Interviewing – what I’m now going to be doing.

/ Lisa

This post is a few days late, but Tuesday was another WINZ appointment. We discussed interviewing.

I’ve started to feel that the interview is where I have been losing the job. I’ve been getting interviews with my cover letters and CVs, but I just never get the job after the interview.

Now it may be that I’m just not the right fit for the job at hand, but there must have been something about my skills and experience they thought would make me a good fit, but I then fell short after the interview.

I’ve never had many job interviews before. Trying to find a journalism job is my first real experience in job interviewing.

I’ve had nine interviews to date for journalism related jobs and have another one on Monday. I’m hoping it will be my last for awhile.

After the seminar on Tuesday, I feel more confident about the interview process. It gave me a few tips to prepare myself better and possible questions that may come up so I can prepare some possible answers.

I have gone through possible questions in the past, but I’ve never really done it all that well. So hopefully by following the advice I was given on Tuesday, I can do it better this time.

I don’t really have a problem with looking presentable. I make sure I pick out an outfit that is fairly business attire and have time to do hair and make-up before the interview.

To the interview, I usually take my diary and a pen, so I can write down anything I need to know and also it is where I’ve written the details of the interview and questions I would like to ask. I also take my portfolio with me, so that I have the examples of the work I sent them with me. If they ask about them, I can pull them out and show them.

One thing the seminar said was that you should take the cover letter and CV that you sent them with you. I’ve never done this before. I don’t take my CV, because I know what’s in it – my education and previous employment. I always think that that is not going to escape my mind, but you never know when you’re nervous. From now on, I will be taking one with me.

I’ve never taken my cover letter with me either, but I will be from now on. I might even print out the job ad.

It is also about phrasing what you say. No “I believes” and “I think”, it is time to be sure of what you want and your skills.

In most interviews they are going to ask about weaknesses. It’s a question you can’t avoid. Pick one, not in conflict with the job, and provide a solution to it. Sounds easy, right? Which weakness do I pick?

Another tip from the seminar was using the STAR approach – Situation, Task, Action, Result – as a means to answer a question. You explain the situation, the task that you had, what action was taken and what resulted from it all.

By putting these all together and practicing in front of a mirror with my poker face, I’m hoping it will make me a better interviewing candidate, which will result in me being employed this time next week. Hopefully.

3 thoughts on “Interviewing – what I’m now going to be doing.”

  2. The weakness thing is interesting. They ('they' being the non-specific self-proclaimed employment sector gurus) always suggest you should say something like you're a perfectionist or a workaholic, the kind of thing that is a 'good' weakness but personally I think that is a sad old trick that most people must see through these days. I'm one of those overly naive types that believe you should just be genuine. I think my weakness is that I'm always thinking of everything I need to do rather than solely concentrating on the task at hand (an unfortunate side affect of my anxiety issues). However, I do think there is a way to spin anything into something positive, or just not quite as bad. So I suppose I might say that while I may not be solely focused on one thing, because I've got all my wheels spinning at once I often anticipate future hiccups well before they are presented to me. You know you love it when I waffle.

  3. Thanks Kristyn!I do love it when you waffle Natalie. I'm a bit like that too, but I think I have "stronger" weaknesses – more pronounced, I guess. The big one is probably letting the stress get to me (goes with my anxiety issues), but to combat that, I tend to write everything down, or make notes and the ever present, to-do list. Usually done in the order the things need doing – HYPER ORGANISED MACHINE.And look at that, I just waffled too.

Comments are closed.