5 tips to help prepare for your next job interview

by Bob on September 16, 2009

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I found this great video from the guys at Kiplinger providing 5 tips for job interviews. I must say, I think I went through more than a career’s worth in the last 10 years, and the one thing that I noticed is that the more you do, the easier they become.

For those in the workforce, interviewing skills are very important and (whether it’s right or wrong) can have a huge impact on how far you advance in your career. The best thing I ever did to help myself with interviews was to prepare my answers in advance. I would find out the most common interview questions asked and prepare my answers for each.

In all honesty if you have about 5 different stories from your past work experience, you can probably use them as answers to many of the questions you might be asked. So, I would think of a story when I helped solve a problem, when I made a mistake and how I fixed it, how I dealt with an unpleasant worker, etc.

Having these answers prepared made a world of difference when I was sitting at the conference table. Instead of having to spend 30 seconds trying to think of a time when I helped the company improve it’s bottom line, I already had the answer rolling off my tongue. My job interviews never were more comfortable as when I was properly prepared!

Oh and here is a bonus tip for you – don’t forget to send a thank you letter and a followup email if needed – this can make or break it for you!

Kiplinger’s 5 job interview tips

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CsMnoFd2aAk

What advice do you have for those job interviewees?

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{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }

Kevin@OutOfYourRut September 16, 2009 at 1:11 pm

#5 (Ask Questions) was the most important I thought. I don’t think I’d have the presence of mind to ask the question he did (do you think I’m qualified to do this job?) but from my own experience, aksing questions makes the interview go smoother.

Often the interviewer is just as nervous as you are and by asking questions you take the burden off of him or her and turn the interview into a give-and-take session, which is exactly what it should be. Otherwise, you’re on the defensive always answering questions.

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Kevin@OutOfYourRut September 16, 2009 at 1:22 pm

Bob–if that’s you in the picture above, then who is the guy in the box in the left column that says “ChristainPF Financial Planner Directory”???

Until today, I thought that guy was you.

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Bob September 16, 2009 at 1:59 pm

Kevin, that is pretty funny! ;) no, that guy is my senior by quite a bit… Sorry to disappoint! ;) He is just a guy who sold his image as stock photography – funny though, I have been seeing his image all over the place since I put that up…

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Kevin@OutOfYourRut September 16, 2009 at 2:26 pm

Sorry about the age thing–that did occur to me, but I thought that maybe you’d had a hard life…of course he (who I thought was you) looks pretty happy now, so I thought you might have had a blissful turn around in your life so I was happy for you (who was actually him).

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