Chapter One – Selling Yourself
Chapter Two – What is an Interview?
Chapter Three – Knowing Yourself
Chapter Four – Basic Interview Errors
Chapter Five - Impressions
Chapter Six – Your Voice
Chapter Seven – Selling & Buying
Chapter Eight – Before The Interview
Chapter Nine – The Interview Itself
Chapter Ten – After The Interview
Chapter Eleven – Agency Interviews
Chapter Twelve – The Telephone Interview
Chapter Thirteen – Behaviour Based Interviews
Chapter Fourteen – Psychological or Psychometric Testing
Chapter Fifteen – Second & Subsequent Interviews
Chapter Sixteen – Salary Negotiation
The aim of this book is to give you the understanding, confidence and insight you need to perform to the best of your ability at interview. Your CV and the interview itself are inextricably entwined. To someone who does not know you, your CV is you.
Like it or not, they will have formed an opinion of you, and the person they believe they will meet at interview, based on the information contained in your CV. Having read this far you will know that your CV has brought you to this stage - and that is its primary function. But your CV - no matter how brilliant - will not get you a job. YOU get you a job. And you get a job at interview. Face-to-face, in front of one person or several, with nowhere to hide, it is up to you to meet and exceed their expectations and to make sure that you create an image in their mind that you are the right person for the job - generally to the exclusion of all others. So, is this about interview technique? Yes it is - but that's not really what it's about.
When you strip away everything else this is about selling - and this is a sales course. And what are we selling? OF COURSE… WE ARE SELLING … YOU!
No matter what you are involved in, everybody sells, every day. And the biggest sales job is selling yourself successfully to people who don't know you. Exactly what happens at interview! If you follow the topics through you'll get some useful advice and guidance which can have a really positive influence on your performance at interview. But like most things in life it's directly proportional to the amount of effort you put in. The people who do well at interview are the people who know themselves - and the time to find out whether you know yourself is when you're compiling your CV. At interview you simply build on that foundation and confidently sell yourself face-to-face. Remember, this is about selling and marketing yourself - not just about interview technique. It's ferociously competitive out there so equip yourself with the tools and skills you need to sell yourself effectively, confidently and persuasively.
Success is not a given. It has to be earned.
Interview Confidence
Nick Alexander
Copyright 2011 by Nick Alexander
Smashwords Edition
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the copyright owner.
SELLING YOURSELF
In order to sell yourself you've got to...
• Know who you are
• Know how to write who you are
• Know how to express who you are
If you can successfully do all three you will put yourself in an excellent position when it comes to getting a job. Having said that… I know that almost everyone spends time on the CV aspect but tend to dismiss taking advice as to how to sell themselves persuasively at interview. It’s almost as though getting to interview is enough and everything will just fall into place after that. It doesn’t!
Knowing Who You Are
This is, without doubt, the most complex, difficult and time -consuming part of the overall approach because it deals with intangible. What makes you, you? Your personality? Your genes? Your life experiences? Your enthusiasm for life? Without knowing yourself you cannot truly represent yourself either on paper or in reality.
There are many companies who will write your CV for you for a fee and I'm sure your CV will be top-quality. However it is my personal opinion that you can't effectively sell what someone who doesn't know you has written about you. Interviews are about selling yourself persuasively and about handling aspects about you that are written in your CV. It certainly takes a lot of the hard work away if you follow this route but all you'll really gain from it in the long run is a nicely presented CV not a rock-solid foundation of yourself that will be able to handle anything that comes your way at interview in a calm. controlled and winning manner.
Later you will read about Johari's Window which provides an interesting approach to knowing who you are.
Knowing How To Write Who You Are
Your CV is you. At least until the interview takes place. So it had better be the best it can be at representing you because you won't get on if you don't stand out. Your CV paints a picture in words... and it has to be a picture of you that you will have no problem expressing in reality.
Knowing How To Express Who You Are
Communicating your message effectively is the final piece of the jigsaw. You need to understand what factors come into play when being interviewed. Once you understand them you can harness them to make sure you come across confidently and enthusiastically.
Preparing yourself to win at interview is not easy. It takes effort and stamina. It takes staying-power and determination. As in any race, you have to have the will to win.
If you have the will to win and the mental strength to follow a course from beginning to end this book is the right place for you. If you want a quick fix solution requiring little or no effort, this isn't the place.
WHAT IS AN INTERVIEW?
The Oxford English Dictionary definition of the word interview is "an oral examination of an applicant for a job or college place". Its origin is from the French "entrevue", from s’entrevoir meaning ‘see each other’. So there you have it - an oral examination of you, taking place face-to-face.
The word "oral" means this is about communication and the word "examination" infers a degree of in-depth questioning.
You will be subjected to questions about yourself, your skills, your experiences and your suitability as represented by you in your submitted CV. Your CV is therefore the basis of the interview.
There's a lot going on at an interview!
If you have prepared properly and know exactly what is stated on your CV then you'll have nothing to worry about. Of course, everyone worries about being asked a question they either don't know the answer to or just make a hash of it. The interviewer is unlikely to make a judgement based on one question.
