From PaulGuWiki
Seneca College
Contents |
Introduction
The interview is probably the hardest part of getting a job, especially if English is not your first language. This section will help you to prepare for the interview. The sample interview will help you to think about some typical questions which you may be asked, so that you can think about how you would answer those.
Preparations
If you are invited to attend an interview, confirm the appointment by letter, telephone or e-mail. Check that you know where it is, how to get there, and the name and job title of the person who is interviewing you.
Think about your appearance - first impressions are important. Dress smartly. Polish your shoes. Make sure your hair is neat. Do not wear strong perfume or after-shave.
Take a copy of your CV or application form to the interview. Sometimes the person who is interviewing you hasn't seen it. If you used a recruitment agent, a simplified version of your CV may have been given to the company (sometimes this is not accurate or misses out important details).
Prepare a list of questions which you may want to ask the interviewer. Possible subjects include the industry, the company, the job, pay, working hours and holidays. Use the internet to research about the industry and the company (see below).
Prepare answers for questions which you think the interviewer may ask you. In particular, think of examples of your achievements in previous jobs or while at school, and how you have managed any difficult situations. Think about your personal strengths and weaknesses, or how you would describe your own personality. Make sure that you know the correct English expressions to describe what you have done in the past.
Think about what the interviewer is looking for. Remember these points when you answer questions during the interview. Ask yourself why the company should choose to employ you, instead of the other people who are applying. These are some examples of some things the interviewer may want:
- Hard worker (so that you can do jobs quickly and efficiently)
- Team player (you should be able to work well with the other members of staff)
- Customer skills (for example, providing a good service or dealing with difficult situations)
- Communication skills (including adequate English speaking and listening ability)
- Flexible (so you will do whatever tasks are necessary, cover for sick staff etc)
- Friendly and fun (so that other members of staff can enjoy working with you)
- Honest (so that you can be trusted with money or the company's things)
- Long-term (the manager doesn't want to waste time recruiting and training new members of staff)
- Business-minded (so that you understand the need to make profits or to keep costs down)
Think about what you are looking for. Make sure that you learn enough from the interview to let you make a proper decision if you are offered a job. Examples:
- Pay (enough money to allow you to live comfortably; overtime payments if you are asked to work longer hours; if you serve customers, can you keep tips?)
- Suitable working hours (at most the number of hours allowed by your visa; hours which do not interfere with your studies; enough holidays)
- Good working conditions (a safe and clean workplace ; friendly work colleagues; a good manager)
- Training (help for you to learn how to do the job and to develop your skills)
Company Research
Make sure that you know about the company before you go to the interview. This can help you to answer questions such as "What do you know about this company?" or "Why do you want to work here?", and may make it much easier to ask intelligent questions during the interview. It may also tell you if the company has problems.
You do not usually need to have detailed knowledge about the company's finances, but some basic knowledge may be helpful. You should try to get an idea about:
- Size (how many staff does it have, how many branches are there, in which countries or locations does the company operate?)
- Sales growth (are sales growing or falling; has the company bought or sold any businesses?)
- Ownership (what is the name and nationality of the parent company if it is a subsidiary?)
- Profitability (is it profitable or loss-making, what are the company's future prospects?)
Read the company's website. You can find it by typing the company's name into a search engine such as: http://www.google.ca. The company re is usually a lot of useful information there. However, remember that this information is not independent (it is produced by the company itself), and that it may not be updated frequently.
For financial and share price information, go to Bloomberg's site: http://www.bloomberg.ca. In the box, click on "look up symbol". Enter the company's name on the "ticker lookup" screen which appears and click on "go". The symbol ("ticker") for companies matching this name should appear (usually a code of 3 or 4 letters). Click on the symbol and information about the company will appear. You can see a share price graph (it normally displays a 1-year graph, but you can choose to see a 5-year graph). The behaviour of the share price compared to the market will give you some idea about how well (or badly) the company is doing. You can also see a brief company profile and a few recent news stories. To find out more news articles about the company, type the company's name in quotation marks (for example: "costa coffee") in the search box for Google News at: http://news.google.com.
If you are applying for a job in a shop, visit the shop or one of its branches as a customer. Look at what products are offered, what kind of customers there are, the type of service offered, and what the staff do. If it is a chain shop, it can be useful to read customer reviews about the shop from a website such as: http://www.radioshack.com (enter the shop's name in the "Search ..." box and click on Go). You should be able to see what customers like and dislike about the shop and get a good idea about the type and quality of the products and services.
Interview Technique
Travel to the location of the interview early in case there are any problems with transport or in case it is difficult to find the place. However, it is best not to report for the interview until about 10 minutes before the time of the appointment, because the interviewer may not be ready for you and may feel pressure. Instead, go to a nearby library or coffee shop to relax or to prepare for the interview, and go to the toilet there if necessary.
When you arrive at the interview building, say your name, the time of the interview and the name and position of the interviewer (for example "My name's Huijin Kim. I've come for an interview with the manager Mr Chandler at 3 o'clock").
The interviewer will introduce himself/herself and probably shake your hand. Shake the hand firmly. Do not bow (it is not a British custom). State your name clearly, especially if your name is difficult for a British person to pronounce. For example, "Hello. I'm Huijin".
Think about your body language during the interview. Smile. Try to look relaxed. Do not cross your legs. Make sure that you make enough eye contact with the interviewer (but without staring).
During the interview, try to focus on your achievements. Be truthful, but don't be too modest (you have to sell yourself). Be active in the conversation. It should be a two-way process: they should persuade you why you should want to work for their company, and you need to persuade them that you can do the job well. If you always give short answers, it is much harder for the interviewer to understand your strengths, and it is also more difficult for the interviewer to relax. You have to persuade the interviewer that you can "add value" to the company, for example, by providing good customer service, by increasing sales, or by working efficiently and flexibly.
Be positive about your previous jobs, the reasons why you left them, and why you came to the UK. If you have some previous experience in a similar job, make sure that you say this. For example, if you are applying for a job in a coffee shop and you have worked in a similar job before, you can say something like "I worked part-time for 1 year in a Korean coffee shop while I was studying at university". Don't give the name of the company unless the interviewer asks for it or unless it is well-known and you think the interviewer will have heard of it. A simple description of where you worked such as "a Korean coffee shop" or "one of the leading coffee shop chains in Korea" is clear.
If the job's salary has not been fixed and you are asked what salary you expect, try to ask the interviewer what he/she is thinking of offering, or give a range of salaries (the lower end of this range should be the least that you are prepared to accept).
Make sure that by the end of the interview you understand when you will be told if you are being offered the job, what the job involves, what hours you will be asked to work, and what sort of training you can expect.
After the Interview
If you are offered a job
Make sure you understand when you start and where you should go on the first day. You should receive a contract stating the salary, the working hours, the notice period (the amount of warning you need to give the company if you decide to leave) and your entitlement to holidays. Normally tax will be paid on your salary before you receive the money.
If you are rejected after an interview
Don't worry. Be aware that you may need to apply to many jobs before you are successful. Telephone the interviewer to ask for feedback - maybe you can use this to improve your CV or interview skills