Chapter 8 Interviewing for a Job and Writing a Resume

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Chapter 8Interviewing for a Job and Writing a
Resume
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Preparing for an Interview

• Preparing for an interview begins with
  networking.
• 1B- When you network, you develop a variety of
  personal contacts you can tap for information and
  tips on job hunting.
• 2B- A job search provides job opportunities
  youve still got to get the job.
• 3B- More than 80 percent of American companies
  use newspaper ads to recruit employees.
• 1IC- School resources available to students who
  are looking for a job are counselors, teachers,
  career centers, and bulletin boards.

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Preparing for an Interview

• The interview process is a kind of sale.
• 4B- In the interviewing process, you are both
  the product and the salesperson.
• To interview effectively, you must know yourself,
  so you must build a dossier.
• 5B- The dossier will help you organize important
  information promoting concise and convincing
  answers that will set you apart from the crowd by
  identifying your strengths and weaknesses.
• 2IC- The three parts of the dossier are your
  personal work history, your education, and your
  self-assessment.
• Once your finish your dossier, you are ready to
  write your resume.

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Writing a Resume

• A resume is a formal, business version of your
  personal inventory.
• 16T/F- A resume is not a complete autobiography.
• 3IC- The six parts of your resume are the
  identification, job goal, education/training,
  work history, personal data, and references.
• 17T/F- On a resume, you put the most impressive
  credentials first in the Education and Training
  section.
• 18T/F- A list of computer applications you know
  how to use belongs in the Education and
  Training section of your resume.
• Be sure to list any foreign language or sign
  language that you know in this section as well.
• 19T/F- Jobs youve held are listed in reverse
  chronological order (starting with your current
  job and ending with your first job ) in the Work
  History section of your resume.

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Writing a Resume

• 20T/F- The Personal Data section of your
  resume is the appropriate place to list clubs and
  organizations.
• Also list any volunteer services, hobbies, sports
  teams, and outside interests.
• On your Reference section of your resume, state
  that references will be provided upon request.
• 21T/F- You should contact people whose names and
  phone numbers you list as references on your
  resume for permission to include that
  information.
• 4IC- Some tips to remember about the tone of
  your resume are be brief, be positive, be clear,
  be goal-oriented, and get to the point.
• Be selective and choose only the most important
  and interesting details about your work and
  education.

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Practicing for and Interview

• Before you go to an interview, your should find
  out what you can about the business or
  organization.
• Going online is one way to do this.
• Try to talk to people who have work there to find
  out about the job.
• A mock interview or pretend interview with a
  friend or relative is a good way to practice for
  the actual event.

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Answering Interview Questions

• 6B- Good planning for a job interview means
  that you try to guess the questions you may be
  asked and think about how you will answer them.
• Most interviews boil down to why you are
  applying, what kind of person you are, and what
  you can do.
• 5IC- Interview questions usually fall into four
  categories which are general, educational,
  job-related, and personal.
• General questions could be What are your
  strengths and weaknesses? or Why do you want to
  work for us?
• Educational questions could be What was your
  grade point average? or What were your favorite
  classes in school?
• Job-related questions could be Why should I hire
  you? or How long can you commit to us?
• Personal questions could be Tell me something
  about yourself. or What accomplishment are you
  proudest of?

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Answering Interview Questions

• Be careful that your responses dont sound
  canned or too planned as if you were a robot.
• 6IC- Some techniques to use in an interview to
  get positive points across are puff-balls,
  bridges, and pauses.
• Puff ball questions like Tell me about yourself
  allow you to put your best foot forward.
• Pauses allow you to jump in and talk about skills
  and abilities that you want to stress.
• Bridges allow you to transition from one point to
  another.
• 7B- When the opportunity for making a positive
  point presents itself, state a key point and then
  back it up with words.
• 8B- Types of sparklers to use to make your
  interview come alive include analogies, personal
  stories or quotes.

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Answering Interview Questions

• Try to keep your answers like a television sound
  bite.
• 9B- Sound bites, as a rule, last no longer than
  30 seconds.
• 10B- Be sure that any story you tell about
  yourself is true.
• 22T/F- Its not OK to include some job skill
  that you think you might have, but that you cant
  back up with facts in an interview.
• Be sure to practice for tough questions.
• 7IC- If you need to buy time while youre
  thinking of an answer, you can say the
  interviewers name, repeat the question, and give
  a general answer.
• It wont hurt to ask the interview for a moment
  to think.
• Once in a while, it is okay to say I dont
  know.
• Be sure to be positive and not to condemn past
  employers.

