How to stand out in an interview
These questions were started by Lou Ortega, current Director of Media Distribution for AITP. Jake Pease, former webmaster for AITP, added to the ideas Lou created. If you have any additions to this page, feel free to email the webmaster.
1) Arrive 5 minutes early.
2) Always show up to an interview wearing a full suit and tie. Make sure your tie knot is well adjusted - for help, check out: How-to-tie-a-tie. Always wear deodorant, but don't wear strong perfumes or colognes.
3) Make eye contact and smile - be friendly and confident. Students whose first language is not English sometimes have a bad habit of looking away when they talk, which is probably because they're working hard to translate what they want to say in their head.
4) Look very interested in everything they say - take notes when they speak, but not too much because you can't look at them when they talk.
5) Every time they ask a question, do not answer immediately after. Breathe-in, breathe-out, then answer. This is because interviewers think that people who start their answer before THEY finish are rude (disrespectful). If you pause in-between, it lets them know you listened and really thought about your answer.
6) Research the company before the interview - that means go to their website, learn about what they do, learn about what positions they hire. Mention that information during your conversation with them. It makes them feel like you are very interested in working there and it will make you stand out.
7) A common interview question is "tell me about your biggest weakness." A great way to answer this question (and many others) is by using the STAR model.
S: Situation or
T: Task
A: Action
R: Result
Give background on a Situation or Task that answers their question, explain the Action you took and the Result.
8) At the end of the interview they'll probably ask you if you
have any questions. Always ask at least one question, which can be based on either:
A) The company website - for example, "I noticed on your website that....
- ...your headquarters are located in Atlanta, GA - are all the positions you're hiring for located there?"
- ...you're hiring for business analysts and programmers - I feel I can perform both of those duties - which of those two tracks has been most successful moving up?"
B) A typical day - "can you share with me what a typical day is for someone in that position?"
C) Something they said during the interview - for example, "You mentioned earlier that this position would involve some traveling. What percentage of the time can a new employee expect to travel in the first few years?"
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Published on: 2009-10-21 (527 reads)
