9 Tips for a Successful Interview

Looking for a new job can be a frustrating experience. Being prepared and ready for an interview help relieve some of the stress in job hunting. Here are 12 tips that can help to ease your interview process:

Tip 1: Obtain detailed information on the company

It is important that you have the full details of the company you are going for interview. Details such as address, telephone number, name of the interviewer or contact person to see. You need to know the exact location of the company or the location where the interview is going to be conducted by the company. If you are not certain about the location, contact the company to find out where exactly the company is located, what are the land marks that can help you to locate it.

Tip 2: Be Punctual

Don't be late because you will give a poor first impression to the interviewers. Always arrive at least 5 to 10 minutes before the interview time. Get to the interview location before the time will help you mentally prepare yourself for the interview.

Tip 3: Dress Code

Your appearance and grooming are important to give a good first impression for the interviewers. Always wear clean and well-ironed light clothes suitable for day wear. Gentlemen should wear a suit and tie. Ladies make up should be light; hair should be neat and tidy. You need to spend some time to coordinate your dress with appropriate accessories so that you feel confident you look your best.

Tip 4: Switch off Pagers and Mobile Phones

Don't let your interview process being interrupted by the incoming rings of mobile phone or beeping sound from your pager. Always turn them off before you go in for the interview.

Tip 5: Presentation of updated CV and Certificates

Always carry with you your updated CV, original certificates and reference letters. Present these documents to your interviewer when he asks to see them. Use a neat folder for easy reference.

Tip 6: Be positive at the interview

Be prepared on the questions that you might be asked during the interview. It is important to work out the information your prospective new employers are looking for. Always be positive even when asked a question that is unexpected. You must listen positively when the interviewer explain to you the duties of the job. Don't afraid to ask questions if you are not clear or would like to know more about the job.

Tip 7: Smile & Maintain Eye Contact

Your body language can tell the interviewer more about you than you realize. It is important to relax and not be tense, to smile and answer the questions confidently. Always look at the eye of the interviewers when you answer their questions and keep your answer clear. Correct body language and a good eye contact with the interviewers will give you a good successful edge.

Tip 8: Ask Questions

Just answering the questions of the interviewers is not enough. Asking sensible questions and showing an interest in the organization indicate to the interviewers your seriousness to the job position.

Tip 9: Thank the Interviewer at the End of Interview

Once the interview session is finished, remember to thank the interviewers for their time. If it is your first interview, the interviewers will indicate to you the possibility of a second interview, check with them when the second interview is likely to be and make a note of the likely date so that you do not forget.

Summary

Getting yourself prepared, look confident and react positive during the interview session are important factors that determine a successful of your interview.

- Julie Harvard

Career Coaching: Seven Mistakes to Avoid When Making a Big Career Change

Are you considering a big change in your career? Do you feel let down, bored, burned out? Maybe you think there is something bigger and more meaningful that you are meant to do. Perhaps your company downsized you into this predicament. Regardless of the reason, there are some common mistakes to avoid while you evaluate and select new career options. Avoid these pitfalls and you can stay motivated, keep your balance and move forward successfully.

Mistake #1 – Making Decisions in Haste

Tempted to just quit and wing it? Everyone is now and then, but unless you just can’t stand your current situation another day, resist! Instead, write down everything you hate about your current situation, then one by one, look at the most intolerable issues and see how you can turn each around to make it more tolerable for the present moment.

It is easy to get so excited about the future that you decide to forge ahead without a plan and hope everything naturally falls your way after that. It will require more energy to sustain your new career and make it work well for you than it will to identify and start it. It is better to come from a place of higher energy and stability than to start out already burned out or worried about how you will pay the bills. Consider seeking the help of a qualified career coach, life coach or career counselor to help you identify your next career path. An objective, trained third party can help you strategize and phase it in for the best results and the least amount of heartache.

Mistake #2 – Ignoring the Finances

“I can’t stand this any longer! I would rather eat dog food than put up with this another day!” Whether you are pursuing a new career voluntarily or involuntarily, you must pay the bills. Do pursue your dream. Do look for the career that brings out the best in you. If you have plenty of savings, good for you! Resist the temptation to go through it and be left without. If you have a dream, by all means hang on to it! But if it won’t realistically get off the ground for three years, find another way to earn a living in the meantime. The need for income is a reality you cannot ignore.

Mistake #3 – Filling Your Head with Negative Stuff

What do you read? What do you view on television or the Internet? With whom do you spend free time? When you’re looking at making big life and career changes, you need lots of positive energy around you. If you spend time with negative people or fill your mind with anything that isn’t useful, guess what? It fills you with negative energy. Instead, surround yourself with people and things that give you positive energy and encouragement. Read books that motivate and encourage you. Go places that inspire you. Do everything you can to be what you want to be like after you land the next great career opportunity , and you will be more likely to attract it into your life!

Mistake #4 – Getting Bogged Down by Decisions

If you’re an intelligent person who has enjoyed any measure of success, chances are there are a lot of different choices you could make in your next big life or career change . Clients often tell me they are overwhelmed by all of the thoughts and ideas that keep running through their minds. And as the overwhelm sets in, it is very easy to just shut down. As we work together, I remind clients when making tough decisions to ask themselves, “Is this going to move me forward?” If the answer is yes, proceed. If the answer is no, either revise the decision or drop it entirely.

