How to Prepare for Job Interview Stress

Job interviews are stressful. Your fate is in the hands of a person you have not met, judging you on answers you have not yet given, comparing you against competition you have not seen. Your job interview is like a blind date with an attractive, intelligent, funny model. You know they have the qualities you want, but you have to prove that you have the qualities they want.

Preparing for the Stress

USNews recently had an article in their health section on how to prepare for general stress in life, like test taking, first dates, etc. We’ll take their advice and show you how to use those tips for job interviews.

• Practice

Practice is the best way to prepare for the stress of the job interview. The more you prepare, the less helpless you will feel. If you are a particularly stressful person, you should also try your best to hold mock interviews with a friend or family member. Getting used to the interview environment and how to come up with questions on the spot is the best way to be ready for what occurs in a real interview.

• Confront Your Demons

The article advises jotting down your worries on a piece of paper. We agree. However, you should build on that in two ways. First, jot down a few of the things you will do if you don’t get the job – like places you will apply, and the next steps in your job search process. That way you show your brain you have a plan, and you are not dependent on getting this job. Second, apply to one or two jobs the day before your interview. It doesn’t matter if you get them, what matters is you are teaching your brain that the interview is not your last hope.

• Free Up Your Brain

Learning mnemonics is a good way to remember your job interview answers, and you should also plan generic answers for questions you may not have prepared for. For example, plan an answer to any question about leadership if you are faced with a question you didn’t expect. Or prepare an answer to a question about communication for similar reasons. That way you have stock answers you can use if your planned answers don’t end up working.

• Think Win, Not Lose

Confidence is extremely important at the job interview. Even if you are not the most confident person, fake it. Pretend like you are. Make sure that you act like you are definitely the right person for the job. Job interviews are not a place for doubt, and even when you fake it, your confidence will shine through. The more doubt you give with your answers, the more doubt you will feel during the interview, leading to more stress.

Take Away Interview Tips

• Stay confident.
• Practice often.
• Plan responses.
• Write down your fears and solutions.

Preparing to Understand Logic in Logic Puzzles

We have written a lot about logic puzzles of late. Logic puzzles are one of the newer ways that employers are testing applicants to see if they are right for the job, because your ability to understand logic reflects highly on your ability to problem solve. They are most common with IT job interviews, but it would not be a surprise if some form of logic puzzle was introduced to several types of job interviews.

Paying Attention to Your Own Thought Process

One aspect of logic puzzles that is often ignored when looking at these interview questions is your own thought process. Where does your mind go when answering these questions? Does it immediately go to an easy and uninteresting answer? Did you even have to think much about it at all?

The easy, uninteresting, thoughtless answer is usually going to be wrong. Remember, logic puzzles serve no value if everyone is going to have the same answer. Let’s look at a logic interview question that we have made up for the purposes of this post:

Logic Question

“You drive the speed limit on the freeway. Drivers are constantly passing you over the course of your trip. What, then, can we conclude about driving the spend limit in relation to other drivers? What percentage of freeway drivers drive the speed limit?”

Easy/Uninteresting Answer

This question has no actual answer. You are not expected to know any actual numbers. You are only expected to make a logical guess based on what you know from the question. If you go straight to the easy answer, you are probably going to choose a high percentage, like “90%” or “Most drivers drive above the speed limit.” This answer may be correct, but it does not show you used much logic. It’s simply an easy answer based on the question.

Better, More Logical Answer

“I would assume 10 to 20%, but probably not a very high percentage. Though it seems like you are often being passed on the freeway, that is only because you are only going to see the drivers that pass you. You will never see the drivers that are maintaining the speed limit since their distance in front and behind you will never change.”

Here we see a more logical answer, and probably a more correct answer. We don’t know for certain how many drivers drive the speed limit, but we do know that just because you see a lot of drivers pass you, it does not mean that most drivers speed.

Take this strategy into consideration with many logic puzzles. If the number seems to easy, it probably is. Look for ways to show that you put logic into your answer, and you are far more likely to succeed in the question.

Take Away Interview Tips

• Presumably easy logic answers are usually wrong.

What Your Online Persona Says About You

Once something is online, it is always online. It bounces from server to server. It gets downloaded and re-uploaded. It gets backed up, cached, stored, and reformatted.  It’s everywhere and it will always be everywhere.

So when you use your name for anything, anywhere online it can potentially show up in a search. Your Internet presence is just that – a presence. If it’s associated with your name in any way, someone can find it and use it against you.

