Great Job Interview | Kangaruni For International Students who study in Australia

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Fri, 14/05/2010 - 10:15

Great Job Interview

The semester runs at an end and many international students will soon be looking for a job to cover the winter term and earn some money before the start of the next semester. Kangaruni has put together a list of top ten `job interview tips` that may help you win that highly competitive position.

Be well prepared but act spontaneous. Try to be yourself, professional yet real. Engage in true conversation with your interviewer. Conduct several trial runs with other students simulating the interview. Think about anticipating the questions you'll be asked on a final exam.
Set goals for the interview. It is your job to leave the meeting feeling secure that the interviewer knows as much as he or she possibly can about your skills, abilities, experience and achievements. If the interviewer doesn't get around to asking you important questions, pose them yourself (diplomatically) and answer them.
Sell yourself, know the question behind the question. Ultimately, every question boils down to, "Why should we hire you?" You must sell yourself but don’t overdo it. Make sure to address some minor weaknesses and turn them into opportunities. If you are bad at detailed work, you may want to stress that you have a preference for `big picture` issues but that knowledge has led you to become better at detailed work.
Follow up with an effective "thank you" letter. Don't write this letter lightly. It is another opportunity to market yourself. Find some areas discussed in the meeting and expand upon them in your letter. It is all about standing out among the other candidates and this follow up letter will help. Try to propose useful ideas that demonstrate your added value to the team.
Consider the interviewer's agenda. Much is on the shoulders of the interviewer. He or she has the responsibility of hiring the right candidate. Your ability to do the job will need to be justified. "Are there additional pluses here?" "Will this person fit the culture of this organization?" These as well as other questions will be heavily on the interviewer's mind. Find ways to demonstrate your qualities above and beyond just doing the job.
Expect to answer the question, "Tell me about yourself." This is a pet question of prepared and even unprepared interviewers. Everything you include should answer the question, "Why should we hire you?" Carefully prepare your answer to include examples of achievements from your work life that closely match the elements of the job before you. Obviously, you'll want to know as much about the job description as you can before you respond to the question.
Watch those nonverbal clues. Experts estimate that words express only 30% to 35% of what people actually communicate; facial expressions and body movements and actions convey the rest. Make and keep eye contact. Walk and sit with a confident air. Lean toward an interviewer to show interest and enthusiasm. Speak with a well-modulated voice that supports appropriate excitement for the opportunity before you.
Be smart about money questions. Don't fall into the trap of telling the interviewer your financial expectations. You may be asking for too little or too much money and in each case ruin your chances of being offered the job. Instead, ask what salary range the job falls in. Attempt to postpone a money discussion until you have a better understanding of the scope of responsibilities of the job.
Don't hang out your dirty laundry. Be careful not to bare your soul and tell tales that are inappropriate or beyond the scope of the interview. State your previous experience in the most positive terms. Even if you disagreed with a former employer, express your enthusiasm for earlier situations as much as you can. Whenever you speak negatively about another person or situation in which you were directly involved, you run the risk (early in the relationship) of appearing like a troubled person who may have difficulty working with others.
Based on the confident you will get by the tips above you can enter into a state of relaxed concentration. This is the state from which great basketball players or Olympic skaters operate. You'll need to quiet the negative self chatter in your head through meditation or visualization prior to sitting down in the meeting. You'll focus on the present moment and will be less apt to experience lapses in concentration, nervousness, self-doubt and self-condemnation.