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How Much Time Should You Spend Preparing for a Job Interview – How can I be successful in an interview?

January 15, 2020

If you are going to a job interview, please remember to think of it as a school exam – midterms or finals even. The biggest mistake job seekers make is showing up for interviews clueless. Overpreparation is also an issue, where you work like mad on a gazillion of potential interview questions, then you show up acting like a robot. The thing about the mind is if you spend a lot of your brain resources trying to comprehend or remember information, then you won’t enjoy conversations; then, bang goes any fond hopes of landing that job.

How Much Time Should You Spend Preparing for a Job Interview

If you are searching for a job, it is important to prepare for the interview. Professional recruiters say when you show up for an interview, therefore, you’ve got to be prepared. But how much time should you

spend preparing for a job interview? Well, preparing for midterms or finals exams at school takes 5 to 10 hours plus, therefore it’s only logical that you dedicate the same for interview preparations.

If you want to ace your first interview or your internal interview, here’s how to do it correctly:

How to distribute your interview preparation time?

Now that you know you need to commit 10+ hours to prepare for a promising interview, how do you allocate the time to researching the organization, polishing your answers, and practicing pay negotiations?

Follow the 20:40:40 approach

The 20:40:40 approach is a technique of allocating 20 percent of your time researching your potential employers. The other 40 percent is used in identifying potential interview questions and answers, and the last bit is spent honing those answers.

20 percent of the time researching the company:

The interviewers won’t miss asking you about the sector to gauge your interest. So be ready for questions about the firms, what they do, breakthroughs, challenges, and opportunities, etc.

40 percent researching questions and answers:

The next batch of questions is going to be as described in the job advert, your qualifications, skills, and qualities. This is where those academic hours and internships come in handy. Just make sure you

understand what you are going to be asked about. Familiarize yourself with the how to’s and be ready to give examples of success stories or moments when your skills came in handy in previous jobs/ internships.

40 percent polishing your answers:

This point where you build confidence by speaking the answers aloud, recording yourself, asking for other people’s feedback, and making the necessary adjustments on sound, speed, length of speaking time, etc. By polishing, your answers are going to stand out from the competition.

Lastly, remember that interviews are not gameshows. Overpreparation is just as worse as under preparation. You are going to look phony if you start to blurter answers like a robot. The key is to build a relationship. So, make those hours count because you can prepare for a day, a week, or two, but if you don’t comprehend what you are preparing for, then you are surely going to lose. And make sure to bring your resume with you.

How Do You Write a Follow Up Email – What should I say in a follow up email after an interview?

December 24, 2019

Have you ever tried to write a follow up email? Well, if the very thought out writing a follow up email makes you uncomfortable and confused, then you are not alone. There are many people who face the same problem. But as follow up email is important, you have to know about how do you write a follow up email. You have to make sure they are perfect and readable too. A follow up email can have a stronger impact than the first one.

How Do You Write a Follow Up Email

If during your job search you have followed up after an application, this should be fairly easy. But in order to make it happen, you have to write a great email. We are here to help you in writing a great follow

up email that can help you to gain more leads than ever. You have to follow some basic rules. First of all, the wait before you send a follow up mail to a person should not be long. Read on to know more about how to write one.

How to write a follow up email?

Before you start writing, you need to consider two main things

First, decide what you want to achieve. If you want to know how your interview went, you must state that. Once you have determined the main motive of the follow up mail, it will be easier for you to curate.

Second, before you write a letter or send to the person, be in their shoes. It is one of the best elements for the success of the business. You have to think about the frequency of the follow up emails. Too much can be irritating for the person.

Here are some of the steps that you have to follow to write a follow up email:

Add the context

Recruiting professionals say you have to add a context based on the purpose of your follow up email. Make sure that your message is direct and positive. You can open up the email with the line, ‘I just wanted to follow up about the interview we had recently…”. This will serve the purpose too.

Add value

It is very important to avoid the lazy follow ups. Make sure to send the email that contains value. You have to provide value to each and every information or interaction in the email. You must make it worth their while to click, open and respond to the mails.