KNOWING YOURSELF
Before you can successfully sell and market a product you have to be intimately familiar with its features, strengths, benefits and weaknesses. Selling and marketing yourself is no different. Knowing yourself covers many aspects and the reason you need to know yourself is because of the necessity to interact with others. The better you know yourself the better you can adjust your approach if necessary at interview. One way of considering yourself in relation to others is to se your personality as a series of windows, with each window representing a different aspect of your personality as seen by yourself and as seen by others. This is Joharis Window.
The Transparent Area
Things known to you AND known to others. There is free communication between you and others about these aspects of yourself.
The Blind Area
Things known to others but unknown to you. Others perceive these aspects in you but you are unaware of them yourself. These aspects can include both strengths and weaknesses you don't realise you have.
The Hidden Area
Things known to you but which you choose, for whatever reason, to hide from others. These may include your feelings about others that you keep to yourself.
The Potential Discovery Area
Things unknown to yourself AND unknown to others. Both you and others may be unaware of, or perhaps vague, about many aspects of your personality. It may just be an unusual set of circumstances that reveals a different aspect you didn't know you had and which others hadn't perceived in you before.
Clearly what you are attempting to do is increase the size of the transparent area by pushing out the restrictions imposed on your true personality by the Blind and Hidden areas. By doing this you move into the Potential Discovery area as represented by the small green box. Discovering your true potential takes self-awareness, intelligent listening and a positive attitude to what you may perceive as criticism. It also involves working with friends and colleagues to find out how they feel about you - what things come across strongly to them? What weaknesses, what strengths do they see?
This has been a very simple look at Joharis Window. If you have found it interesting the web has in-depth articles and advice on the window and how to use it. The point is... you must be comfortable with yourself when you go for interview. And the better you know yourself the better you can sell yourself. However, the challenge, if there is one, is to accept the fact that dealing with unknown aspects of your personality requires an openness that may not come naturally. Try experimenting, you might just find out something that will pleasantly surprise you!
BASIC INTERVIEW ERRORS
~ Failing to prepare
Just no excuse. Do you want a job or don't you?
~ Not really interested in the job
Don't waste your time and theirs
~ Only going to brush up my interview technique
Rarely works - usually means you turn in a poor performance
~ Being late
Just no excuse.
~ Don't know who you'll be meeting
Just no excuse.
~ Don't know much about the company
As above.
~ Inappropriate style of dress/shambling appearance
How many times do you need to hear it? Appropriate dress! Casual can still be smart.
~ Talking too much
They want to know about you. Your opportunity will come.
~ Talking too little
They want to know who you are. That's the purpose of the interview.
~ No eye contact
Come across at best as lacking in self-confidence. At worst - shifty.
~ Lack of enthusiasm
If you make it to interview Do you think everyone else isn't interested in the job?
~ Overvaluing yourself
Big mistake. Can be terminal.
~ Too laid back
Sit up properly and look as though you mean business.
~ Lacking in energy
Tired answers and tired manner are not generally up there in winning.
~ Unsure about self-achievements
Why? Did you not write your CV yourself?
~ Talking in generalities
Be specific.
~ Rambling answers
Yawn.
~ Not turning off mobile
Dear oh dear.
~ Taking call on mobile
Rude. Arrogant. Terminal
~ Unfamiliarity with CV structure and content
You did write it yourself didn't you!
~ Acting disinterested
If the job doesn't interest you politely say so. Better for everyone.
~ Too casual
Acting casual has no place in an interview
~ Too interested in perks
Come across as shallow with completely wrong focus
~ Getting too technical
Often applies to techies. Interviewer wants to understand the scope of what you can do not necessarily the intimate technicalities of Java programming
~ Talent vs arrogance
Talented people can look arrogant if not careful. People buy talent not arrogance
~ Inability to sum yourself up
Practice a two minute summary of yourself - the so called "elevator pitch".
~ Making inappropriate comments about your present or previous employer
Absolute no-no. If you talk about them in disparaging terms you may do the same to the new company.
~ Suggesting how the company could be run better
Unless specifically asked to provide an example don't do it.
~ Asking too many questions
There's a time, place and limit.
~ Not knowing when to shut up
Praestate, dicete, tacete. (Stand up, speak up, shut up!)
~ Poor listening ability
Listening is hard. It is an active pursuit and requires sharp brainwork. Fail to listen and you'll fail. Full stop.
~ Don't look like a team player - consider this…“Special Aptitudes: The habit of wide reading, an ability to think logically, a skill to assemble facts and to communicate findings articulately. The health and vigour of an accomplished athlete.
Travel: I have lived in Kenya, Lebanon, Lesotho, Thailand, the Philippines and the UK.
Publications:
Who owns and controls the mass media in the US and Britain? Is its ownership satisfactory from the viewpoint of safeguarding democracy?
The New World information order in the light of economic policy
Nationalism – Is it a myth?
South Africa – a critical analysis.”
Team player?? You decide.
~ Don't know the job specification or requirements
Why on earth not?!
IMPRESSIONS