I'm sure you have been to job interview(s) before. As for myself, I've been to numerous job interviews. Some went well, some didn't. Congrats to those whose interviews went well. I'm pretty sure you've read articles as well as books on how to attend job interviews. Me, well, I do not believe what are written in those books 100%. For me, those books are written by HR people with the intentions of standardizing how interviews and resumes should be conducted and written in order to make their job (in getting rid of unsuitable candidates off) easier. So now, these are my tactics in attending job interviews. Please disagree with me if you think I'm wrong but do give reasons/explanations for disagreeing. Here goes..
1. Resume. This piece of document doesn't serve other purpose than to present your weaknesses and thus, making it easy for HR people/managers to not select you. Common mistake I notice is that people change the resume content, but not the resume layout. If you already have 1 year of working experience, do not put your academic qualification part in the front. Put your working experience(s) and your top skills in front after personal details. I personally like Adi's resume, it circulated the Internet for a while long time ago and caused 'havocs' within UTP (and Petronas) haha. Reason is, the resume is so unique that it'll catch people's attention to read. You want your resume to be read, not to be easily categorized and making the chance of it to be rejected bigger. Owh, I've once mistakenly brought an old copy resume which did not reflect my current details and expected salary. But I did get the job with the current expected salary I was asking. This one can't be told here, need personal face-to-face story to be told.
2. How you enter the interview room is also important. Get rid of that shy, overly-polite attitude. Do you seriously think managers want to hire people who are shy and too polite? People who are too polite most probably are also who are afraid to make mistakes, and those who are afraid to make mistakes are useless to the organization. Walk inside shoulder broad, face high, and greet everyone in the room. While greeting people, make sure you look at them in the eyes and smile. Always offer handshake to people in same gender as you, and nod to those who aren't (unless they offer their hand first).
3. Talk with confidence. Present what you talked about with facts or article references. If you can't find one, just say it is your own opinion BUT give reasonable reasons why you say like that. Other than useful skillsets, managers also want people who can present things and back it up with facts. Just remember that in interviews, the managers are as blind to you as you to them. Use this opportunity to get them to learn your strengths, and do keep in mind to tell them how your skills can make their job easy. People like their burden to be taken off, and by doing that your chance of getting the job is pretty high.
4. Do not be afraid to tell them your expected salary. I once gave my employer my expected salary at the highest range they were expecting and still I was hired. Tell them that the expected salary is because of your working experiences and skills, although this only works well if you aced in point 3 above. I once had a fresh grad candidate who asked for RM2500 salary. Instead of brushing her off, I asked her how she justified that salary range with her working experience and skills. Obviously she failed though, not because the salary was too high. But because she couldn't give reason why that salary was comparable to her skills. Read back point 3, back up your statement with facts or justifiable opinion.
5. Eye contact is important. I know it is very hard for us to look at a person in the eyes. The trick is, always look at the part between the eyes (above the nose). Combine this with a smile, it'll make you look confident and pleasant. If there is more than 1 interviewer, make sure you maintain eye contact with all of them. When you are asked a question, maintain your eye contact with the person asking only. But when it is your time to answer, alternate with all of them. Shuffle the rotation to make it look more natural.
6. Always know the position you are applying by heart. I'm sure most of you will be presented with a form to be filled in with personal details, work experience etc when attending job interviews. Take me as example. I'm a programmer by nature, and people know programmers are lazy-asses. We simplify things and we don't do redundant things. Why would you re-write the whole thing in the form if the info is already in your resume? I had once given back the form to the interviewer with most of the fields empty and surely I was asked why I didn't fill it all. I just answered that other things were all inside my resume, they could just read it, it's a waste of time for me to re-write it and because I don't do repetitive things. And yes, I got the job offer.
To cut short, don't take job interviews as a place where managers evaluate your working skills. Those skills can't be evaluated in 1 or 2 hours session, don't be stupid. Interviews are just a place where you present yourself to a potential employer and tell them why they need to hire you. I always believe that once you get a job interview, you already secured 70% chance of getting the job. The other 20% is how you ace the interview, another 10% left for the first 3 months from your start date. Happy job hunting.
1. Resume. This piece of document doesn't serve other purpose than to present your weaknesses and thus, making it easy for HR people/managers to not select you. Common mistake I notice is that people change the resume content, but not the resume layout. If you already have 1 year of working experience, do not put your academic qualification part in the front. Put your working experience(s) and your top skills in front after personal details. I personally like Adi's resume, it circulated the Internet for a while long time ago and caused 'havocs' within UTP (and Petronas) haha. Reason is, the resume is so unique that it'll catch people's attention to read. You want your resume to be read, not to be easily categorized and making the chance of it to be rejected bigger. Owh, I've once mistakenly brought an old copy resume which did not reflect my current details and expected salary. But I did get the job with the current expected salary I was asking. This one can't be told here, need personal face-to-face story to be told.
2. How you enter the interview room is also important. Get rid of that shy, overly-polite attitude. Do you seriously think managers want to hire people who are shy and too polite? People who are too polite most probably are also who are afraid to make mistakes, and those who are afraid to make mistakes are useless to the organization. Walk inside shoulder broad, face high, and greet everyone in the room. While greeting people, make sure you look at them in the eyes and smile. Always offer handshake to people in same gender as you, and nod to those who aren't (unless they offer their hand first).
3. Talk with confidence. Present what you talked about with facts or article references. If you can't find one, just say it is your own opinion BUT give reasonable reasons why you say like that. Other than useful skillsets, managers also want people who can present things and back it up with facts. Just remember that in interviews, the managers are as blind to you as you to them. Use this opportunity to get them to learn your strengths, and do keep in mind to tell them how your skills can make their job easy. People like their burden to be taken off, and by doing that your chance of getting the job is pretty high.
4. Do not be afraid to tell them your expected salary. I once gave my employer my expected salary at the highest range they were expecting and still I was hired. Tell them that the expected salary is because of your working experiences and skills, although this only works well if you aced in point 3 above. I once had a fresh grad candidate who asked for RM2500 salary. Instead of brushing her off, I asked her how she justified that salary range with her working experience and skills. Obviously she failed though, not because the salary was too high. But because she couldn't give reason why that salary was comparable to her skills. Read back point 3, back up your statement with facts or justifiable opinion.
5. Eye contact is important. I know it is very hard for us to look at a person in the eyes. The trick is, always look at the part between the eyes (above the nose). Combine this with a smile, it'll make you look confident and pleasant. If there is more than 1 interviewer, make sure you maintain eye contact with all of them. When you are asked a question, maintain your eye contact with the person asking only. But when it is your time to answer, alternate with all of them. Shuffle the rotation to make it look more natural.
6. Always know the position you are applying by heart. I'm sure most of you will be presented with a form to be filled in with personal details, work experience etc when attending job interviews. Take me as example. I'm a programmer by nature, and people know programmers are lazy-asses. We simplify things and we don't do redundant things. Why would you re-write the whole thing in the form if the info is already in your resume? I had once given back the form to the interviewer with most of the fields empty and surely I was asked why I didn't fill it all. I just answered that other things were all inside my resume, they could just read it, it's a waste of time for me to re-write it and because I don't do repetitive things. And yes, I got the job offer.
To cut short, don't take job interviews as a place where managers evaluate your working skills. Those skills can't be evaluated in 1 or 2 hours session, don't be stupid. Interviews are just a place where you present yourself to a potential employer and tell them why they need to hire you. I always believe that once you get a job interview, you already secured 70% chance of getting the job. The other 20% is how you ace the interview, another 10% left for the first 3 months from your start date. Happy job hunting.
