INTERVIEW PREPARATION

Objective

On completion of this course you will be able to list the questions that you may be asked in
an interview. You will be able to prepare an answer to each question. You will also be
prepared to reply to the request ‘Tell me about yourself’. You will be able to use this
information to prepare for interviews and convince the interviewer that you should be
considered for the job.

Are you the type who gets sweaty palms and a weak stomach when thinking about an
employment interview?

Do you feel you'd like some help in preparing to answer the interviewer’s questions?
Have you wondered whether skill in being interviewed can make the difference and
win the job?

If you've answered "yes" to the above questions, you can gain confidence and
valuable interview skills from reading this Lesson.

Fear of Interviews Suggests a Lack of Being Prepared

Your fear is of the unknown—and preparation can cure the fear

There are thousands of possible interview questions. Each question can be asked in
many ways, depending on the interviewer. Any single question might spring the trap:
"Sorry! We have chosen someone else for the job. Don't call us. We'll call you if
something opens up for you! "But a way exists to reduce your fear and control it,
improving the effectiveness of the responses that you give in the interview. Your
ability to succeed in employment interviews depends, we have found, on first
identifying and clearly structuring the skills that you can bring to the employer; and
then offering documentation (when called for) that you have these skills and you
perform them well.

The process is identifying, structuring, and proving— and it is quite simple, actually.

But it does take some time, some practice and preparation—and this is the order in
which you get ready:

1. Identify the questions that provoke most fear
2. Grasp the underlying purpose of these questions
3. Identify the constant elements of effective interview responses
4. Learn to know when your response has been good, bad or neutral
5. Be certain that each response creates a word picture that lets an employer
estimate your future performance as favorably as possible. Employers evaluate
your word pictures in terms of quantification, results, and proofs.
Granton pre-employment skills Training Page | 3