CMU School of Drama


Saturday, February 02, 2013

Things You Wish You’d Known Before a Job Interview

Lifehack: A job interview is one of the most important events that can change the direction of your life. Even if you have spent many hours preparing for interviews, it can’t guarantee that you can get through it successfully. Classes and Careers have created an infographic that provides you with some things you wish you’d known before your job interview that may just increase your chances.. or at least prevent you from making a mistake.

6 comments:

Camille Rohrlich said...

It is always good to be reminded that people judge you most on your appearance and comportment. This relates back to a meta-skills lecture we had in Basic PTM recently: the people interviewing you want you to be someone they will enjoy working with. This is why being personable and finding ways to relate is so important. I mean, it makes sense, people in general are constantly being influenced by what they see when it comes to judging a person - we all do it! And many interviewers probably do it subconsciously, on top of the ones who are aware of this phenomenon.

K G said...

I think I did know all of this. Maybe that's because our faculty does a stellar job of drilling most of it into our heads (really, it's helpful. You think it's all common sense, and then you meet other people from other places and realize that maybe it isn't as much as you thought it was.) Or maybe it just coincides with my idea of what a personable person is like, but it never hurts to be reminded. I think the interview is the biggest deal in any hiring process. You can be great at what you do, but if you're not pleasant, fun to work with in the office/theatre, and potentially even fun to get lunch with or a drink with after work, that will definitely hurt your chances. People want good, yes, but even more so, people want people who are on the same page as they are.

E Young Choi said...

Although these tips are very common sense, but still very helpful. Also, this points out very important aspects during interview that every appliers should refer back before interview. One thing that really surprised me was that 33% of bosses responded that "they know within the first 90 seconds of an interview whether they will hire someone." Then, in the categories of 5 questions most likely to be asked, I definitely agree that the most common question they ask is "tell me about yourself." I think this is very important to know about yourself and why you are here and what you can do for this company. Even when I had many interview during senior year in my high school, the first thing they asked me was that question. They want to know about you. I think in interview, your appropriate appearance is important as well as confidence about yourself.

AAKennard said...

Have to say the article did not tell me anything new that I have not already heard before. What it did do was to give me a nice reminder about things I should do. In the near future I will be having a few interviews for summer positions and reminders like this are very useful. The only thing that will be interesting coming up soon, is the chance that some of my interviews will either be phone or possibly Skype interviews. Either of those things I have not done yet and will be an interesting experience.

Unknown said...

I think these comments were blatantly obvious. I know for a fact that being over-fidgety is a big one but I was surprised that the employers didn't want to be over fashionable or trendy. I think this a little relative dependent on the industry. I think something "trendy" like gauges would never be acceptable in a professional work environment.

David Feldsberg said...

I agree entirely with this article, specifically the notion it makes towards motivation and determination being the most important factors. Making consistent (not creepy) eye contact shows that you want to be there, that you care about your interviewer, and that you are interested in what they have to offer. Failing to ask for the job is the biggest mistake you could do. It shows that you are not confident in yourself enough to even think you deserve this job. Great info-graphic!