Preparing for Interviews

I have only been to about three or four interviews in my lifetime and only one of those really had something to do with what I want to do as a career. I really liked this blog topic as well as some of things we are doing in class because it helps me to prepare for what the real world will be like...which is really only two years away...I can't believe that!!!

The first article I read from hotjobs was called Mastering the Interview. This article discussed three important components to "master your interview." They were preparation, presentation, and perception. Preparation involved what you wore, doing research about the company that you are interviewing for, and being familar with your resume. Most of these things made sense to me, except since I will most likely be applying for a teaching position, I was wondering what kind of research I would do about the school. I thought of ideas such as the demographics of the school, if the school has received any awards in the past, as well as information that would be on their website (mission statements, etc.). The presentation portion of mastering the interview involved introducing yourself to the receptionist, making sure your cell phone was off (what a bad first impression this could make-ringing in the middle of an interview!), your body language, and also focusing on the accomplishments you have made instead of just the job description. This one made sense to me because the company already knows what the job description is, they want to learn more about you and in what ways you can contribute. The last part of mastering the interview was making sure that your perception was efficient. This included asking questions to make sure you were understanding everything the employer said as well as any confusion you had about the company. In the interviews that I have been in, I am often so concerned with myself and making myself look good that I forget what I'm really there for and end up walking out not remembering what went on, this is definitely something I need to work on for my mock interview as well as real-life interviews.

The second article I read dealt with telling stories in your interview, it was called An Interview Strategy: Telling Stories. This was a very interesting article! It discussed how you can really make an impression in an interview if you focus on more than just facts. The article cited examples of what the company wants to know, some of these included: Are you a team player? Will you fit into the company's culture? and Are you an asset or liability? These questions can be answered by giving your employer certain instances (stories) where you saved money for your company, how life circumstances affected your work-these could include various crises or stress, and also times when you exhibited outstanding leadership skills. This article helped me to think about stories from my own life that I could use in an interview, and it was some that I had never even thought of before.

Overall, I really enjoyed reading these articles. They are in plain language and help me to focus on how I can make changes to my routine interview strategy to make it superb!!