Job Interview Questions - Helping you land that dream job

Your skills should be transferable

chris — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 17:28:36 -0400

In the Career Service's four-step plan to rethink your career after redundancy, the first step is simple: "Know yourself."

"Know what you have to offer - your skills and attributes," says northern regional manager Dale Bailey.

"Often people's identities are tied up in their current occupation. They may not realise that the skills they used in their old job could be transferred to a new setting."

Transferring resources from one setting to another is what a recession is all about. It is capitalism's painful way of shifting capital out of low-profit businesses, which are the first tofall over in a downturn, into more profitable fields. And many workers have no choice but to shift too.

Recognising this, job interviewing techniques have also become much more general, probing people's broad attitudes and behaviours rather than their narrow technical skills.

Tips on how to SOAR during a job interview

chris — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 17:27:21 -0400

`How would you describe yourself?"

"Why would you be an asset to our company?"

If you're preparing for a job interview, regardless of the job, don't expect to be asked broad, open-ended questions like these. Employers today aren't interested in hearing job candidates talk about themselves in general terms. With no time or money to waste on hiring incompetence, employers instead are asking questions that require candidates to provide evidence of their ability to handle specific on-the-job situations and challenges.

Thus, "competency-based interviews are quickly gaining popularity among hiring professionals as the most effective questioning strategy to identify and hire the right people," notes career consultant and columnist Linda Matias.

The secret to acing such interviews, says Matias, who is also author of "201 Knockout Answers to Tough Interview Questions: The Ultimate Guide to Handling the New Competency-Based Interview Style," is to recognize and speak well of your accomplishments. To come up with diverse examples to draw upon, she encourages candidates to dig into their past and to "think small."

"Interviewers do not expect you to provide extraordinary examples every time," she says.

But they do expect well thought-out answers. "Think SOAR," says Matias. "First, set up the Situation or Obstacle you encountered; next, explain the Action you implemented; and finally, close with the Result."

Call Center Comic

chris — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 17:24:26 -0400

Standing out from the crowd

chris — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 17:22:24 -0400

What do you do to stand out from the crowd at an interview? Are you extra polite? Do you agree with everything the interviewer says? Do you show up a little earlier? Think about it. Would you hire you? In today’s market having a great resume isn’t enough. You have to stand out from others. Yes, be polite and do show up early but don’t agree with everything the interviewer says. You need to show them during the interview that you have ideas. Pay attention to what they say. Listen and then give your input. Don’t belittle what the interviewer says though. Do your research before the interview. Did the company have a bad 3^rd quarter? During the interview bring this up tell them what you would do to improve. If they had a great 3^rd quarter, tell them during the interview what you would do to make sure this is maintained. Show them you really want the job, not that you are just going through the emotions.

Career Planning

chris — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 17:02:26 -0400

Instead of resume writing, the first step in your job search is career planning. For example, you may need to know if you want to find a job in academic, industry, or even start your own company. You also need to have a long term vision in your mind to guide yourself. Government statistics show that average American has more than 10 jobs in his lifetime; and ten years from now, half the working population will be in jobs that have not yet been invented. Without a clear vision in your mind, you may easily get lost in job market. After all, even if you get your perfect job, how long can you keep it?

Your career planning can all boil down to your self-analysis. You can ask yourself some questions like "What kind of person am I", " What kind of person do I like best to work with", "What kind of knowledge and skills do I have" and "What's the most important things for me in a job?" etc. Be honest to yourself and take some time to reflect on it. You may not really know what's your perfect job until you first do some self-exploration like this.

Employee Job Descriptions

chris — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 16:58:54 -0400

First, let's look at some terms. A job is a collection of tasks and responsibilities that an employee is responsible to conduct. Jobs have titles. A task is a typically defined as a unit of work, that is, a set of activities needed to produce some result, e.g., vacuuming a carpet, writing a memo, sorting the mail, etc. Complex positions in the organization may include a large number of tasks, which are sometimes referred to as functions. Job descriptions are lists of the general tasks, or functions, and responsibilities of a position. Typically, they also include to whom the position reports, specifications such as the qualifications needed by the person in the job, salary range for the position, etc. Job descriptions are usually developed by conducting a job analysis, which includes examining the tasks and sequences of tasks necessary to perform the job. The analysis looks at the areas of knowledge and skills needed by the job. Note that a role is the set of responsibilities or expected results associated with a job. A job usually includes several roles.

Typically, job descriptions are used especially for advertising to fill an open position, determining compensation and as a basis for performance reviews. Not everyone believes that job descriptions are highly useful. Read Dr. John Sullivan's article listed at the end of the following links. He points out numerous concerns about job descriptions that many other people have as well, including, e.g., that too often job descriptions are not worded in a manner such that the employee's performance can be measured, they end up serving as the basis for evaulation rather than performance, etc. Read the following links to buid your own impression.

Writing the Successful College Application Essay: Tips for Success

chris — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 16:57:04 -0400

Here's where you can learn about the three-step process for successfully writing your college admissions essay.

Gaining entrance to just about any college continues to get harder as more and more applicants are applying for a limited number of spaces. How can you improve your chances to being admitted to the college or university of your choice? By writing a stellar personal essay as part of your college application.

It may be only 500 words, but the admissions essay(s) portion of a college application can mean the difference between acceptance and rejection. How you write your personal essay shows the admissions committee why you are different from everybody else. It provides information about you that test scores, grades, and extracurricular pursuits just cannot.

You can use the essay to describe a favorite activity, to tell a story about yourself, or even a story about your dog, but make sure to really use it -- in a way that captures the readers attention and shows that you are exceptional.

College Internship Resume and Cover Letter Samples

chris — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 16:54:44 -0400

A collection of resume and cover letter samples for college students seeking internships, including:

Analyst Internship
Broadcasting Internship
International Internship
Law Internship
Marketing Internship
Project Internship
Research Internship

Real New College Grad Resume and Cover Letter Samples

chris — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 16:53:56 -0400

Sample resumes for college students and recent college grads, including:

Financial Services Jobs Resume and Cover Letter Samples
IT jobs Resume and Cover Letter Samples
Marketing Jobs Resume and Cover Letter Samples
Sales (Including Pharamceutical Sales) Jobs Resume Samples
Artist Job Resume and Cover Letter Sample
Biotech Job Resume Sample
Healthcare Job Resume and Cover Letter Sample
Management Job resume sample
Public Relations Job resume sample
Travel Job Resume and Cover Letter Sample
Internship Resume and Cover Letter Sample

Professional Resume Samples

chris — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 16:53:02 -0400

More than 90 high-quality job-search resumes, including:

Resume Samples For Established Job-Seekers
Resume Samples For MBA-Level Professionals
Resume Samples For Management and Human Resources Professionals
Resume Samples For Operations Management Professionals
Resume Samples For Professionals in Engineering, Science, and Information Technology (IT)
Resume Samples For Creative Design Professionals
Resume Samples For Finance and Investments Professionals
Resume Samples For Sales, Marketing, Business Development, and Public Relations Professionals
Resume Samples For Training, Organizational Development, and Consulting Professionals
Resume Samples For Professionals in Association Management, Nonprofits, and Social Services
Resume Samples For Law and Government Professionals
Resume Samples For Executive and Senior-Level Professionals
Text Resume & Resume Addenda Samples