Interviewing Seminar

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Interviewing Seminar

• Rosemarie Sena Center
• Career Development Services

2
Interview Format

• Plan Your Agenda
• How will you market your skills, education,
  work/internship experiences?
• Get Acquainted
• Introductions and small talk
• Organizational Information
• Brief introduction of the company
• Questions
• Review of your qualifications history
• Discussion of your skills and interests
• Closure

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Interview Styles
Style may depend on stage of Interview
Screening/Initial, Second, Site-Visit, etc.

• Directed
• Non-Directed
• Stress

• Behavioral
• Situational

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Directed Interviews

• Interviewer is organized and prepared
• May use a list of questions
• Interviewer manages the meeting
• Basic Format
• Get Acquainted
• Questions from interviewer
• Organization Information from interviewer
• Closure

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Non-Directed Interviews

• Meeting seems disorganized
• Interviewer appears uncomfortable
• Interviewer may seem unprepared
• Discussion ranges away from job to other topics
• Interviewer does not know how to interview
• Deliberate, to see how applicant responds

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Stress Interviews

• Test to see how applicant handles adversarial
  environment
• Employer feels that job is stressful
• Interviewer may ignore, interrupt, or argue with
  applicant
• Most common in business, not popular in Education

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Situational Interviews

• Use a hypothetical case and ask how you would
  respond or act
• May progress to multiple levels of response
• Often used in Education

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Behavioral Interviews

• The most accurate predictor of future
  performance is past performance in a similar
  situation.
• Questions focus on specific situations
• Look for detailed responses
• Interviewer may probe details of response

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Behavioral Interview Questions

• Give me an example of a time when you used your
  problem solving skills to accomplish a difficult
  goal.
• Tell me about an experience when you had to use
  leadership skills to complete a job.
• Describe a stressful situation you faced during a
  job or internship and how you handled the
  situation.

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Preparing for Interview Questions

• Review sample questions
• Complete a self-assessment
• Educational background
• Work experience (internships, part-time jobs)
• Campus activities
• Career interests
• Personal characteristics skills
• Job criteria

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Preparing for Interview Questions (cont.)

• Make a list
• 10 important experiences
• 10 important skills
• Know your resume
• Know the employer/graduate school
• Organizational literature
• Internet Research
• Practice

• Employer Research
• History, outlook, trends, issues of the field
• Products, services, philosophy, earnings, growth
  record, work sites of organization
• Job titles, descriptions, necessary skills,
  required training, career ladder

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Preparing for the Interview Questions (cont.)

• School/Program Research
• History, outlook, trends, issues of the field
• Philosophy, structure, teaching methods, program
  requirements of the department
• Admission requirements, academic preparation
  required, desired experience skills

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Tough Interview Questions

• Tell me about yourself.
• Where do you think you will fit in best?
• What are your weaknesses?
• What are your strengths?
• Describe yourself in three words.
• What are your goals for the next three years?

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Handling Illegal Questions

• Answer openly although the information is not
  job-related.
• Refuse to answer.
• Consider why the question is being asked and
  respond with an answer as it might apply to the
  job.

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Basic Interviewing Tips

• Know about the job for which you are applying
• Dress appropriately
• Arrive on time (10 minutes early)

• Maintain good eye contact
• Be yourself and be sincere
• Answer questions with complete, informative
  sentences

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Interviewing Tips II

• Be enthusiastic and confident
• Think before you talk
• Quantify! Quantify! Quantify!
• Highlight your strengths, not your weaknesses

• Ask questions (prepare some in advance)
• Dont bring up salary
• If asked, give a salary RANGE
• Write a Thank you letter

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Interviewing No Nos

• Knowing little or nothing about the organization
• Negative attitude
• Poor communication skills
• Rambling, disconnected answers
• Inappropriate behavior

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Interviewing No Nos

• Failure to make eye contact
• Failure to ask questions
• Improper dress
• No career direction/passivity
• Canceling or Showing up late

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After the Interview

• Send the thank you letter promptly
• Follow up! Follow up! Follow up!
• Display initiative
• Express continued interest in the job opportunity
• Get feedback on your interviewing performance