Explanation for the email
How Do You Write a Follow Up Email

You have to provide an explanation or a reason for the follow up email. It should be in a manner which is both direct as well as concise in nature. Also you have to include the email with a call to action which makes the email much more relevant too.

Conclusion

If you knew what to do during a job interview, it is a good chance that you should follow up after the interview. If you wanted to know about how do you write a follow up email, then these are some of the points that you have to keep in mind. After these, you can close your email in a formal way. Make sure it has your name at the last too along with your contact details, in case it is necessary.

Job Search Steps

May 17, 2019

Whether you are looking for a first job or in between jobs at the moment, there are many things you will have to prepare to make yourself suitable and ready for work. Get organized and ready with some of these job search tips anyone can easily follow.

Job Search Steps

Prepare or Update Resume

If you are fresh out of school and have no work experience, you will need to write your resume in a way that shows what all of your best skills are and the ways that you learned or showed those skills to your fullest potential. It doesn’t matter if you were the Student Body President or Head of the class in culinary, any skill or experience that shows you are able to follow a list of responsibilities is key to include in a resume.

For those who are looking for a career or a company, the change will need to update their resume to the most recent job held. Bring up to date all of the names, titles, phone numbers or even your email and home address. Now, resumes include social media handles and tags for more information and personal reference.

Keep in mind that all of your experience, skills, and knowledge need to be viewable at a glance on one sheet of paper or internet page. Employers want to see a clean, clear and organized resume that gets straight to the point of telling the employer that you will add value to their company. This is why it is important to update a resume and keep only the jobs that were held the longest or have the most relativity to the job you are looking for.

Apply for Jobs

It is almost impossible to not find a job with technology at the fingertips. There are multiple job searching platforms that can help you narrow down your search to locate all the jobs within your requirements and skill set. In the past, you would have to print out a stack of resumes and hand them out to businesses you hope will one day hire you if they ever needed the help. Now you can just scroll and click without leaving your house and have an interview the very next day.

Practice Interview skills

Going on an interview is a lot like auditioning. You think you know what to expect, but you really don’t. Initially, you may think you’re absolutely prepared until you’ve hit traffic, spilled coffee on your only dress pants or forget you’re own name upon shaking the employer’s hand. One thing you can at least try control in advance is your nerves. Practicing how to answer the basic interview questions and anything else you plan on saying will help the nerves subside a bit.

Look up the most common interview questions (lists range anywhere from 5 to 30, so good luck) and pick a handful that you can practice. Other aspects you’ll want to become confident in are your introduction, previous employment information, and body language. It isn’t silly to practice in front of a mirror for job interviews. As I’ve previously mentioned, you don’t want to stumble or stutter when asked your name and age.

First-time job hunters will really benefit from these job search tips as it outlines the basic interview skills everyone should need. For those who are in between jobs, these tips are good to help you remember what exactly is expected of you when looking for a job.

What to Do During a Job Interview – 6 Tips & Tricks

January 10, 2019

Do you have an upcoming interview? No need to panic. Interviews are a great way for the employer to get to know you, but also for you to get to know the employer. Every interview you attend is basically a chance to meet new individual, sell your skills and get the third degree on what you don’t know and you need to remain fervent through it all. The key to a successful interview is preparation. If you have been wondering on what to do during a job interview, here are some guidelines to help you out.

What to Do During a Job Interview

Do Comprehensive Research On The Company

Bristol Associates says doing comprehensive research on a company before attending the interview is essential since it can help you answer some interview questions. For example, a question like” why do you want to work with us?” can be asked. Unless you understand a company’s dynamics and what an employee must possess to be integrated into the company, then you are likely to fail the question.

What to Do During a Job Interview

Bring Copies of Your Resume

Even though you are sure that the organization or the company you are walking into has a copy of your resume, it is essential to tag your copies along just in case the interviewer needs to refer to it but doesn’t have a copy in front of her.

