The Tips for a job interview Which will tell you later, will help you to overcome them more comfortably, to better understand how the process works and to know what will increase your chances of being elected.
The job interview is the instrument most used by human resources professionals to select the future employees of the company in which they work.
For some job offers you will go through other tests (probably dynamic or psycho-technical tests), although you will almost certainly have to answer several questions.
And, generally, the positions that require more training and are better paid make tests more difficult and difficult to pass. Not because you lack skill or training, but because the competition is hard and some people will be better adjusted to a certain position.
You are lucky, this knowledge will allow you to have a great advantage over other candidates who have not been interested in being informed.
In turn, I am going to explain to you other aspects with which you will understand better why this evaluation tool is used and how it is used by Human Resources professionals. No doubt, you will learn a lot about this process, probably more than 90% of the candidates and can, at least theoretically, more than some interviewers.
I would also like you to give me your opinion in the comments section. Having problems getting selected? What other tips have you served?
The index consists of:
1 -Why is the interview used?
2-Are you choosing a good candidate?
3-Types of interview.
4-Important personality factors.
5-Tips / tips.
Why is the job interview used so much?
- It is easy to use and anyone can do it without preparation. Logically a quality and efficient interview will be done by someone trained and experienced.
- It is suitable for any position, company or situation.
- It is relatively cheaper than other selection instruments.
- The candidate can personally explain his experience, training and merits.
- It is the best way to meet the candidates physically and personally.
- The company can give information to the candidate.
Do they serve to choose a good candidate?
In reality, the interviews do not always serve to choose the best candidate of the hundreds or thousands that there is. Not because it is a tool that is not useful, but because it is often misused.
According to the research, a well-made interview - with certain characteristics and conditions - has reliability and validity, that is, they have the ability to choose a person who subsequently performs a good job and is profitable for the company.
And this is due, above all, to the structuring of the interview.
Forms / structuring of the interview
-No structured: they are interviews that do not have a series of fixed questions that the interviewer will do to you. That is, the HR professional or whoever does it, will ask questions at random, without any strategy or list of professional, personal or your experience to evaluate. They mainly evaluate general mental ability and personality characteristics.
- Structured: they have a series of fixed questions that the interviewer will do, although depending on the course of the conversation, the professional can ask other supplementary questions.
-Structured: according to research, these are the best, those who have demonstrated their ability to choose the candidate that best fits the job that is offered, being one of the best instruments for evaluating candidates. They measure knowledge of the job and the work experience, that is to say if you know how to correctly perform the functions of the job or not.
Particularly within this type are structured behavioral interviews. If the interviewer has been concerned about forming you are likely to make this type and have the following characteristics:
- You will be asked questions about behaviors that you have had in past work situations or that may occur in your future job.
- You have chosen the questions by analyzing the job you will have.
- You will be asked all the questions on the list, just like the other candidates. All candidates will go through the same process.
Examples:
"Tell me a situation from your previous job where you had a problem working as a team and how you reacted.
"Tell me a situation where you had a problem with your boss and what you did.
"Tell me a situation where you had to solve an unexpected problem.
On the other hand, in these types of interviews you can ask questions that may be rare, but are designed to evaluate personality traits or your usual way of acting.
For example:
-For a medical visitor: If the doctor tells you to wait and you have been sitting for half an hour what do you do?
In this case, you would be evaluating your ability to initiate a conversation and therefore start to"sell the product". If you say that you would wait for the hours that are needed, very bad friend... Medical visitors have many clients to visit. In fact, in my first experience in an interview this case was given.
Important personality factors
At this point I will explain what personality traits are those that predict a better job performance, ie a better performance and therefore greater benefits for the company.
A high percentage of each of the personality traits (+ -50%) is due to your genes, although there is a large part that can be worked on. For example, social skills , Responsibility or kindness. This will help you to know what you can improve and what aspects you can correct.
In Psychology, the Model of Five Great Personality Factors .
Each factor is composed of two extremes and people are placed closer to one end or another. Only the minority of people are at the extremes.
It is composed of:
- Emotional Stability / Neuroticism
Neuroticism or emotional instability includes features such as sadness, anxiety, insecurity, irritation, worry or anger.
Emotional stability includes emotional control, good humor, self-confidence, or peace of mind.
- Extroversion / Introversion
Extroversion presents characteristics such as assertiveness, ambition, activity or optimism. Introversion is the opposite.
- Opening to experience / Close experience
The opening includes active imagination, aesthetic sensibility, attention to internal feelings, preference for variety, intellectual curiosity and independence of judgment, while the opposite pole would be characterized by conservatism in personal visions, conventionality in behaviors, meaning Practical and lack of imagination.
- Friendliness / Antagonism
Friendliness includes friendliness, friendliness, cooperation, flexibility, trust, and tolerance. Antagonism includes selfishness, distrust, competition, hostility and rigidity.
