How To Take an Interview.
We claim that success in an interview is the preparation factor plus self-confidence. But easier said than done. However, let's investigate in more detail what each element of this simple algorithm implies.
Preparation
Let's split up the preparation process into the following stages I. preparation prior to the news about the interview and II. after the message that someone got interested in your experience has reached You.
- Preparation before the message about an interview.
- This stage begins, basically, in college (education) and then it goes on to your work place, where you work gaining experience.
- Preliminary preparation includes the level of English you have managed to achieve. Our advice is to attend language courses for conversational practice and grammar review. It is also effective to improve on your English with your colleagues, who consider working abroad. This could be done within a small group at week- ends, speaking on professional topics. You can do it at work within your team if your management promotes it. Good English is a half of success!
- CV composing is one of the major preparation elements. You need to try your best writing about yourself in a detached manner (see Advice on Resume Composing for more info). Remember, that above all things HR managers base their judgement about you as a professional and personality on your CV, therefore try to reflect all of your experience and necessary personal and contact details accurately and to the full. Good resume is the second half of success!
- Preparation after the message about the interview.
- Above all things make sure, that you know which resume version will be on the table of the interviewer during your conversation.
- After that review the version several times. It gives a few advantages you at once:
- You refresh your own technical biography
- It allows you to see the text composed by you from a critical point of view and realize what can be added or improved
- You get a good language practice (we advise You to look it over once or twice, reviewing terminology and projects cliches)
- Now it will be a good time to speak about confidence and those definite forms of its expression, which will score for you during the interview.
Confidence
Do not confuse confidence with undue liberties, which have little to do with our target feature. The confidence we mean is the confidence of a professional, who is knows what he is worth, has every right for a well-paid job and who in turn is ready to carry on with it in a responsible and quality manner. This type of confidence has the following manifestations:
- Clear articulation, not mumbling
- Sincere laughter when appropriate
- Knowledge of answers to the posed questions (if you need to think, take your time but let the interlocutor know about it). If there is no answer, try to explain why
- Frankness, honesty and openness (one should not conceal the information about, say, his/her current salary, project etc.- failure guaranteed ). These features appeal to the interviewer, not only a professionally but from the point of view of a prospective team member as well. For employers, it's better to know about some problem beforehand and try to deal with it. In turn, it is a lot worse to hire a man with neglected problems, which, to crown all that, were deliberately concealed.
- Exhaustive information upon inquiry, but do not bore the interviewer's attention by excessive information.
However useful all of the pieces of advice are, it's not easy to feel confident without more or less clear idea about what kind of questions are asked, what topics are normally discussed during the interviews. Therefore then follows a list of themes and questions, often touched upon during an interview. But at first we should explain, that the interviews of agencies and companies, as a rule, are held on similar scenarios - general interview and technical interview, as the recruitment agencies represent the companies. As it was already mentioned on the page about the work with candidates, an interview, depending on the interviewer personality, can have some variants of development.
Specialist personal data - age, length of service, higher education, marital status, habitation country. As a rule, the recruiters, as well as the companies already possess such information before the interview. If there are such questions during the interview, it means that anything is not synchronized, or some information was left out in resume, or there is some special interest in the given information.
Life plans and current situation. The questions are directed to define how quickly a specialist will be able to start working and whether there exist any serious obstacles for this. Such questions are mainly put by recruitment agencies, but as well as by companies. It is better to prepare and to know the answers beforehand.
Level of English. The questions are put not only to assess the level of English (estimation, which a candidate gives to his language luggage), but also for possibility to estimate a candidate in general. Opinion of any person is always subjective, and he cannot, however he would try, to estimate himself substantively. A company is interested in people, who can value themself objectively as much as possible. Such questions are put not very often, but one need to be ready for them.
Technical part of the interview is one of the main parts. The important thing in preparation to this part is to know what variant of resume a company will use. Then you need to study the resume attentively, and make sure, whether there is not any discrepancy in facts described by you. Try to recall every project described by you. The questions of this part are complicated enough, but if You a professional there won't be any problem. Very often the companies put the questions on technologies, which they are most of all interested in. (e.g.: If one of the leading selection criteria is C++, one should pay attention to such basis notions as: polymorphism, ООП, incapsulation.) For not to make a fool of yourself acquaint with specification of the company at first. You may also find out, for specialists of what kind, we have already found a position in given company. But mainly the questions will concern the projects. The company can be interested in the usable technologies (CORBA, DCOM), also they are interested very often in solution of some arising problems.
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