Be Early For the Interview

Turning up for the interview five to ten minutes early is essential. Arriving late for an interview is often a red flag, while showing up early will leave a great impression on the interviewer. Avoid unexpected delays resulting from traffic and other inconveniences by being around the interview spot. If you are late for the interview, demonstrate that you are considerate of your interviewer’s time. Call in to let them know the time you’ll be arriving.

Practice is Vital

It’s one thing to have a mentally prepared answer, and it’s another thing to say it out loud. Make sure to practice several times before the interview. You can ask a friend to be the interviewer while you are the interviewee and let him or her ask you some common interview questions as you answer them out loud. You can also tape record your answer and play it back while assessing where you went wrong. When you prepare and practice right answers, they will be at the tip of your tongue, and you will be able to say them with more confidence. Even company executives practice for interviews, so you can see how crucial it is to practice prior to interviews.

Prepare Some Questions For the Interviewer

When attending an interview, make sure you’ve got some right questions prepared for the interviewer at the end or during the interview. Prior to your interview, grab a pen and jot down some questions you would like to ask the interviewer during the interview. Interviewers always ask if you’ve got any questions and you should have at least one or two questions lied up. Also, make sure you pay attention throughout the interview so that you’ll have questions related to what the interviewer was talking about. This will show him or her that you are an active listener.

Use the Appropriate Body Language

Always be cautious of how you carry yourself throughout the interview, because eye contact, good posture, a firm handshake, and a relaxed position can make a positive impression on your interviewer. Also, avoid using strong perfumes when attending an interview since this can be a major turn-off, especially if the interview room is small and not well ventilated.

Below are tips and tricks on what to do during a job interview. Interviews and be stressful but with preparation, practice and following the right interview etiquette can attain his or her dream job with ease. The more time you invest in preparing for the interview, the more confident and comfortable you’ll feel during the interview.

How to Follow Up After An Application – Get the Interview

November 5, 2018

Submitting an application to an employer is both exciting and nerve wracking. One way to heighten your chances of landing an interview is through following up. More than half of managers expect follows up, unless when they explicitly state you shouldn’t follow up. Once you’ve decided on what method you’ll use, this article will show you how to follow up after an application the right way.

What to Do to Follow Up?

About 43% of managers prefer email follow ups, while 39% of them prefer phone calls. With emails, your message could get lost – especially if the manager has an aggressive anti-spam software or gets swamped with emails on a daily basis. Whichever method you decide, you need to keep the message direct, short and polite.

How to Follow Up After An Application

You also don’t want to contact them too soon. Unless otherwise stated, the ideal time frame between resume submission and follow up should be not less than one week, and not more than three weeks. Bristol Associates mentions that the second week is always best.

How to Follow Up After An Application

Do You Know Someone On The Inside?

The first thing you want to do during a follow up is to check your contact list, in case you know someone that’s working there. If you know someone, have them check with the hiring manager or human resources on your behalf.

Look For Hiring Manager’s Contact Details

If the email and phone numbers are provided on the job description, your follow up is half way solved. Otherwise, do your research. Check the company’s site and even call the front desk and ask for the information.

Send A Follow Up Email

Your email should:

Be short, polite and precise
Have a very clear subject (e.g. Follow Up On… (job app description))
Briefly state your interest and reiterate why you’re a suitable candidate.

Lastly, cross check and send. Note, include your phone number before sending! There is also a more traditional route of writing a handwritten follow up card. So grab your favorite fountain pen and make your move.

Follow Up Call

It’s recommended that you do not call immediately after sending an email. When calling the hiring manager:

Introduce yourself, and ask them if now’s a convenient time to talk. Otherwise you’d be glad to call them some other time (don’t leave it open ended, fix a specific time).
While speaking with them, re-introduce yourself and state that this is a follow up call for a job application. Essentially, restate what you wrote in your follow up email.

Keep Applying

Don’t just rely on that one application. For all you know, they could have filled in the post already. Also, don’t contact them endlessly, especially if they don’t get back to you after your follow up – there are more companies out there.

Looking for ways to increase your chances of landing that job? Follow ups are extremely important to managers, since they show that you care about the position and reminds them of you. This article went over how to follow up after an application, whether that be through email or phone to help you get an interview.