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Answering Illegal or Unethical Questions

• Interviews are not allowed to ask certain
  questions.
• Illegal questions include
• What political party do you support?
• What religion are you? Do you go to church
  regularly?
• Are you married or have you ever been married?
• What is your sexual orientation?
• Do you drink alcohol?
• Do you have a girlfriend/boyfriend?
• Do you have a physical disability?
• What is your IQ?
• How much do you weigh?
• Were you dishonorably discharged from the
  military?
• Are you Irish?

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Answering Illegal or Unethical Questions

• 8IC- If you are asked an illegal or unethical
  question, you should respond only briefly and go
  on, ignore it, or address the issue behind it.
• 11B- A physical problem that is not job-related
  is none of the employers business, by law.

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Making the Most of an Interview

• At the end, it is a good idea to ask the
  interviewer questions.
• You might ask about specific duties of the
  position or who your supervisor would be.
• Dont ever ask about days off, vacations,
  holidays, sick leave, personal days, money, and
  so on.
• It will appear that youre only interested in
  getting out of the office and are money-oriented.

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Making the Most of an Interview

• 23T/F- A prospective employer does not hope to
  trip you up or embarrass you during the
  interview.
• 24T/F- When an employer calls you in for a
  personal interview, they mainly want to hear you
  talk and see how well you communicate.
• 25T/F- The person who interviews you will
  probably be 20 years older and is looking for
  looking for information along with poise and
  maturity.
• 9IC- You can effectively communicate your skills
  and experience in an interview by being alert,
  having eye contact, using gestures, and sitting
  on the edge of your chair.
• Pay attention to the interviewers name and use
  it occasionally in the interview. This shows
  that you notice and care about people.

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Making the Most of an Interview

• Remember to be an active listener and show
  respect to the interviewer.
• 26T/F- Extending you hand at the end of an
  interview demonstrates your level of confidence
  and business awareness.
• Interviews are sometimes one-on-one with you and
  your employer, and sometimes you must go in front
  of a panel of a group of employees at the same
  time.
• 27T/F- In a team or panel interview, you should
  treat every member of the team with the same
  respect.

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Dressing for an Interview

• In general, dress for the interview in the
  clothes you would probably wear on the job, or
  even one step above job attire.
• 12B- Judith Waters advises that People take
  what you wear as information.
• 10IC- Some guidelines for dressing for an
  interview include conservative clothes (not
  flashy or revealing), polished shoes, proper
  grooming (controlled hair and makeup with clean
  fingernails), and matching and proper fitted
  clothing.
• Cover tattoos. Dont wear any loud jewelry. You
  dont want anything to take away from your words
  or skills.

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Before and After the Interview

• 13B- Plan to arrive about 15 minutes early for
  your interview.
• Be sure you plan the route you will take to the
  interview so that you wont have any avoidable
  traffic problems.
• 14B- Going to the interview by yourself shows
  confidence.
• Once at the interview, remember to be positive
  even while youre waiting. Dont complain about
  the traffic or anything thing else.
• When leaving an interview, thank the interviewer
  for his/her time and shake hands.
• 15B- Always follow an interview with a thank you
  letter.
• Begin the letter by thanking the interviewer
  again for meeting with you and restate your
  interest in the position.

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Interview Checklist

• 1. Do I have copies of my resume?
• 2. Do I have a list of three references with
  addresses and phone s.
• 3. Have I made sure I will be on time?
• 4. Have I dressed neatly and appropriately?
• 5. Even if I feel tired, can I remember to sit up
  and look alert?
• 6. Can I remember not to criticize others,
  especially past employers?
• 7. Can I make good eye contact with the
  interviewer?
• 8. Can I remember the interviewers name and use
  it in the interview?
• 9. Can I remember to thank the interview at the
  end?
• 10. Have I turned off all electronic devices like
  beepers and cell phones?

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Top Reasons Why People Arent Hired

• 1. Poor personal appearance
• 2. Overbearing, overaggressive know-it-all
• 3. Inability to express yourself clearly with
  proper grammar voice
• 4. Lack of planning for career
• 5. Lack of interest and enthusiasm
• 6. Lack of confidence and poiseextremely nervous
• 7. Failure to participate in activities
• 8. Overemphasis on money
• 9. Poor scholastic record
• 10. Unwilling to start at the bottom
• 11. Makes excuses for poor record
• 12. Lack of tact
• 13. Lack of maturity
• 14. Lack of courtesy
• 15. Condemnation of past employers
• 16. Lack of social understanding
• 17. Marked dislike for school work
• Survey was completed by 153 companies for
  Northwestern University.