Interview Tips Interview Tips, Interview Questions and Answers

23Feb/110

Setting Up an Informational Interview

The first step is to identify people who have jobs that you find intriguing and inspiring. Be resourceful. Scour the Internet and read local newspapers and business publications. Tell your family, friends, neighbors, colleagues, former teachers and classmates about your interviewing endeavor and ask them for names of people with whom you should speak.

As you develop your list of potential contacts, send each person an introductory letter explaining your background, career goals, interests and what you hope to gain from the interview. Request 20 to 30 minutes of the person's time at their convenience. Be clear that you are seeking information only -- not a job. If the person is receptive to your request, ask for a face-to-face meeting at his or her workplace. While getting together for lunch or talking on the phone is fine, visiting the person's office will give you a better feel for the job.

1Dec/100

Why did you leave your last job?

Don't say: "Gee, there were so many reasons I got out of that hellhole."
Instead: Take your time to answer this question, Dattner says. "If the interviewer thinks you are rushing through it, there's a problem."
Why: This is your chance to talk about your experience and your career goals. Don't badmouth a former boss or explain why you were just too good to stay at such a menial job. Instead, focus on what you learned in your previous position and how you are ready to use those skills in a new position. Detail the path you want your career to follow while illustrating how this job is right for you and how you're right for the company.

21Jun/100

Things to Tell an Interviewer

The best way to show these traits is to take the initiative and have several personal stories that you can tell, taking maybe 30 to 90 seconds each. You may want to start by developing your stories around these seven areas:

1. Times where you either made money or saved money for your current or previous company.

2. A crisis in your life or job and how you responded or recovered from it.

3. A time where you functioned as part of a team and what your contribution was.

4. A time in your career or job where you had to overcome stress.

5. A time in your job where you provided successful leadership or a sense of direction.

6. A failure that occurred in your job and how you overcame it.

7. Any seminal events that happened during your career to cause you to change direction and how that worked out for you. I want to emphasize that an interview should not be an interrogation. It should be a conversation between two equals. When you accomplish this you come away a step closer to your goal of landing the job you really want, because... It's the conversation that wins an interview, and it's the conversation that wins the job. To have a conversation, have your stories ready.

7May/100

Interview Question: Why did you leave your last job?

Don't say: "Gee, there were so many reasons I got out of that hellhole."
Instead: Take your time to answer this question, Dattner says. "If the interviewer thinks you are rushing through it, there's a problem."
Why: This is your chance to talk about your experience and your career goals. Don't badmouth a former boss or explain why you were just too good to stay at such a menial job. Instead, focus on what you learned in your previous position and how you are ready to use those skills in a new position. Detail the path you want your career to follow while illustrating how this job is right for you and how you're right for the company.

16Mar/100

Why Should I Hire You? Thought it as an interviewer. (part 2)

Continue my last post http://tipsinterview.com/2010/03/15/why-should-i-hire-you-thought-it-as-an-interviewer/ 

The employer thinks ... you're not qualified enough.

So you ...  prove you have other qualifications that will help you in this position.

Interior designer and author Jeanette Simpson recommends job seekers draw upon what experience they do have to bolster their case.

"Give examples of how you have been a 'second miler' by going above and beyond what was expected by previous employers," she says. "Employers are looking for someone to solve problems and help with their workload. This can often be done by extra effort on [the] part of an employee. Also, point out how quickly you learn and apply knowledge to situations."

The employer thinks ... you're overqualified.

So you ... prove you're ready for a change.

Lisa Mininni, author of "Me, Myself, and Why? The Secrets to Navigating Change," says workers who are classified as overqualified need to explain why they're perfectly happy taking on new roles.

"Consider focusing on where you are in your career. If you've historically had supervisory or management responsibilities, you may be in a career cycle where you are more interested in contributing at a different level," Mininni explains. Part of that process is about explaining your professional game plan.

