Showing posts with label interviewing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label interviewing. Show all posts

Friday, April 11, 2008

Asking an Employer the Right Questions

When I tell my clients that they should be prepared to ask the interviewer questions, they inevitably ask, "Well, what should I ask them"?

In the January 2008 issue of Office Solutions magazine, I came across this article on "Interviewing Your Interviewer," which quotes the online Career News newsletter.

Here are the questions they recommend a job seeker ask:
  • Why is this position available right now?
  • How many times has this position been filled in the past five years?
  • What should the new person do differently from the last person?
  • What would you most like to see done in the next six months?
  • What are the most difficult problems that this job entails?
  • How much freedom would I have in the decision-making process?
  • What would be my options for advancement?
  • How has this company succeeded in the past?
  • What changes do you envision in the near future for this company?
  • What do you think constitutes success in this job?

Tuesday, February 26, 2008

Can Your Clients Get Paid to Interview?

I saw this article on About.com about a site called "NotchUp" that offers a unique twist in the employment search process.

Here's the description from the article:

Employers Find You:

Instead of searching for employers online and submitting your resume to apply for a job, job seekers can create a profile on NotchUp and set an interview price. Participating employers (including Google, Yahoo, and Baraccuda) pay candidates to interview. The goals are to save money for companies and earn money for candidates, as well as saving them job search time, because companies will be approaching you rather than the other way around. In theory, it's cheaper for a company to pay for a candidate's time than it is to pay a recruiter or post on a job site.

There are some checks and balances, so that candidates can't just interview for the sake of making money. Companies can rate candidates and you won't get paid if you're a no-show or late, aren't serious, or lied in your profile.

Candidates must be referred to NotchUp to participate.

Have you heard of this service? Has one of your clients used it? Let me know...

Sunday, December 30, 2007

Guest Author: Three Keys to Interview Success

By Michael R. Neece, CEO of Interview Mastery

"In job search, the interview is everything."

1. Interviewer Questions

Write down and practice your response to typical interview questions.

Typical interviewer questions include;
- “Tell me about yourself.”
- “What are your strengths and weaknesses?”
- “What are your salary requirements?”
- “Why did you leave your last position?”
Be sure you're ready to respond to these and other Frequently Asked Interview Questions (FAiQ). Each question is an opportunity. You need to know how to structure your answers. Having a template (or framework) helps you respond to any FAiQ.

Interview Mastery shows you exactly how to handle FAiQs with fill-in-the-blank templates and structured response strategies.

2. Your Questions

Interviewers are more impressed with your questions than any selling points you try to make. Create questions before each interview that you'll ask. When the interviewer asks if you have any questions just take out your list. Your questions should start with “What” or “How”. The following are examples of questions you can ask. Be as company and industry specific as possible when creating your own questions.
- What are the reasons driving the need for this position?
- What are the three top challenges that I'll face in this job?
- What are the key metrics for measuring success in this position?
- How do the position's responsibilities align with the department's goals?

3. Opening Questions

Ask one “opening“ question at the start of every interview.
Interviewing is like playing darts in the dark. The target is each interviewer's screening criteria. Each dart represents a dimension of your talents. To win this interviewing "dart game" you have to locate the target and decide which three “talent darts” to present. Asking the right questions at the start of the interview is the key. Examples of effective "opening" questions you'll ask include;
- “What are the key skills you feel are required for success in this position?”
- “What parts of my background are you most interested in learning about?”
- “What did you see in my resume that created your interest in my background?”

-- Interview Mastery is the job interview program for candidates covering more than 50 interview topics and situations. The program is based on 20 years of research and authored by Michael Neece, the “Interview Master” from Monster.com who has written extensively on interviewing for both companies and job seekers. Interview Mastery is the most widely used program of its kind and used by job seekers in 66 countries.

Saturday, December 1, 2007

Interview Questions to Assess the Candidate's Teamwork Talents

Is your client prepared to answer these eight questions designed to assess his or her teamwork talents?
  1. Describe your relationship with your supervisor, your peers, or your subordinates (if applicable).
  2. What would your present supervisor say about you? How about your peers? How about your subordinates (if applicable)?
  3. What was the most difficult work relationship you encountered during your last job (or career)? How did you handle this difficulty?
  4. Without using names, describe two or three of the worst people you've ever worked with. Why were they so hard to work with? How did you manage to work with them?
  5. What do you look for in a supervisor? In co-workers?
  6. What kind of supervision do you need?
  7. How did your supervisor give you feedback in your last job? How did your peers assess your work?
  8. Give me an example or two of your teamwork skills.
-- Reprinted from "50 Great Interview Questions," Richard G. Ensman, Office Solutions magazine, November/December 2006.

Thursday, July 5, 2007

Interview Questions to Share With Your Clients

I often give my clients a list of interview questions they might be asked (compiled from a survey I did a while back, asking my clients to send me lists of actual questions they were asked). Along with it, I provide a short list of questions they should ask.

These are the questions I recommend my clients ask:
1. How long has this position been open?
2. What are the creative opportunities available in this position? What kind of individual control of projects will I have?
3. What are the company’s priorities, and what specific results would be expected from me in the first 90 days or so?
4. Is this a new position? If so, why was it created? If not, why did the person who held this position leave the position?
5. What kind of opportunities for advancement are available?
6. How many other professionals will I be working with? What is the title of my immediate supervisor?
7. Why did you (the interviewer) join the company? How long ago was that? What is it about the company that keeps you here?
8. Did my resumé raise any questions I can clarify?
9. Where is the job located? Does it require travel? How often?
10. What do you look for in an employee?
11. What type of training is required and how long is it? What type of training is available?
12. What would my first assignment be?
13. What are the skills and attributes most needed to get ahead here?
14. How regularly do performance evaluations occur?
15. Do you have a job description available for this position?
16. Are there any expansion plans for the company?
17. What are the opportunities for on-the-job training and further education?
18. Do you have a tuition assistance or book reimbursement program?

Thanks to Evelyn Salvador for pointing out the following web site, which offers 200 MORE questions they can ask:
http://workforce.com/section/06/article/23/24/30.html#2

These 200 additional questions are ones that applicants may ask recruiters, managers, HR pros and others.

Here are the categories of questions:
* Questions for Headhunters and Recruiters
* Questions for HR
* Questions for Hiring Managers
* High-level Probing Questions
* Questions That Are Defensive
* Questions Designed to Get Feedback
* Questions Designed to Close the Deal
* Questions Stars May Ask

Share these with your clients!!