Mistake #5 - Not Having a Plan

There are two reasons this is important. First, life is unpredictable and it is dangerous to relinquish security before the next career arrangement is lined up. Second, changing careers is a lot like dating. You are always more desirable when you are unavailable. You are more attractive to a prospective employer if you are already working. And if you have already lost your job either voluntarily or involuntarily, it is even more important to have a plan so that you are then more likely to achieve it. If you see success, you will be successful. (Conversely, if you don't have a plan, how will you know when you've succeeded?)

Mistake #6 - Ending your Preparation Too Soon

All I can say here is, prepare, prepare, prepare. If you’re looking at several possibilities, don’t immediately drop one when another looks good. Think about all of the big tests you have taken in life (college entrance exams, finals, certification exams) and how you prepared for those. Did you study way in advance and take a big, long break before taking the test? Or were you still reading the material as you walked in the door on test day, wondering if you could still be better prepared? When you’re embarking on a new career or life change, give it all of your available energy, skills and attention. If you have a goal in mind, resist relaxing when you think you almost have it. Prepare and stay sharp right up until the day you start. This will help keep you from losing confidence at the last minute.

Mistake #7 – Getting Discouraged Too Easily

Does this happen to you when you face hurdles in the midst of your goal? Instead of giving in to the pain, pay attention to what specifically is making you uncomfortable and make adjustments to get you through. For example, if you're in career transition and you find that it is painful to go through the tedium of making phone calls, sending resumes, going on interviews where the competition is tough, etc., find the formula that gives you a break without stopping the process. Try devoting an hour or two each morning to these tasks and letting it go for the rest of the day, or only making a certain number of phone calls or interview appointments per week so that when you're finished, you can feel good about giving yourself some time off. Don't stop. Adjust.

Remember, a career change is a life change. You didn’t arrive at your current level of education and experience overnight, and don’t be disappointed if you don’t immediately uncover “the thing” you want to do next. Allow yourself time and space to explore and make an educated decision. Get the help you need along the way (i.e., career coach, career counselor) to help you do it strategically, not emotionally. If you avoid these mistakes you are much more likely to end up in a new career that complements and fulfills your life.

Gwen Jewett, Life & Career Coach - About the Author:

Gwen Jewett is a Life and Career Coach and Selfgrowth.com Guide to Career Coaching, living in the Dallas area. After 14 years as Executive Director of a 12,000-member national healthcare association, she voluntarily left to pursue a more balanced life. Since 2001 she has helped many clients make their career and personal life stop working against each other and instead work in complement. www.coachgwen.com

What Human Resource and Hiring Managers Want

One simple fact: employers spend anywhere from ten seconds to two minutes reviewing a single resume. That is a small window for an applicant to make an impression on a piece of paper. So how does a job seeker stand out in a sea of other potential employees? Easy. Know what your hopeful employer will likely be looking at in your resume.

Eighty percent of employers claim that “related experience” is the first place they look. This is the category of a resume which often overshadows scholastic merit. There is a simple explanation for this reasoning. Most jobs are not new jobs but are jobs that have recently become vacant. Employers who are filling these jobs are looking for a candidate who has plenty of experience with the tasks the occupation demands. Hiring an inexperienced job seeker means that an immense amount of training is necessary in order to bring the new hire up to par. This consumes a lot of time and money. With that in mind, selecting a candidate who has related experience is by far the best way for an employer to save the company time and money.

What makes an employer spend ten seconds looking at a resume as opposed to two minutes?
There are a few factors to consider. Let’s outline the obvious first.

Proper spelling and grammar are fundamental. Submitting a resume with improper spelling and sloppy grammar to an employer is the same as wearing t-shirt and jeans to an interview; it creates a bad impression. It demonstrates many ideas to employers, such as: incompetence, laziness, oversight, or a deficit in professionalism. A good resume is only two pages, try to focus and spell everything properly for that short pagination.

Aesthetics is another aspect to consider. Resumes which utilize interesting fonts truly capture a reader’s attention. Obviously getting carried away with it is the wrong maneuver, but the point is apparent. Effective resumes look good. They are neat, orderly and are not a strain on the eyes. Getting enticing qualifications on the page is an essential ingredient, but aesthetics gets your resume the attention it deserves. And since your prospective employer will likely be handling thousands of resumes to fill only a few positions, it is only polite to keep the aesthetics gentle on a reader’s eyes.

Brevity is the primary focus for employers. General consensus reveals that employers prefer resumes to be two pages in length. If your resume is four pages in length then you probably need to cut some information which is likely superfluous anyway. We already know that employers are immediately looking for “related experience,” so why bother truncating your resume with schools, interests, and accomplishments. These elements are important, but they don’t need to be developed to such an extent that the length of your resume becomes an eye sore for employers. An employer won’t lose sleep over the hundreds of resumes which were discarded on semantics such as spelling errors or long windedness.

In respect to “related experience,” any location you have lent several years to warrants mentioning, but if you have spent two years or less with a company you might want to omit their names from your resume. It is true that with the insertion of the “millenials” (a new generation of work force who seem to be tilting the scales in the job market’s demand) into the job market that employers are becoming more lax with their interpretation of how much time spent with a company qualifies as loyalty. Statistics still show that anything more than two years demonstrates a job seekers loyalty. Anything less creates the opposite conclusion.