used your networking and making contacts skill.

• You may have dealt with recruiters and headhunters.

• You polished up your resume and cover letter and now you've been called in for a job interview.

Unfortunately, all the career planning activities you have accomplished to get here could go up in smoke if your job interview technique is off-key.

Don't worry, spend a few minutes reviewing the interview tips, to see where you might need a little refresher training.

Overall, the most effective interview preparation skills are centered around basic common courtesies and practical sense.

How should I dress during an interview? What should I say?

It's mostly about marketing yourself and presenting yourself in such a manner that is attractive to the hiring manager.

Remember...this is your interview as much as theirs. You are there so they can see if you would be a good fit with the organization. But you should also make sure that the business is a good fit for you.

This is your chance to "evaluate the management" Will you like working for this employer? Will you enjoy coming to work every day? This is your chance to find out.

It may help to think of the job interview as a step by step hiring process. It is usually run by a company's human resource (HR) department. Most of the time...but not always.

And surely it would help to review some example interview questions. Ah...the dreaded "If you were a tree, which one would you be?" question.

My advice, don't sweat the things that are out of your control. The good news is that "most" interviews are NOT into playing games like "stump the dummy".

Interviews cost the company valuable time and money. They would not have brought you in unless you were a strong job applicant.

Interview Advice and Tips

• Read through each section of job hunting advice website dealing with the interview process.
• There are a lot of good tips available here.

• Be professional.

• Be courteous.

• Try to put yourself in their shoes. Would you hire you?

• It might be helpful to know that employers and HR people get nervous too.
• You aren't the only one in the interview room with butterflies.

Now you're really moving along the job hunting process.

• Your career development plan paid off

• Your job search strategy and networking yielded a ton of potential job openings

• And the headhunter and recruitment agencies put you in touch with a few organizations as well.

• You revised your job resume and cover letter and you did a great job on your job interview.

All of this has ended up with the organization contacting you with a request to complete an employee job application letter so they can send you the job offer. Hang in there. It's not over yet.

Please subscribe to my monthly newsletter, Career Advice E-Zine, if you have not done so already. It tells you each month about the new information that I have added. Just fill in the form below and click on the Subscribe button.