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THE
CAREER DOCTOR TO
GET AHEAD, YOU NEED TO PREDICT
THE QUESTIONS
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Knowing
what to expect from your interrogator is half the battle
at interview, says ROWAN MANAHAN
Sitting, as I do, on
both sides of the interview table, I get asked a bizarre
variety of questions with regard to the recruitment process.
Below are some of the more common concerns that people
have with going out there and getting that job
Q: Should I use humour
or tell jokes in an interview?
This depends on the role (are you being interviewed for
a sales or an undertakers job?), the interviewers
style and you. Many candidates use humour out of nervousness,
thinking that it will mask their discomfort. For an entry-level
position, you risk coming across as a smart-alec or as
not taking the process sufficiently seriously. For a more
senior position, you may be perceived as not having sufficient
gravitas.
Humour can be a very
risky approach to take. However, if the interviewer is
adopting a breezy style and injecting some humour, it
may be appropriate for you to respond in kind. But it
will only be a useful tool for you if you have the ability
to use humour to make your points more memorable and
the ability to closely gauge the interviewers reaction
and modify your approach accordingly. You should look
for a meaningful benefit to any approach that you decide
to take at interview and humour is no exception.
Q: What do they expect
to hear when they ask me where I plan to be in five years
time?
This is a very common question and is used in different
ways for interviews at all levels. There will be a full
article on this topic shortly, but in brief:
Studies consistently show that those
who plan their lives/careers tend to get ahead in this
world and employers are always on the look-out for these
rare (about 3% of the population) candidates. The question
is useful in identifying and eliminating
short-term thinking, self-serving candidates.
Interviewers can also use this question
to skate around the edges of the Employment Equality
Act. They may glean information about you that you otherwise
wouldnt volunteer and that they cannot, under
law, directly ask you. A tricky question, which you
should be ready for and please, PLEASE, do not
say, I plan to be sitting in your chair in five
years time.
Q: I hate talking about myself and
I always find it difficult when they ask me about my
strengths. How do I tell them my good points without
seeming to blow my own trumpet?
Common problem. Very few of us are raised in an environment
that encourages a boastful, swaggering attitude and
yet you will be asked to do exactly that in almost every
interview. Bear in mind that what you feel is
utterly irrelevant to the interviewer(s). If one candidate
stuttered and stumbled through this answer and the other
pondered for a moment and then confidently listed off
a series of pertinent gems about themselves, who would
you hire?
Self-knowledge is vitally important
here, as is practice. List what you think makes you
stand out from the crowd. Then compare your list with
what your friends and family tell you. The most valuable
person you can talk to for this kind of feedback is
someone that you used to work for past bosses
love to be asked for advice relating to your future
career. Once you have the list, pick and choose the
strengths that are going to be useful in the new job
and practice citing them out loud in advance of the
interview.
A newsreader stuttering and stumbling
through the headlines because the AutoCue is broken
is irritating and lacks credibility. You will be too
if you dont practice delivering your answers with
eloquence and force. Eh, eh, emmmmm, well Im
eh, Im a very, eh clear, yes, Im a very
clear communicator
Q: I have been working for 16 years
now and I just cant get my CV shorter than 3 pages.
What should I do?
Presuming that you have not been in the same role for
those sixteen years and presuming that you are applying
for a comparable or more senior role to your current
one, read each sentence in your CV from a recruiters
perspective and apply the rule of, SO WHAT?
If you cannot adequately answer the so what?
for any item that appears on your CV, delete it.
Too many CVs are nothing more than
a re-statement of a series of job descriptions. In most
instances, the job title tells the reader most of what
they need to know about that period of your career.
Dont waste space and the readers time going
into minute details. Give them the news headlines about
older positions title, boss title, special
responsibilities, promotions, contributions that you
made and/or what you took from the job. Anything more
than 6 years old is virtually irrelevant in todays
market and should be reduced to a line or two. The reader
is going to focus on what you are doing now and the
responsibilities and accomplishments associated with
that position, so you should put the bulk of your effort
(and space) into that.
Q: I prefer working by myself and
not relying on others. How should I talk about this
in an interview setting?
Very tricky. The ability to motivate yourself and be
a self-starter is usually valued by employers, but they
also want you to be able to get on with and work alongside
fellow employees. If your preference is very definitely
for solo work, the crude and simple answer is to make
sure that you are not applying for team-based roles.
If that is not possible in your sphere and you must
apply for a team job, find out in advance just how closely
together the team works and what systems they use.
Negative experiences
working with others are very common and it can be extremely
frustrating to work with people who dont share your
standards / values or who consistently fail to meet your
expectations. Some self-questioning may be in order here
do these people have a hard time working with everybody,
or just you? Are the standards you set and the expectations
that you have (a) reasonable and (b) meaningful in this
work setting? How have you dealt with friction with others
in the past?
Teamwork is prevalent
in professional settings because, when it works, the resultant
synergy makes for tremendous productivity. Not all projects
or tasks require a group approach, but organisations would
not invest as heavily as they do in team-building and
training if they werent getting a return. Interviewers
will be looking for a whole-hearted buy-in to teamwork
and if your answer indicates a grudging acceptance of
the need for teams, they are not going to like it ...
Q: What is the advantage
of going for a mock interview session?
The advantages of a practice interview with a stranger
are that it will provide you with objective feedback and
de-sensitise you to the interview process. A tailored
session will allow you to voice your concerns and gain
insight into the most positive methods of self-presentation.
If you cant afford / access a fully fledged mock
interview, download some questions from the internet and
get a friend to tape or film you as you answer them. You
will be amazed by how you look and / or sound, but the
experience is invaluable.
There is nothing phoney
or duplicitous about practicing for an interview
if you had a spoken part in a play, you would rehearse
for weeks. Getting the unfamiliar language of the interview
flowing smoothly from your mouth takes a lot of practice.
You have to get the lexicon of the interview into your
vocal memory. The greatest public speakers all rehearse
extensively coming up to an important event. Chances are,
if you think someone is excellent at talking off
the cuff they have probably put a massive amount
of work into their speech.
Q: I heard somewhere
that you should only wear light-coloured tights to an
interview. Why?
Dark tights are associated with evening wear. You are
presenting yourself at a professional interview, not going
to a cocktail party and you should dress accordingly.
If you have nice legs, dark tights will highlight them
more effectively but do you really want the interviewer
to hire you for the way your legs looked at interview?
Chance
favours the prepared mind.
Louis Pasteur
I find that the harder I work, the more
luck I seem to have.
Thomas Jefferson
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Rowan Manahan is Managing
Director of Fortify
Services, a Dublin-based outplacement and career management
firm.
Original article here.