- Consciousness / Irresponsibility
Consciousness includes the sense of duty, effectiveness, rigor, responsibility, perseverance, planning, order and organization. The opposite end is that of irresponsibility.
Something important to understand is that most people are on an intermediate scale of each trait. That is, almost all of us are more or less emotionally stable or more or less extroverted. Some people are closer to one end and others closer to the other end.
Now, what are important personality traits to show in an interview?
According to the research, there are a couple of traits that predict success in training, turnover in employment, job satisfaction, counterproductive behaviors or career potential:
- Awareness (responsibility).
- Emotional stability.
If the interviewer is well-educated or interested in reading the latest research, he or she is likely to know.
5-Tips / Tips for Job Interviews
1-Choose the first few hours to be interviewed
Recruiters are in a hurry sometimes, especially if it is a consultant to which a company has delegated the selection process.
If you go to the interview on a Friday at the last minute, you will want to leave, will not do the interview well and have interviewed more candidates before.
Research has shown that people prefer what is in the first position of the lists. This is unconscious, although it has a great influence on the decisions.
Avoid:
- The last hours of the day.
- The hours before the meal.
On the contrary, choose the early hours of the day, particularly Tuesday from 10:00 to 11:00 seems like the best time.
2-Ask good questions
Surely They will ask you If you have any question. I find it incredible that some people say a simple"no"when it is a golden opportunity to show your interest and even knowledge to the interviewer.
Ask open-ended questions, not requiring a"yes"or"no"and you can also ask questions that demonstrate your knowledge or experiences.
Bad answers (terrible questions):
- I do not have any question.
- When will I know anything about my situation in the process?
- How much will I charge?
Good answers:
- Yes, I have a question. I am improving my English, will I have an opportunity to communicate in English?
- Today it is important to be constantly training. What is your training plan?
- I know that currently there are many business opportunities in social networks. Do you have any strategy? Could I still be formed in them?
- According to what I have informed you, you have made a restructuring. Can I know what it is based on? Why did you do it?
3-Shows responsibility and emotional stability
If the HR professional who gives you the interview is formed and is concerned about forming, you will know what you have in point 4 of the index.
Demonstrating responsibility and emotional stability is important because they indicate that you will be able to do a good job if you are hired.
4-Investigate the company very well and know your market
This is very important because the interviewer will almost certainly ask you some questions like: do you know in which countries we are implanted? Have you read about our goals? What do you know about the company?
Not knowing anything is going to make a bad impression, in fact indicates little planning and rigor.
On the other hand, it is very beneficial that you are watching for new news from the company sector and the same company. This you can do with Google Alerts ; Every time there is a new news of the subject that you want to be pending, you will get a message.
For example, you'll get a much better impression if you know which products have failed and which ones have succeeded from which the company sells.
5-Never stop forming and show that you do
Companies seek economic benefits and are not required to hire you. There are people who think that the state or companies have to offer them work and that if they do not find it, it's the fault of the others.
However, a company owes nothing to candidates who aspire to a job. It will hire the best, the one that best suits the profile of the position they offer and the company culture.
This is not to discourage, quite the opposite; Is for you to take into account the need to prepare and work to be the best possible candidate. Someone who thinks that companies owe them something, will not prepare and will be waiting to be called. Someone who thinks he has to give, will prepare and form.
We are 7 billion people around the world and with globalization there is more and more competition.
It is no longer guaranteed that you find work because you have a career, or because you have a master's degree, or even because you have two races and a doctorate. Companies ask for training, but also experience, interest and talent.
Surely an entrepreneur will hire someone who has more experience and ability to grow than another who has two more titles but has no attitude, motivation or experience.
On the other hand, knowledge is being renewed faster. A training teacher told me that what I had learned in the master's degree would be out of date at 6 months and that it must be constantly being formed. This is known to the interviewers and in fact, the great experts and professionals invest significant amounts of money in new courses, seminars and training of all kinds.
6-Prepare Common Questions
Surely it will help you prepare questions that are often asked in the interviews; You will be calmer and give better answers.
If the answers are inspiring and indicate that you really serve the job, much better.
Some are:
- Tell me about your previous experience and training: in this case prepare yourself the most important thing you want the interviewer to know.
- Tell me your weaknesses and strengths.
- What do you know about our company?
- Why do you want to work for our company?
- Why did you study your career?
- Why do you want to work in this sector?
7-Beware of Critical Questions
There are moments of the interview that can be decisive in your recruitment or in the completion of your path as a candidate.
When you have entered the selection process, aspects such as your training or experience will not be controllable, but if it is controllable how you give the answers and the content of them.
Therefore, prepare yourself for the critical questions and avoid giving bad answers, or at least avoid giving painful answers.
