Joseph says:
The best way to answer some of the standard and non-standard interview questions are honestly, but you can always prepare for these and many other questions by looking at the wealth of resources online. Also, in the Career Services and Experiential Learning offices, there exist people who will do interviews with you. They will also look over your resumes, cover letters, and CV’s (curriculum vitae’s) and help you craft better ones. Again, I will say this, use these offices to the fullest potentials because they can and will help.
What I feel the best way to handle a phone interview is to have a genuine smile throughout the entire interview because they can hear it. It will spread to all parts of speech and have an uplifting overtone to the entire conversation. And when in panel interviews, listen intently to whoever is talking, making eye contact, and show body language that shows you are interested in what the person is talking about. Show that you are an engaging person because not many places want to hire an antisocial person.
I am not too sure about when to talk about salary, but you should make it obvious that you are not only there about the money, even though that is most likely why you are there. I typically don’t talk about money until after they see what kind of candidate I am and I can tell they are interested in me. Please resond to the questions at the end of our posts.
The best way to answer some of the standard and non-standard interview questions are honestly, but you can always prepare for these and many other questions by looking at the wealth of resources online. Also, in the Career Services and Experiential Learning offices, there exist people who will do interviews with you. They will also look over your resumes, cover letters, and CV’s (curriculum vitae’s) and help you craft better ones. Again, I will say this, use these offices to the fullest potentials because they can and will help.
What I feel the best way to handle a phone interview is to have a genuine smile throughout the entire interview because they can hear it. It will spread to all parts of speech and have an uplifting overtone to the entire conversation. And when in panel interviews, listen intently to whoever is talking, making eye contact, and show body language that shows you are interested in what the person is talking about. Show that you are an engaging person because not many places want to hire an antisocial person.
I am not too sure about when to talk about salary, but you should make it obvious that you are not only there about the money, even though that is most likely why you are there. I typically don’t talk about money until after they see what kind of candidate I am and I can tell they are interested in me. Please resond to the questions at the end of our posts.
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Ada says:
I'll admit, while I've been through a lot of interviews, I haven't been to a wide variety of kinds of interviews. Never had a real phone interview, never had a panel interview... generally it's just the basic one-on-one where they ask about my experience and ask for more information about things on my resumé. This might actually be the most important piece of advice I can give based on my own experience: be prepared to talk about everything on your resumé. If you say you can speak certain languages, be prepared to speak some. Be prepared to talk about your responsibilities and accomplishments at your former job. Be prepared to solve hypothetical problems, like "If this situation happened to you on the job, how would you handle it?" I've never gotten a question that was extremely crazy, but the point is: be able to think on your feet and have a good attitude while doing so.
As far as salary, I think a general rule is to not ask until you've actually been made an offer, but I think this is a little flexible. You really have to use your own judgment; depending on the job, it might be acceptable to inquire about salary after the interview's over, or in some rare cases, when applying. If you're not sure, though, and you really want this particular job, I would say don't ask until you've been offered the job.
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Do you believe it is wrong for employers to check your credit, and why?
When do you feel is the time to talk about salary?
Do you believe it is wrong for employers to check your credit, and why?
ReplyDeleteI don't think it is necessary in relation to weather you are good for the job or not. I know many people who have not so great credit because of loans, getting laid off/fired, or because of divorce. So I think that is your credit is suffering, the way to help fix is by getting job to help decrease your debt. So if every employer did a credit check then people who try to turn theirs around would be unable to.
When do you feel is the time to talk about salary?
I have been told that on applications you should always put negotiable under expected salary so that when they are reviewing your application they won't strike you off the list because you are asking for too much. I believe that once you have an interview or are told that they are very interested in you then the topic of salary should come up.
What exactly is a panel interview? Is this like a group interview? I know that some grad schools do group interviews where they will talk to more than one applicant at a time which I imagine would be less nerve racking than a one on one interview. Or do you mean panel interview like there is more than one interviewer?
ReplyDeleteYeah, a panel interview, at least from my understanding, is one where there is more than one interviewer. Here is a quick link to an article about panel interviews,
ReplyDeletehttp://www.ehow.com/how_2185867_excel-panel-interview.html
I personally don't like it that employers check your credit. I have had some medical bills and I think it is unfair to have an arbitrary number determine if I get a job or not.If I am the right candidate and my experience and skills fit the position I would hate to be denied because my credit score isn't high enough.
ReplyDeleteIm not sure about the best time to talk about salary. Usually I wait for them to bring it up. What I am really uncomfortable with is when they ask you in the first interview what your salary requirements are. You can price yourself out of the position with the wrong answer to that question. I usually try to deflect it with "whatever the starting salary is" but I don't know what is the right thing to do...
Although I have never been through a formal interview with a company, I have been through my fair share of interviews within various restaurants ranging from mom and pop places to huge dining corporations. I believe that checking credit is something that should be done in certain circumstances, however proper reasoning should be given for the financial situation that the person being interviewed is in. As long as he or she has an opportunity to explain their credit or discuss it with the interviewer, I don’t see much wrong with it. The way I see it, is that if two people are competing for a job and it boils down to something like credit, I don’t believe it’s necessarily fair for the person with better credit to lose out on the job.
ReplyDeleteAs far as salary goes, I think that most of the time the person applying for the job will know the range of what the salary should be which would allow him/her to formulate their answers based on that. Salary should probably be discussed and finalized in person at one of the first interviews in order to minimize any issues later on.
I agree with you Ashley, If it is going to boil down to credit then each applicant should at least be able to explain why their credit is not the best that it could be. I still don't understand why credit has to do with a job interview, but I guess they just need something to compare and credit applies to everyone.
ReplyDeleteAmy,
ReplyDeleteYeah that's basically what I was thinking. If only one position is up for grabs and a million people apply, chances are that some people will have very similar credentials and so they probably look at every little detail to weed people out.
Ada,
ReplyDeleteI really loved the advice you gave in your earlier post about being able to live up to your resume. I took a few years of spanish, enough to want to put it on my resume but not enough to have a fluent conversation and you definitely saved me from some embarrassment. Like I said before, I havent really interviewed anywhere other than restaurants and they would never question that type of claim.
The government is actually proposing legislation that would not allow employers the ability to check credit in the hiring process, unless the position is directly involved with money, or some variation of that. I think that is a form of discrimination that is illegal, but I understand why employers might want to do that.
ReplyDelete