Your pre-interview preparation portal !
Job Seeker Portal - Prep
INTERVIEW PREP
You get that call, YES you have an INTERVIEW! So now the emotional roller coaster ride really starts to pick up speed! This is really an invitation to meet a company based on your resume credentials (no embellishing done there we hope) and the relationship your search firm has build over time with that hiring company. We urge before the interview you don't plan to fail because failed to plan! Interviewing doesn't have a "rewind or edit" button
Key Points:
- Once you’ve been notified your interview is confirmed – READ your email – the Interview preparation link and password will have been sent to you in advance – remember that the link is only active for a brief period of time. Please make the best use of it. Down load and review: the Job description, your itinerary and Company Intel package. We suggest you not “share the information” with either peers or other search firms as they will only use it to their own best interests (say placing another candidate at the same company, or peers contacting the company to interview for the position themselves! We've seen it happens ).
- After reviewing the information you’ve received from the Pre-Interview portal, your EDP Staffing, LLC Associate will be calling you (at the agreed pre-determined time) to conduct a brief telephone, pre-interview preparation. This is your forum to discuss information about the company, your itinerary, directions, or “how to handle” key questions the Interviewer(s) may pose. We suggest that you have pen and paper handy to take notes pertaining to your questions.
- Business Attire: Many companies have “corporate casual environments”. Regardless of how theydress – and unless we are encouraged to interview “corporate casual” plan on dressing for success. Your best grey or black business suit from the cleaners, hair groomed, (it’s recommended to avoid excessive cologne, perfume or make up). You know the drill. Dress to impress!
- Prepare your interview questions in advance, also prepare your responses for both technical and interpersonal questions you know the client will be asking. “Flying by the seat of your pants” might work on an impromptu weekend get away, or for dinner out however, it has no place in the interviewing realm, Unfortunately professional interviewers can spot this “lack of preparation” a mile away and you’ll find yourself not getting past 1st base in the interview process. Remember it’s up to you to win the JOB and then to work you’re your EDP Staffing Associate to negotiate the offer details.
- Know about the company, its various divisions, key people, products, position in the market place, recent financial information, and importantly – who their direct competitors are. Showing a client you took time to do your due diligence (Hoovers, the company’s website and The WSJ) are great resources to a review while planning for an interview.
- Most importantly get a good nights rest, “test drive” the directions to be certain where the client is located and lastly PLEASE don’t leave late to your interview! Clients will always comment when you blow in red eyed, frazzled looking and late for the interview. Most clients do not perceive this behavior as “a must have” in any potential future employee!
Lastly may we suggest several Competitive Interviewing resources from our recommended reading list?
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Behavioral Interviewing -
What is it?
How does it impact you?
Companies have learned that people are creatres of habit - simply put your past performace is an indicator of how you will perform for them - if you're hired.
Thus during the interview employers ask questions geared to assist them in making predictions about a potential employee's future success based on actual past behaviors, instead of based on responses to hypothetical questions.
How to respond to "behavioral interview questions" Be Spcific - give actual examples from work, or volunteer situations. They are looking for a "SAR"respones: Situation, Action, Result.
The interviewer is seeking to hear how you cope with tight deadlines, cope with difficult team mates and the outcome of your effots.
Check this list of commonly asked questions - make a few of your own!
Examples of Behavioral Interviewing Questions:
Give a specific example of a time when you used good judgment and logic in solving a problem
Tell me about a time when you had to go above and beyond the call of duty in order to get a job done.
What is your typical way of dealing with conflict? Give me an example.
Tell me about a recent situation in which you had to deal with a very upset customer or co-worker.
You can see by the nature of the questions that these require more than "fly from the seat of your pants replies"
You have an idea of what's coming so - create a list of Situations Actions and Responses - be prepared with well thought out replies!! Opportunity reqrds the prepared mind!
In the end - hit the target - Don't describe how you would behave. Describe how you actually behaved. If in retrospect, later decided you should have behaved differently, explain in detail why. The interviewer will see that you learned something from experience
Here's a quick list of some of the "soft skills" the interviewer is measuring:
Self-confidence
Teamwork
Professionalism
Being a self-starter
Critical thinking
Willingness to learn
(still need help check this book out)
Preapring for the Beahvior-based interview
by Terry L. Fitzwater
Okay then - off you go !
Suggested Readings:
Having prepared candidates for over a dozen years to meet both Technical and Managerial interviewing questions we developed a library of recommended readings:
Ace the technical Interview
Simply put – if you’re expecting a technical interview, take advantage of these computer industry specialty questions to navigating today’s competitive technical interview. The market place separates the strong from the weak and mediocre. Many interviewers have shared with us they ask questions (usually the “ringer question”) from this source
201 Most Frequently Asked Interview Questions!
by Matthew Deluca
Don’t leave for the interview without practicing your responses!
- Prepare yourself to answer some of the most commonly asked Interview questions in advance! Considered by many a “must have” this great interview resource is jam packed with thoughtful and useful tips on how to turn possible negative responses into positives. To job seekers this interviewing resource “is maybe the best crash course on how to excel at winning the interview game”.
101 great Answers to the Toughest Interview Questions - Ron Fry
Designed for the mid level managerial and above positions, this resource lays out an organized approach to prepare for job interviews. You’ll find that the preparation lends itself to defining and developing answers more quickly, more insightful in nature and in the end improving the quality of the response. A must read!
Ask the Headhunter: Reinventing the Interview to Win the Job
Nick A. Corcodilos
Simply put: If you can’t answer the 6 questions of the New Interview, or What an Interview is really about, or What an Employer really wants from you? Then you’re not prepared for today’s market place! In short be don’t worry about asking for your parking stub to be validated, you won’t be there long enough for it to be a problem!