Job Interview: Akper Book
Job Interview: Akper Book
Job Interview: Akper Book
AKPER Book
Job Interview
You learned from the previous unit that an application letter is often treated as the first test,
which is intended to evaluate the candidates' written communication skill, in the recruitment test.
Getting an invitation to an interview, therefore, indicates that you have passed the written
communication skill test, and you are going to the next “round” of the recruitment process.
You will usually have at least a couple of days notice before the interview. It means that you
time to prepare yourself for the test. The question is what you should do to prepare for your interview.
Questions in a job interview are often simple and sound very easy. Yet, it does not mean that it
will be easy to answer the questions because some of them are quite tricky and therefore, they
potentially slump you to a disappointing failure. To help you dealing with such questions, the following
are brief discussion on the tips and tricks of how to handle some of the most frequently asked tricky
questions in a job interview.
Hi, my name is ___________. I'm in the _______________ field, and I'm looking
to_____________________.
The last blank would be filled in with your current career aspiration, whether it is to stay
within your field and move up or move into a different career.
A college student or new graduate might add the following to the basic structure.
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Good elevator speech inspires the listener to ask and know more. To make it so, you should
add an element of intrigue by incorporating your Unique Selling Proposition. Let's look, for
example, at how a conversation might go that starts with an intriguing elevator speech:
Ø Give a negative that is really inconsequential and has little to do with how well you would
perform the job:
· "I am not a good speller, so I keep a dictionary handy.”
4. Where do you want to be in 5 (or 10 or 15) years? What do you want to do with your life?
· Your answer should cover balance information about honesty / ambition / your desire to
be working at this company.
· Avoid responses like starting your own business, running for Congress.
· Not very inappropriate to mention the personal (marriage or family), but the focus should
be on professional goals.
· The response could be:
"I do believe that I am the best person for the job. If in the future you feel I would be a
candidate for a higher level position, I know I wouldn't be passed up."
"I hope to stay at the company and expect that in five years, I'll make a significant advance
in the organization."
"I would like to become the very best ______________ your company has."
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"I do believe that I am the best person for the job. If in the future you feel I would be a
candidate for a higher level position, I know I wouldn't be passed up."
"I hope to stay at the company and expect that in five years, I'll make a significant advance in
the organization."
"I would like to become the very best ______________ your company has."
10. How has your education prepared you for your career?
· Describe your educational preparation as very specific to the job. Provide concrete
examples, when possible.
11. How much training do you think you'll need to become a productive employee?
· Key word is productive. Your answer should show that you are a productive employee.
Make sure you express confidence in your ability to make an impact immediately.
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(a) You were very involved with sports, social organization, and extracurricular that may
have hurt your grades, but made you more well-rounded,
(b) You held a job while in school, which hurt your grades but gave you great experience,
(c) You made some mistakes early on, but you've worked hard to improve and have
learned from the experience.
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· Discuss the key skills you have gained from your work experiences and how these skills
will help the employer. This question also gives a good opportunity to talk about your
transferable skills if you have minimal experience.
· Transferable skills are skills you have acquired during any activity in your life —- jobs,
classes, projects, parenting, hobbies, sports, virtually anything -— that are transferable
and applicable to what you want to do in your next job.
· To know what skills to emphasize, you will probably have to do some research on the
company at which you seek employment and the particular job you are applying. If
you're responding to an ad, it's easy to find clues right in the ad to the most important
skills. You can also scarcely go wrong by emphasizing the skills that virtually all
employers are looking for, such as teamwork, communications, interpersonal, and
leadership skills. The following is the key words you can use when exploring your
transferable skills:
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20. How should you respond if you are asked about technical expertise that you lack?
· Just answer the question,
"With my experience and background, I feel certain I'll have no problems getting up to
speed."
· Toward the end of most job interviews, the interviewer will give you the opportunity to
ask questions. You must ask a least one question; no question is often interpreted
as the signal that you are not seriously interested in the job or the company.
However, do not ask questions where the answer is obvious or readily available -- or
when the topic has already been discussed in the interview. Never ask about salary
and benefit issues until the employer raise those subjects.
· Here is a list of some questions you can ask your prospective employer.
Ø What are the day-to-day expectations and responsibilities of this job?
Ø How will my leadership responsibilities and performance be measured? And by
whom? How often?
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Place/date of birth
Hobby / interest
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Home Vehicle
Name of
Period of service
organization City Rank / Position
From Until
Achievement
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Working experience
From
Until
Job description
Reason to quit
Working experience
From
Until
Job description
Reason to quit
Draw the organizational structure and show your position in the structure.
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Questions Answer
yes no
Have you ever apply for a post in this company? If your
answer is yes, when and what position did you apply for?
Beside this company, where have you sent your
application letter recently? What position do you apply for?
Do you have a part time job? Where is it? what do you do?
(.................................................)
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