How Your Online Persona Works

If someone had access to everything you do online they would probably find several examples of the following:

• Facebook Wall Posts – “HAHAH, We TOTALLY got w8sted last nite, lol.”
• Twitter – “LOL Wut?! RT @OzzieGuillen Happy fathers day to all then look up for the childrens no a fake one”
• iLike Music – Now Playing: ‘Suga Suga’ by Baby Bash – “Treat you like my sticky ickey or my sweet oowy goowy (fa real though)”

There are countless more examples of this that you create every day when you are online. While most of these do not appear in search engines, some of it does, and what does appear could easily prevent you from finding a job. It may be unfair, but employers are going to find some of these examples, and they are going to see you as something other than a professional.

Before You Send in Your Resume – Find Your Online Presence

With that in mind, before you even begin your job search, you should search for your name online and see what your online presence is like. Chances are you have several things showing up that you would prefer employers not see. Start deleting. Email webmasters, block or delete profiles – do whatever it takes to clean up your online persona. Make sure that everything that comes up is professional. Assume that every employer searches for you on Google, Yahoo, and Bing. Doing so drastically reduces your chances of being seen unprofessionally online.

Take Away Interview Tips

• Prepare your online presence.

Why to Prepare for Interviews Before You Have One

It’s unlikely you are reading this blog post for fun while you are bored. If so, Hi! How are you? How was your day? That’s really interesting. You should tell me more about it in the comments!

Most likely you happened upon this website and this blog post because you have an interview coming up or you have submitted resumes and are wondering about the next steps. While it may seem like a pain, we strongly believe it is vital that you prepare for your job interviews now. Right now. This moment. Close Facebook and listen up.

Preparing Ahead of Time

Most job applicants apply for jobs, wait until they are called for a job interview, and spend the next several hours preparing for that interview. In general, this process works somewhat effectively. For obvious reasons, people like to prepare for job interviews when they have a job interview scheduled.

However, you may come across a situation where you are given an unexpected interview:

• You are called by a recruiter that gives you a phone interview on the spot.
• You are asked by your boss to interview for a recently open position within the company.
• You meet someone via networking that is looking for someone like you to fill an open position.
• You may be called for an interview the next morning but you have unbreakable plans that night.

All of these are unexpected interviews. If you wait until an interview is scheduled to practice answering interview questions, you will miss out on all these potential interview opportunities. The last thing you want to do is have a dream job at your fingertips and miss out because you did not know an interview was coming up.

Yes, it is a time consuming pain in the rear. Yes, you have better things to do. Yes, you could be out drinking peppermint schnapps with your buddies instead of going through mock interviews for jobs you have not heard back from. There are other things you can be doing.

Still, if your true goal is to find employment, preparing for job interviews should be your priority. You have other things you can be doing, but by focusing on your job interview now, you ensure that you will not miss out on any opportunities in the future.

Take Away Interview Tips

• Study for job interviews even when you do not have an interview scheduled.

5 Types of Background Checks

Background checks come in… well, probably one shape and size (8.5 x 11). However, there is more than one kind of background check that may be printed and provided to your employer. Below is a list of the different types of background checks that an employer may decide to use before they give you employment at their company.

Employer Background Check Types

• Employment Application Accuracy Check

This is one of the rarest types of background checks, but it is one that, if used, will unveil almost all of the places you lied on the application. It will show your salary, your tasks, etc. It is a good idea not to lie on your resume due to the small chance they use this type of background check.

• Criminal Record

You may have forgotten to put that you robbed a bank on your resume, but don’t worry! Employers will find out for themselves when they run a criminal records check. Probably not a good idea to apply to any jobs in finance.

• DMV Records

Some jobs involve driving. Your employer may check your DMV records. You should probably not have 10 outstanding speeding tickets. It’s bad.

• Credit Checks

It doesn’t happen as much anymore, but employers are allowed to check your credit. Credit checks tell the employer how good you are with money, and that may play a role in your ability to hold down a job. Buying those expensive shoes and purposely skipping out on your bill is not a good sign that you can be responsible.

• Calling Your Bosses

Not all background checks are on pieces of paper. Your employer can also call your old bosses and find out if you truly did the things you claim you did. That is why it is a good idea not to lie – not only will the employer not hire you, but your old employer will probably not think too highly of you either.

Checking Your Background Checks

The only way to prepare for a background check is to collect all of these documents yourself and ensure that they are accurate. You cannot change things that are true, but you can remove the things that are not.