"Outline the career cycles and how where you are in your career cycle can add value to the position.  Be an interested listener. Observe how the position fits in to the company and watch for signs of confusion, strong interest and agreement. Ask the interviewer what is most important to [him or her] about what needs to be accomplished by the person in that position and align your experiences with their needs," she says.

You obviously want the position, otherwise you wouldn't be interviewing for it. You can try to tell the hiring manager that you don't intend to leave the moment a better position comes along, but nothing you can say can prove it. Instead, address any potential issue he or she may have with your experience to build your case.

4Jan/100

Interview Question, Why did you leave your last job

Don't say: "Gee, there were so many reasons I got out of that hellhole."interviewer
Instead: Take your time to answer this question, Dattner says. "If the interviewer thinks you are rushing through it, there's a problem."
Why: This is your chance to talk about your experience and your career goals. Don't badmouth a former boss or explain why you were just too good to stay at such a menial job. Instead, focus on what you learned in your previous position and how you are ready to use those skills in a new position. Detail the path you want your career to follow while illustrating how this job is right for you and how you're right for the company.

23Dec/090

5 Sample Interview Questions: How will you answer?

  •  What are your strengths? (If you really enjoy new challenges and tackle them in an organized manner, this would be a useful strength in almost any situation.)  You can talk about your ability to find unique solutions to problems.  Be prepared with some concrete examples, since that may be the follow-up question.
  • Tell me about yourself... (Your answer should contain much more about your job skills than your personal life.) Talk about the growth of your career, what you learned from previous employment or even things like how your volunteer worked help you develop your organizational, time management and leadership skills.
  • Do you have any questions about our company? (If you have paid attention during the interview and if you have done your homework, this would be a good time to ask for more details about some aspect of the company's organizational structure or products.  It would not be a good time to ask about your first raise. You could also ask questions about the community, their training program or details about the work environment.)
  • Where do you expect your career to be in 10 years? (Be careful here.  You do not want to give the impression that you're simply using this company as a stepping stone to another career.  Think of a related managerial position within the company that would interest you.) There is a story about a young accountant who was asked this question by a CPA firm during an interview.  The young accountant replied that he saw himself as the comptroller of a large corporation.  In other words, "I'm just using your firm to teach me and then after you spend your resources training me, I will leave to go work for someone else."  Needless to say, he was not offered a position with the CPA firm.  They know that 75% of the people they hire will leave within 10 years, but they do not want to hire someone who comes in with that plan.
  • What skills do you have that would benefit our company? (If your skills are not exactly those that the company may have requested, you can point out the skills you have that would be valuable to any company.  Examples of these skills are: your ability to plan and execute long-term projects, your ability to organize information into usable data, your ability to research complicated issues, or your ability to work well with a team.) If your skills are not perfect for this particular company, you can mention how quickly you were able to adapt and learn in other situations.  Again, be prepared with specific examples in case you are asked to elaborate.
  • 23Dec/090

    Common Java Interview questions

    Java interview questions can be difficult. So you should be very careful about your preparation prior to appearing for any Java interview question. So you need to take an in-depth preparation before facing your interviewer. This article sheds light on different types of java questions that are common to find in different interview sessions. Quite obviously, being a java developer is not only a prestigious career option but also it offers good compensation as well.

    There is a great variety of questions that can be asked during interview. These may include queries regarding difference between String and StringBuffer; difference between interface and abstract class; experience with open source; difference between EJB and Hibernate; usage of Spring; knowledge about Websphere and WSAD; discussion about struts; class in JDK; difference between final, finally and finalize; experience with XP/Agile; JUnit; etc.

    Few interviewers may instill answering practical questions during java interview session. He may ask you to define abstract class with good examples; interface with examples; explanation of synchronization. The interviewer may also show you an example, and ask you relevant questions based on the given example. The interviewer may also ask you to write program code as instructed the interviewer. These types of questions may cover different areas of core java, JSP/Servlets, EJB, JMS, JDBC, RMI and Swing.

    Due to its lucrative career option, one may choose the appropriate career path to become a java professional. In fact, if someone is aspired for being a java professional, he may choose to appear for different java certification exams as well.