thegrindstone.com: According to The Wall Street Journal, recruiters spend an average of 9.5 hours screening resumes and applicants for a single job opening. Even then, there’s no guarantee the person is right for the job, especially when certain interview styles raise some red flags.
With tight competition comes the need for quick decision-making, even if those judgements have to be made based on the candidates personality or overall demeanor. When it comes down to it, the real challenge for candidates is to avoid some not-so-attractive interview styles and counter them with their own personal strengths.
9 comments:
As a senior this year is full of prep work for the job hunt. We make resumes, cards, personal statements, the whole nine yards. In doing all of this I have found that my biggest fear is to come off too boring or too 'textbook' to interviewers. But it is a fine line, you don't want to be too different or bold, because then you might be seen as not able to conform or too frivolous. Regarding this article, the only one that I think that I might suffer from is being a bit of a rambler. Which is less because I am nervous and more because, I can talk, and want so badly to give the answers that will make them want me. For myself and my classmates, I think that we need to just compile all these tid bits and just try to do our best and hope someone hires us.
These interview styles can be hard to avoid. You want to talk about yourself and highlight your best qualities and experiences in an interview- how do you do that without seeming like you're bragging? The answer is not simple, though this article makes a great suggestion for how to brag with a purpose by using specific examples. I feel like this is a good idea because it allows you to tell a story and show your personality while highlighting something great that you did without outright saying "I'm so great." This article makes it seem like doing a "rehearsal" of an interview is a great idea- it can allow you to test out and evaluate your outfit and appearance as well as your responses to questions. I think it's important to have someone else be involved in this process, though, because self-reflection can only be so accurate. I agree that all of these interview styles are best to be avoided on the whole, and I appreciate the clarity and simplicity of these tips.
All of these things are pretty much common sense when it comes to interviews. But none the less, it is really important to remind ourselves of these things often enough so that we can work on them now and be able to appropriately prepared when the time comes that we will be looking for jobs. I know CMU does a great job preparing us for situations like interviews and "the elevator speech" and such. As much as it might not be the most fun and exciting subject I am really glad they take such care to prepare us. I also think that having every single grade do portfolio reviews at the end of each semester is a really good idea and way to help increase our comfort level in talking about our work and also in receiving feedback in front of a group. From everything Ive heard both from teachers and students I feel confident that after graduation I will be more than ready for pretty much everything in the professional world.
Ah, this brings me back to sophomore year English class in high school. We did an entire unit on how to interview correctly, practicing shaking hands assertively and talking about the right things for the correct amount of time. These points are much of what we went over for the "don't" section, but it is definitely always nice to be reminded of correct behavior and how to be prepared. I am one of those nervous ones whose voice goes up an octave when speaking to a room full of people who are testing me, and my hand is always shaking when I pass out my resume. But I am also real evidence that practice works. Before my interviews, I always go over the important aspects of what I'm interviewing for, and it helps me feel much more confidant when I walk in the door for the real thing.
As previous commenters have stated, CMU does a good job of preparing us for interviews. In fact, we have a practice "interview" every semester. Our crits are great practice- how to dress appropriately, having a set list of talking points, having to discuss both your strong points and the things you need to improve upon, and how to react and respond to what your "interviewers," our professors, have to say. All of these "don'ts" are good points to keep in mind while prepping for our upcoming crits!
Although these may seem obvious, these are good tips. As "common sense" as they seem, these mistakes must be frequently made or else there wouldn't be so many articles written about them. I am very guilty of making mistakes based on my nerves, and I agree that with practice these issues can be eventually solved. Thankfully CMU has us perform numerous presentations, for projects and our Critiques, and after four years we will all hopefully be great at interviews!
Don't be a douche.
Read the company's freakin' webside.
Practice any "speeches."
And take a shower.
Got it.
Since we have just begun the process of thinking about summer internships and the process of going about applying for them, I find this article to be helpful. Although many of these tips seem pretty obvious, it never hurts to go about reviewing them. When I read this article, I thought about how making a checklist can be helpful when in an interview or making a list of what I would like to say in my interview and by doing so I can ask people if I sound too cocky or whatever it may be.
I think this is an extremely important article. This gives a very thorough summary of interviews. There are books and books of interviewing strategies. I think this gives the major things to avoid and tips to help get the job. I think things in this article can be hard to avoid in some cases I think a good means to practice is to an interview with a friend. Get their feedback on what they think you can improve upon and then use that for your interview. I am very supportive of practicing before an interview so you aren't caught off guard to any questions they might throw at you.
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