Take Away Interview Tips

• Big brother is watching.

How to Prepare for Sales Job Interviews

Sales jobs represent some of the most lucrative careers for those with good people skills and a strong sales personality. Sales jobs give you commission that can earn you several times what you would make in a standard office job, making them some of the most sought after jobs by individuals looking to make a quick fortune.

Like with all job interviews, sales job interviews require some considerable preparation. Below are several tips for preparing for the sales interview.

Sales Interview Preparation Tips

• Research the Company and Product

This is true for all job interviews, but it is especially important for sales jobs. It is going to be very difficult to show the interviewer you can sell a product if you do not know anything about the product or the company. Research it like your job depended on it, because it does.

• Study the Target Market

Now that you know what the company does, it is a good idea to research the target market of the company, so you can adjust your sales strategy. If the target market is your average, everyday consumer, then you need to know how to sell to the everyday consumer. If the target market are CEOs of major enterprises, then you need to know how to sell to them too. Knowing the market can help you a great deal in proving you have the sales skills necessary.

• Read Up on Sales Techniques

Whether you have worked in sales before or you are just breaking into the career field, it is a good idea to brush up on the latest sales tips, tricks, and psychology. Interviewers will be impressed that you know a lot about the current sales market, and it will only help improve your chances of showing the interviewer you know what you are doing.

• Prepare to Be Put on the Spot

You cannot go to a sales interview not expecting to have to prove you know how to sell. Some interviews will make you come up with a business plan. Other interviewers may ask you to sell the interviewer on a product. Make sure you are ready to prove that you know how to handle every aspect of the sales process.

• Review Common Sales Interview Questions

Sales interviews have several sales specific questions that you are going to be faced with during the interview. Study these questions and come up with clever answers so that you can wow the interviewer with your knowledge and abilities.

Sales interviews have a variety of ways to prepare. Do your best to follow the strategies above if you hope to get the job and beat out the competition.

Take Away Interview Tips

• Prepare for your sales interview.
• Review the company, products and questions.
• Be ready to prove you have knowledge of sales.

How to Fix Your Online Identity

A few days ago, we discussed how interviewers prepare for your job interview. Part of their preparation involves trying to find out as much about you as they can before the job interview so that they can find interesting things to ask you. In general, their intentions are fairly innocent (usually), and all they are really looking for is an idea of who you are professionally.

What they find can be anything. They can find your personal blog. They can find your MySpace account. They can find your ex’s embarrassing photos of you they put up on a website to discredit your innocent name. They can find pretty much anything as long as it shows up under a search of your name. That is why before your job interview, you need to search for your name on all types of search engines (with and without quotation marks), see what comes up, and judge whether or not you are okay with what interviewers will see before they interview you.

If you are not (and most people are not), here are several ways to create a better Internet presence.

5 Ways to Fix Your Online Presence

• Fix Your Social Media Profiles – We’ve discussed this a few times already, but by blocking/changing/deleting your social media profiles, you drastically reduce your online presence.
• Join LinkedIn (and Others) – There are some social media websites that are perfectly acceptable for business professionals, like LinkedIn. Join those instead and make sure they are designed to impress employers.
• Delete Things that can Be Deleted – If your friend used a full name on a website of theirs, ask if you can get your name deleted. Your friends will usually comply. Some webmasters are willing to delete things for you as well.
• Develop a Professional Presence – Create a professional website with your full name and market it a little. Have it put your best face forward, with sample work and documents that prove you are a great employee.
• Join Groups that Make Membership Public – By signing up for professional groups that have public membership listings, you can show up in searches that show dedication to the field. Be careful, however, to only join groups that you will always be proud to join. It can be hard to get your name off a list once it is on the list.

With enough work, you can take control of your online identity again and ensure employers don’t hold anything against you before you have even been interviewed. You may want to get started now, however, because fixing your online identity can take quite a bit of time.

Take Away Interview Tips

• Prepare your online persona before your interview.

Additional Links

• Article on Finding Dulcinea

• Article on NYTimes

How Employers Prepare to Interview You

It’s easy to go over what you need to do as an interviewer. You need to answer questions a certain way. You need to present yourself a certain way. You need to not be an idiot. Pretty simple stuff. Yet part of preparing for a job interview has to do with understanding the hiring manager, especially how the hiring manager prepares for the job interview. Below is some helpful information on how interviewers prepare for your job interview so that you know what to expect.

