Interviewing the Interviewer
You finally got the interview. From the looks of things, the job seems perfect for you. In addition, you have the right qualifications. Things look promising. So you are planning for the interview. What do you need to do to make sure that you nail it? Aside from being on time, dressing appropriately, knowing your background and being able to clearly explain your achievements – you also need to ask questions! Questions are important. You need to understand things about the company and the role that only direct questions to the interviewer will reveal. Here are some questions that you should definitely ask your interviewer. They will give you insight into the company and provide you with meaningful details about how people feel about the environment they work within:
How to Read a Person Like a Book
Body language, or Kinesics, plays a much bigger part in social interaction than most people realize, and what is the job search process if not a series of social interactions. How other people behave – their People’s body language can tell you a lot about what’s going on, if you are paying attention. It would behoove you to examine your own body language as well so you are aware of the signals you are giving to others. The ability to read the body language of others will enable you to negotiate effectively on your own behalf and give you the upper hand when interviewing and ultimately negotiating salary and other things in connection with employment. Through careful evaluation you can determine if someone is withholding information or not telling the truth. Here are some tips to help give you an advantage.
Top 5 Inappropriate Body Language Cues
What your body conveys can tell far more about your feelings than you suspect. How you stand, your eye contact (or lack thereof), and the position of your hands, among other things send a message. Depending on your body’s language establishes a tone that you subconsciously convey.
Most of the time, you have no idea that you are giving off these signals. They are quite automatic. Oftentimes you have no idea that you are conveying what you are thinking in your body language. You can exhibit some control over negative body language with improved self-awareness and practice.
Top Five Difficult Interview Questions
You finally got the interview. Now you need to prepare. You need to be ready to answer the tough questions – the questions that you know will come, but you are not sure what they are! How are you to prepare for something when you don’t know what it is? Interview questions are a tricky thing. You would think that the person sitting across from you wants to find out the level of your qualifications to fill a position. WRONG. This is only part of what they want to know. They also want to know if you would be a good fit for the organization – if perhaps they had to sit on a plane with you for 9+ hours, that they wouldn’t want to sit close, very close to the exit row and pull the handle at a strategic moment. Here are my top five picks for the most difficult interview questions – Microsoft notwithstanding:
Three Reasons Why Your Cover Letter Is Not Worth The Paper It’s Printed On
Contrary to what you might think, a cover letter is important. It is part of your career search materials. Are you telling me that when applying for a position, you are just going to send in your resume? The cover letter is your introduction. You wouldn’t go up to someone and just start talking without introducing yourself, would you? This is the same thing. You need a cover letter when applying for work. Now, I haven’t taken a poll or done any formal research regarding who reads cover letters and who doesn’t read them. When I was in a hiring position, I always read them. And, it worked out well; many times I identified and hired people that I wouldn’t have just considered from the resume. Many people provided information in the cover that they couldn’t include on the resume. So here are some things to consider regarding why your cover letter is not working for you:
Maximizing Your Social Relationships
Social networking is a pervasive part of the job search process. LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, and other similar sites allow people the opportunity to connect in real time. Like never before, we are able to reach people globally, share ideas, and engage in discussions about numerous topics. How do you maximize these ‘relationships’ so they really work for all parties? Here are my tips for leveraging your social network in a positive and productive way:
This blog's author, Debra Wheatman of Careers Done Write, provides executive career services including resume and cover letter preparation, job search / interviewing strategies and professional branding including how to effectively use LinkedIn, Twitter and other social media in your career.
Visit CareersDoneWrite.com to learn more about how we can put your career in gear with interview catching resumes and professionally written career documents.