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Be personable, working in HR I've seen many qualified applicants check their personality at the front door, regurgitate what they wrote on their resume and not get the job. Smile, approach the interview more like a conversation than trying to ace a test. I've seen more under qualified people get hired simply because of their great attitude.
Be prepared for "tell me about yourself" "what are your strengths" "what is your weakness"
P.S. Just adding that the job interview I was called for is 900 miles away from where I live and I am flying.
Are you flying in the day before?
Pack a lightweight wool suit and no-iron dress shirt--or silk shell if you are female. As soon as you get to your hotel, hang them up. In the morning the wrinkles should have fallen out of them. If you do need to touch up the shirt, set the iron very low and gradually increase the temp--those hotel irons are notorious for scorching!
Take a couple of safety pins to deal with any last minute wardrobe malfunctions. Many hotels can offer needle and thread, but not all. Don't forget to pack a shoe shine cloth as well.
Make sure you drink a ton of water before, during, and after the flight to stay hydrated. Avoid alcohol, at least until after the interview.
Don't forget to pack your dress socks/hosiery. (I know several people who have forgotten this when packing for business travel--and I'll admit I'm one of them. )
If you are crossing time zones, try to adjust your sleep pattern starting a week prior to travel to get yourself closer to the time zone you are headed to before you get there. Although if you are headed east to west with a morning interview, this will work in your favor.
Try to familiarize yourself with any local vernacular or customs. Perhaps post in the relevent forum here on C-D to ask the locals for help on that one. One example, in parts of the deep south you don't want to look too "urban." Tone down hair gel, makeup, opt for a navy suit rather than black Armani, etc.
Pack a lightweight wool suit and no-iron dress shirt--or silk shell if you are female. As soon as you get to your hotel, hang them up. In the morning the wrinkles should have fallen out of them. If you do need to touch up the shirt, set the iron very low and gradually increase the temp--those hotel irons are notorious for scorching!
Take a couple of safety pins to deal with any last minute wardrobe malfunctions. Many hotels can offer needle and thread, but not all. Don't forget to pack a shoe shine cloth as well.
Make sure you drink a ton of water before, during, and after the flight to stay hydrated. Avoid alcohol, at least until after the interview.
Don't forget to pack your dress socks/hosiery. (I know several people who have forgotten this when packing for business travel--and I'll admit I'm one of them. )
If you are crossing time zones, try to adjust your sleep pattern starting a week prior to travel to get yourself closer to the time zone you are headed to before you get there. Although if you are headed east to west with a morning interview, this will work in your favor.
Try to familiarize yourself with any local vernacular or customs. Perhaps post in the relevent forum here on C-D to ask the locals for help on that one. One example, in parts of the deep south you don't want to look too "urban." Tone down hair gel, makeup, opt for a navy suit rather than black Armani, etc.
Good luck!
Please don't use the terms y'all or yonder even tho you are interviewing in Dallas. We really are quite comfortable with yanks..... but also don't say youse-guys and don't ask where you can get a good cheesesteak sandwich here (you can't, btw).
Please don't use the terms y'all or yonder even tho you are interviewing in Dallas. We really are quite comfortable with yanks..... but also don't say youse-guys and don't ask where you can get a good cheesesteak sandwich here (you can't, btw).
I would suggest not using any of those regardless of where you are interviewing, proper grammar is much more appropriate.
(And I know what you mean about good cheesesteak--none here in Orlando, either.)
Thank you! Well, the hotel is 20 minutes from the interview site. And I will be arriving to hotel approximately 3 hours before the interview. The flight is only 3 hours long, so, I hope that my suit will be in a great shape after I arrive. I will go to hotel and take shower, etc... And be on my way....
So, I know the three maine questions asked at the interview: "tell me about yourself" "what are your strengths" "what is your weakness".
What else, any personal memories and perhaps list of question you guys were asked.
There are more then 60 behavior question, but I thought you guys can remember the most asked...
Thank you! Well, the hotel is 20 minutes from the interview site. And I will be arriving to hotel approximately 3 hours before the interview. The flight is only 3 hours long, so, I hope that my suit will be in a great shape after I arrive. I will go to hotel and take shower, etc... And be on my way....
So, I know the three maine questions asked at the interview: "tell me about yourself" "what are your strengths" "what is your weakness".
What else, any personal memories and perhaps list of question you guys were asked.
There are more then 60 behavior question, but I thought you guys can remember the most asked...
Thanks!
Have you verfied that you'll actually be accomodated with an early check in at the hotel? Getting into a room before 3:00 pm can be a crapshoot. If they were full the night before with a lot of late check outs, it might not be possible. Just be prepared for that.
And travel delays--I was two hours delayed getting into Philly the other morning, they had only one runway open. It caused me to miss my connection, and I had to wait two hours for the next one, putting me four hours late for my appointment. Fortunately my customer was fine with it, but I'd hate to be frazzled due to something like this before an interview.
I'd say look over your resume and think of a quick blurb (beyond what's already on there) about every work experience listed. For some reason, people always ask me about a summer internship from 2009. To be honest, it was a pretty crappy experience--one of those, "Why did this department ask for an intern?" kind of things. Apparently, however, it sounds a lot more interesting on paper than it was in real life, and people always want to talk about it.
The first couple of times, it caught me off-guard (as the internship wasn't in the same department as the position I was applying for) and I flubbed it. I'd say go through your resume, and for every position you list, think about the interviewer telling you, "Tell me about your time at [Company/Organization X]," and come up with a brief overview of your duties, what you learned, etc.
I guess it sounds pretty elementary, but you'd be surprised what you forget about a job as time passes.
ETA: Good luck! I've got my own out of town interview on Monday. Not nearly as far as yours (more like 450 miles), but still enough to merit a 3-day trip. I feel your travel stress!
Faxed special request for early checkin to hotel via fax and mail and via Expedia. No response yet.....
They aren't going to respond to a fax. You need to call the hotel and ask for the front office manager. Explain your situation and ask for a confirmation of an early check in. And to be honest, even if the request is approved, if people fail to vacate the rooms in a timely manner, there's not much the hotel can do.
When the interviewer asks if you have any questions, ask one or two that will allow you to sell yourself even further.
A generic example question (since I don't know your industry) would be "What is the top quality you are looking for in a job candidate?" However the interviewer answers, you follow it up with examples of how you have that quality. For instance, perhaps you respond by telling a little anecdote about a previous job in which that quality made you successful at work. You can also ask about what skills are most important, or if it is a management position you can ask what are their visions for department changes or the most pressing managerial decision the winning job candidate will face. If you can think of good questions specific to your industry, all the better.
While your competitors are asking useless questions about "company culture," benefits etc, your questions will give you valuable insight about what the hiring manager wants, and will give you the chance to essentially say "I am the person you are looking for and here is why."
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