How Interviewers Prepare

• Research the Candidate

The more time the interviewer has to spend asking you questions about your work history that were already answered in your resume and cover letter, the less time they have to spend asking you interesting questions. They will thoroughly examine your resume and may even Google search you and your previous companies, so be sure and check your own Internet presence and make sure you are putting your best face forward.

• Plan Selected Questions

Most employers will have a list of selected questions to ask. Note that many interviewers do like to “free flow” their questions, allowing them opportunity to follow up based on the way you have answered previous questions, but most will have a list of questions already prepared. Some will be stock questions, others will be unusual wild card questions, and still others will be questions about your resume.

• Schedule Their Day

Interviewers will also clear their schedule so that the interviewer is not interrupted. Because they take time out of their day to ensure the interview goes along smoothly, they are going to be strongly discouraged if your own cell phone rings or you need to be somewhere, so be sure and provide them with the same courtesy.

How the Interviewer Views the Interview

Additionally, it is good to see how interviewers view each interview. For a good sample, view this article at BNET. There you will find tips for interviewers, including the “don’t judge them within 3 minutes” rule that some interviewers still subject candidates to.

Take Away Interview Tips

• Prepare your Internet presence.
• Clear your schedule.
• Be ready for many common and behavioral interview questions.

Interview Question Overview: Prep for the Top 5 Interview Questions

To truly prepare for your job interview, you should study up on all of the possible questions that you may be asked and figure out great answers for each of them. Unfortunately, this can take a lot of time and effort. So to help you out, here are quick pieces of advice to use as a reference for the top five most popular interview questions.

Question One: Tell Me About Yourself

The employer simply wants to see how you answer this question. Prepare an answer ahead of time that focuses solely on your professional history. Leave your personal life, your youth, etc. completely out of the answer.

Question Two: What are Your Greatest Weaknesses?

This is not a trick question, but it does not need an honest answer. Your greatest weakness should be something “not that bad,” and you should follow it up with what you have already done to help change it (using specific examples).

Question Three: Why Should We Hire You?

This question is designed to see how much confidence you have in yourself and your abilities. Prepare an answer that highlights your best qualities and do your best not to show any doubt that you are the right person for the position.

Question Four: Why Did You Leave Your Last Job?

Unfortunately you may need to provide an honest answer, but try to spin your answer in a way that is not too negative. If layoffs occurred, mention that the company was struggling. If you were fired for poor quality work, perhaps mention that you had different career goals (or whatever contributed to your poor work ethic). Smile when you answer this question and be sure that you do not focus on the negatives.

Question Five: Why Do You Want to Work Here?

This question is testing your knowledge of the company. Don’t focus on the role itself. Focus instead on what the company’s future is, the projects they are currently working on, and why you believe that you would be an asset.

Interview Preparation is Vital

This represents just a small sample of the vast number of job interview questions available. That is why it is so important that you prepare thoroughly for your job interview by studying interview questions and coming up with quality answers.

Take Away Interview Tips

• Learn what interview questions you might encounter.
• Study the best ways to answer them.

How to Choose Your Tie for the Job Interview

Job interview dress code is extremely strict. Good or bad, employers judge you by how you dress. The rule for dressing for your job interview is that the more your clothes are ignored, the better you have dressed for your interview. Essentially, you do not want employers to notice your outfit. Rather you want your own voice to do the talking for you.

For men, part of dressing for the job interview involves selecting a tie. Like everything with job interviews, there are rules for the type of tie you can wear.

Ties Not to Wear

• Brightly colored ties.
• Ties with sports teams on them.
• Ties with any type of image on them.
• Ties with crazy patterns.
• Ties that visibly clash with your outfit.

What you should ask yourself before selecting a tie is “Will this tie get noticed?” If the answer is “yes,” then you do not want to wear that tie to your job interview.

Ties to Wear

In general, the rule for job interview ties is that less is more. Wear a color that is muted and barely noticeable, like a blue tie without any special designs. The less your tie is noticed, the better. The ties should be solid in color, though a small pattern is acceptable only if the pattern is not very noticeable.

Power Ties

Despite their fame, power ties should not be worn to the job interview unless you are applying to a particularly “power” position, like executive. They may also be worn to positions in sales, but only if you are certain that the position truly requires that “go getter” attitude that is often stereotyped among sales staff. Power ties are otherwise too distracting and are not that likely to give you a better impression than a boring solid color tie.

Take Away Interview Tips

• The less noticeable your tie, the better.