Ready, Set, Interview!
Two of the questions that Seymour mentioned really hit home for me, those being: "What are the day-to-day responsibilities of the job?" and "How many steps are there in the interview process?"Both of these questions are ones that at some point or another, I have asked during an interview... or wish I had asked. As for inquiring about the day-to-day tasks, that is something that any prospective employee should be aware of, to make sure that the job they are seeking is the one that they want. I applied for a position at one company that defined "sales associate" as cleaning the restroom and scraping gum off the floor... in addition to selling the product. Now, I don't mean to demean janitorial work as a whole, however I was surprised to learn that it was part of a job description at a high end retail store.
In addition, there have been times I wish I had known how many steps the company had in its interview process, because landing a second interview can be monumental or just a small piece of the puzzle, depending on the company. Many corporate offices have days of training in which they assess prospective employees in the job setting and see how many different tasks and obstacles they can handle. That retail interview I went on? I had to find six outfits for an [albeit, imaginary] affluent customer in one minute's time. And had I known what to expect, I may have been able to put together better ensembles.
Interviewing confidence comes with experience, but it's best to prepare yourself beforheand to the challenges you may face. Knowing more about the specific job you are seeking is an excellent start to gaining that confidence and truly believing that you are the best for the position.
Labels: interview preparation, interview questions, interviewing skills
Posted by Amanda on 12/18/2008 02:13:00 AM
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1 Comments:
I had a similar experience with landing a job that wasn't exactly what I had expected. Now, companies have titles for positions that do not really define what the worker does. So for one company a "customer service associate" actually has completely different job duties than a customer service associate for another company. Although my experience with this is limited to hourly jobs, I do assume the same for corporate salary jobs. It also makes we wonder what employers think when they see job titles on resumes. That's why its always good to explain the tasks you do in a previous job because they could assume your job was easier than the title implied.