Examples:
"Did you discuss your previous work with anyone?"
- Good answer: I had a small conflict with a partner, although it was based on the delivery of a job. He wanted to do it one way and I suggested that we add additional information. I communicated assertively and in the end we won, as the quality of the work improved.
- Bad answer: yes, sometimes people drive me crazy, the truth. One of my shortcomings is that I have little patience.
-What are your strengths and weaknesses?
- Good answer: my strength is that I like to plan and I am very responsible. My weakness is that sometimes I'm too thorough and I pay too much attention to the details, although it's something I'm working on.
- Bad answer: my strength is that I get along very well with all my colleagues. My weakness is that I am unpunctual and sometimes something irresponsible.
Particularly, about weakness, let's see that it is not very important and that you are working on it. Never point out a weakness that can not be changed or is very negative.
As for the questions about problem situations (if you have discussed with someone, what problems you had, why you had to ask for help...), you can use this structure in the answers:
- Problem: Tell me what problem happened to you.
- Action: what did you do.
- Result. How your performance ended.
8-Know the latest trends and talk about them
This I think is key and few do, in fact when new trends are growing few people are the ones who realize them and form in them.
For example, a couple of years ago I went to an interview in a prestigious hotel in Seville. First I talked to the HR director and later to the hotel manager, who asked me if I knew that Was the Social Media (Social Media) .
At that time social networks were growing in a big way. However, I only knew him to say"I know that they are social networks; Facebook twitter…". It is obvious that if I had given him a long explanation and with interesting data would have been very well.
Growing trends are great opportunities that companies can use as competitive advantages and, if you know them, the company will see you as an interesting candidate.
9-Take care of your twitter, facebook and Linkedin
Currently more than 90% of recruiters are looking for information on candidates in social networks.
Why were you going to give a bad impression when you can give a good one? Drinks, parties and possible drunkenness can mean the end of your path as a candidate. You may think that does not determine whether you are a good worker or not, but the recruiter will not think so.
Also, take advantage of the visibility: communicate that you are interested, updated and that you know your profession. Linkedin is very important and you can use it both to improve your visibility and to get in touch With important employees .
Take advantage especially Linkedin to expose something about new trends or something that you think that interests in your sector and that is a competitive advantage.
10-Take care of your clothes
This advice may seem the typical though I have to mention because of its importance. In fact, not everyone complies.
I remember a job interview in my old consultant where a boy came dressed in street clothes: shirt and jeans. He was opting for an offer of medical visitor, whose workers usually wear a jacket. The one who was my boss then said that she had liked him, but that she had made a bad impression on her slovenliness. He was not selected.
I will not write about them, but the first impressions matter a lot and the dress also.
Do you always have to dress very well?
It depends on the organization. In fact, many companies indicate how to go, or say directly that it is not necessary to go in jacket suit.
It will also depend on the culture of the organization. Some are stricter with dress and others do not give so much importance. An NGO will not ask for well-dressed field workers, but for a position in a bank itself.
When in doubt, dresses arranged.
11-The opinion of large entrepreneurs
What if you knew what some of the best entrepreneurs of recent times think? Sure they help you, as they have the best teams, without them they would not have achieved the great achievements that their companies have obtained. Here you have them:
-Hiring is difficult. It is the search for needles in a haystack. You can not know enough about a person in an hour-long interview. So, in the end, it is ultimately based on your foreboding. What does a person feel? How do they behave when they are challenged? I ask everyone why are you here? I do not really look for the literal answer, I look for what's under that answer.-Steve Jobs.
"When you hire someone who's really experienced behind your back, being competent is the most important thing. They have to be really smart. But the real problem for me is, are you going to fall in love with Apple? Because if it happens, everything else will go by itself. They will have to do the best for Apple, not what is best for themselves, not the best for Steve Jobs, or the best for anyone else.-Steve Jobs.
- From the beginning I realized that I had to hire people who were more intelligent and qualified than I was for the different tasks, and that I had to pass several"decision-making". I can tell you how difficult it was, but if you imprinted your values on the people around you, you can trust them to make the right decisions.- Howard Schultz.
"In recent years, Microsoft has deliberately hired a few executives with experience in companies that have failed. When you fail you are forced to be creative, to deepen and to think night and day. I like being around people who have been through it.-Bill Gates.
12-Other
- Send a thank-you message for taking time to interview you; It will set you apart from other candidates and show appreciation.
- Find out why you have not been selected, that will help you to improve and avoid failures again.
- Take care of yourself nonverbal language And do not lie. Learn more about it in this article .
- Prepare your story. You're probably going to ask yourself the question,"Tell me about your previous experience and training."
- Be confident. Nerves are normal, but showing confidence is a big advantage.
- If you have more than one interviewer, talk to everyone, as the decision will be made by everyone.
And what has served you to pass the job interviews?