Interview. Are you prepared?

I wonder how many people feel nervous during an interview. Look in your planner, the day has arrived, sit in the interview room, and ...hmmm, are you prepared?
Having this opportunity to be an interviewer, I met a number of candidates and I had learned some important things that I could not learn in school. So, I am here writing to share my experiences about interview.

How many of you feel nervous or stressed during interview? Have you ever wonder why are you feeling stressed or how to reduce the stress of interview? Obviously, we don't get interviewed everyday, so we might feel uncomfortable during the interview, worried about what the interviewer will ask, worried about your performance, worried about being judged, or feel anxiety when talking to someone you do not know, everything is like unpredictable.

Do you know how to perform well during the interview? Be yourself and Be prepared. There are a lot of website giving advices for interview tips, there are also frequent asked interview questions as well, they are all very useful. With the technology today, we can actually access to any data on the net by just Google it.

Owkay, here are some tips that I summarized (all are quite common sense though....):
Be prepared: Do your homework on the company, position, job description, interview questions and do not forget to prepare a full set of document which you are required to bring.

Be on time: Remember the date, time and venue of the interview, and be on time.
"Seventy percent of success in life is showing up" - Woody Allen.
Note down the details of interview, Google the venue to have a concept regarding the place. And, remember who should you report to upon arrive or the name of interviewer. In case, you can't be on time, give the interviewer a call.

Well-dressed: Doesn't mean you have to dress like a star to impress the interviewer. Well, I have to be honest, first impression is very important. Just make sure you dress like neat and tidy, formal, of course. And, for girls, put on a little make up, for guys, gel up your hair. You represent yourself.

Stay calm: Everyone will get nervous or anxiety during interview, just stay calm, and remind yourself who are you, why you are here, what you are going to tell the company, repeating to yourself, and there is nothing to be fear of~ Most of the company will give you application form to fill in (mostly you will stay alone in the interview room), during this moment, try to calm yourself down before get into the interview, adapt yourself to the small (big?) interview room. Then, you are good to go~

Greetings: When the interviewer get back to you after you filling the form. Face the interviewer, smile and greet, introduce your name and shake hands with the interviewer. Show your confidence, this will impress the interviewer.

Listen: Owkay, now the interview starts. Listen carefully what the interview asking, a lot of people are too nervous during the interview, they answer so quickly that could not wait till the interviewer finish the question. Hello? This is not a talking speed competition, be relax~ Wait till the interviewer finish the question, understand what they wanted to know, then answer to the question. Bingo!
In case, you are not sure what the interviewer is asking, you may repeat the question to ask whether is this what they mean? Effective communication is not only about express, it is also about understanding and comprehend.

Answer: Here comes the tough part. Actually study through your resume will  help you a lot, knowing yourself, your specialized studies, your professional, your working experiences, your career objective, your strength and weakness. These are all the clues to answer interview questions. Besides, understand the position that you applied, try to find how can you fit into the position well, the selling point which can attract the company to hire you. Another Bingo! (I will try to elaborate more on this in the future topic)

Express Gratitude:Nowadays, candidates seldom sent thank you notes to the interviewer/company after the interview. Well, I can say this is one of the tactics to impress the company. You might not get a "You-are-welcome" e-mail from them, however, they will remember you. Why? It is because your name just appear again in their mail list. *laugh*

Basically, if you have done all the things correctly, you are good to go. Well, it still have to depends on your competition among potential candidates. Good Luck and All the Best!
*all imagine embedded are from Google image: interview*


Me,
May 11, 2012.

Why Not?

I always wanted to write about my job. However, I always feel like I was caught in the first line, where should I start, how should I start, when can I start? Oh my oh my, this is going to squeeze my brain.

After that, I found that it was not that tough to write about my job, and I actually have a lot a lot of ideas! The best part is, I feel that I can't wait to share them with all of you. When you started to understand and you started to like it, you will find things are going smooth, you are happy with it as well :) !

Owkay, in case you don't know, I am now working as a recruiter. Hmm? Recruiter? Me? Not surprising when my friends look at me with their frowned brows, thinking: How on earth I am related to recruitment? Well, I studied science in my secondary, and graduated with Biotechnology degree in UTAR, worked as medical laboratory technologist after tertiary studies, and now, a recruiter? Hey, yes, I mean no joke!

So...first question, how did I get into recruitment? I never ever thought I will work as a recruiter, I guess this same goes to many people as well, seldom an ordinary person will come out with an ambitious to be a recruiter in the first thought. Still remember what you wrote for your ambition in your primary/secondary school? Let me guess, teacher? engineer? police? pilot? scientist? researcher? accountant? lawyer? Well, I never heard someone said: Recruiter.

So, how about recruiter? or Why Not Recruiter?
To be honest, during the time I had quit my job in my ex-company, I spent some time hunting a new job, and of course, I applied a few positions from recruitment agencies. And I was thinking: Ahh, never mind lah, since they have the position I am interested in, just applied and see how it goes, I mean if they want to charge me fees if I successfully get one offer, that's fine!

Yea, later on, I got call from my current company (there was another recruitment agency contacting me as well), and I went for the interview for a marketing communication position. I was interviewed by a recruiter, which later becomes my colleague a.k.a my caring friend, and later a consultant joined interview, guess who? Hahaha! my current boss. The interview last for 2 hours, uh-ha, it took me around 2 hours and that equals to 120 minutes +. However, I can say, this is the most wonderful experience I had in interviews. The consultant, yea I mean my boss, impressed me with her professional and her strong character. Her advices had enlighten me and weird, I have this desire to work together with her, although recruitment is totally an ALIEN to me. Haha, every now and then when I flash back, I wonder why I have the guts to accept the offer or what's really on my mind when I say Yes to this job offer. I can tell you now, I am glad that I said Yes.

Along the way, I have learned a lot of things which are helpful and also enlighten me. Ask yourself 'WHY NOT?' sometimes we just have to think out of the box, we might gain something, experience something unexpectedly :)



Me,
May 2, 2012.