Just of recent, a lady seeking for job was referred to an oil and gas company by a popular gospel artists, went for the interview well dressed and the necessary other things, came back and waited several weeks, not getting a call back, she called the gospel artists who referred her, the artists called the friend who just started the oil gas company.
There response was "She came to the interview with an Hermes handbag" well for those wondering an Hermes bag costs $25,000, so they believe whatever they would be offering her would not be appreciated for someone with that worth, her own response to Frank Edwards who referred her was "Sir, who dash monkey banana".
Not to bore you, but this content will show you the appropriate Job Interview tips and how to make great impression both locally and internationally.
There are 10 Kinds of Interviews and included are the Job Interview tips to scale through and have a great and impactful impression.
1. Traditional Interviews
Most common, These are face-to-face interviews where you field questions from a representative of the employer to assess your suitability for the role for which the company is recruiting
2. Telephone Interviews
For telephone interviews, the employer schedules an interview appointment with the candidate over the phone at a clearly specified time.
In most cases, it is usually a precursor to the traditional interview and you are advised to take it as important as a face-to-face interview.
Failure to impress the interviewer naturally brings the recruitment exercise to an abrupt end.
During telephone interviews, try not to be awkward.
3. Lunch Interviews
There are situations where your potential employer wants to have a direct feel of your personality outside the office.
This occurs more for roles where you are expected to represent the organization in an official capacity.
Like all interviews, you should strive to deliver intelligent answers to questions from the representative of the organization.
During lunch interviews, you want to pay attention to a few things around your mannerisms and etiquette, which include:
- How to order your meal
- Allow the interviewer order his/her meal first
- Order a meal that will enable you to talk comfortably while eating
- Be courteous when addressing waiters and restaurant staff
- Don’t eat or drink too much
- Say “Thank you” after the meal, Don’t order an expensive meal
- Avoid alcohol
- Maintain a professional aura and tone all through
4. Firing Squad Interviews
These are interviews where you get interviewed by a team of representatives who would fire questions at you in the manner that the name suggests.
Interviews of this nature are usually born out of job roles where you would be expected to report to or work with a team of individuals who would form your reporting lines.
In this situations, expectations are high from the employers but it also helps you because rather than have separate interviews with each unit head, you would have an interview with all of them simultaneously.
5. Online Interviews
Online interviews which involves the use of Skype, Zoom, Google meet, are becoming a regular form of interview for organizations that prefer to take full advantage of technological offerings.
You should, however, bear in mind that while an online interview might save you the stress of going to the physical office of the recruiting company, it is one that should be navigated with caution.
For instance, to have a successful online Interview, you must ensure that your laptop or whichever device you intend to use has enough battery power to last the duration of the interview.
You wouldn’t want your laptop shutting down in the middle of an interview, would you?
Also, you must ensure your internet connection is strong enough to guarantee connection for the duration of the interview.
You should also be properly dressed and keep your mannerisms professional all through the course of the interview.
6. Puzzle Interviews
Puzzle interviews easily stand out as one of the most dreaded forms of interviews for candidates and the reason is simple; the nature of questions you are asked at puzzle interviews can throw a spanner into all the effort you have put into preparation.
A classic example is getting to venue of an interview and upon sitting in front of your interviewer, you are asked the question below:
“You are standing in front of two doors. One of the doors leads to Heaven while the second leads to Hell. In front of each door stand two angels. One of the angels always speaks the truth while the other always lies but you have no idea which of them is the liar and which is the honest angel. To get to Heaven, you can ask only one question to one of the angels. What question would you ask?”
How would you answer this?
The solution is not a definite answer. Rather, the interviewer is more interested in your reasoning capacity and your approach to finding answers to situations and challenges.
The secret of excelling at puzzle interviews is to remain calm, identify what the problem is and then channel your effort into breaking down the question/puzzle into bits and pieces.
There are two things you must avoid during puzzle interviews – First, you must resist the temptation of panicking.
Secondly, do not fall into the error of throwing series of questions at the interviewer.
Ask very limited questions and focus more on showing your prospective employer how your mind works when faced with situations and challenges.
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7. Career Fair Interviews
Career fairs are prime opportunities to impress your potential employer. Interviews held at career fairs offer you a maximum of 10-15 minutes to sell yourself to your interviewer.
As you might have guessed, this simply means you have to put your best foot forward in order to get invited to a more elaborate interview.
Below is a list of tips to help you excel at a career fair interview:
- Keep your dressing smart and formal
- Go along with a hard and soft copy of your CV and other credentials
- Take advantage of the opportunity to network
- Maintain a strong and confident body language
- Keep your breath fresh
- Prepare a verbal business card (about 45 seconds long)
8. Case Interviews
In ‘case interviews,’ potential employees are given a real-life case study to work upon.
As an example, a recruiting company could be hiring for the position of a content marketer and present a case study, which shows that the marketing team sends out one email newsletter weekly to its database of subscribers but isn’t generating enough leads for the Sales Departments and ask you what you would recommend.
You are then expected to suggest strategies that could help yield more leads as a solution.
As a feedback, you could suggest that the company looks in the direction of paid Ads with a well targeted audience and budget.
You could also suggest that the organization increase the volume of email newsletter depending on the number of products and services in focus.
9. Apprentice Interviews
For apprentice interviews, your potential employer is not the kind who can be impressed with listening to what you can do or your past accomplishments.
Rather, your interviewer, in this case, wants to see what you can do.
For instance, if the role is for Recruitment Consultant, your interviewee could sit with you in a real-life interview with a graduate intern and see how good you are at assessing candidates.
Apprentice interviews offer you an opportunity to shine.
So, make the best use of the opportunity.
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10. Group Interviews
This form of interview is more prevalent for roles around sales jobs and internships.
It could prove a bit tricky for candidates who are on the shy side but with a little preparation, you can ace it.
One peculiar trait of group interviews is that is has a reputation of coming as a surprise to candidates especially those who are not prepared for it.
In some group interviews, you will be interviewed within a group and might even be interviewed by a team of interviewers.
The trick is to remain confident and answer the questions as they are thrown at you.
Group interviews are also known to present you with case studies where your interviewer(s) will assess you on how you interact with others, your level of inclination towards problem-solving reasoning, confidence and how you react to situations that call for application of your skill-set and experience.
To shine in a group interview, you must strive not to appear surprised when you walk into the interview and discover that you are not having a one-on-one interview.
Regardless of how surprised you might be, do not let this reaction find its way to your face.
Stay confident.
At group interviews, it’s important to make friends. If you arrive for the interview in good time, chances are that the opportunity to interact with other candidates before the interview will present itself.
When it does, sink your teeth into it; ask for their names, start conversations with them. Some interviewers notice this and it is bound to leave a positive impression.
At group interviews, the fact that you already had a conversation with other candidates will push your confidence and familiarity with their names a couple of notches higher.
Finally, during group interviews, you want to remain yourself, listen to what others have to say and get all participants involved. Remember not to come across as too overbearing in your attempt to lead the conversations.
This has a strong potential to backfire.
READ ALSO: What is the importance of Life Skills in 21st century human life?
Extra Added Bonus
- Prepare Your Story
- Practice Before Showtime with a freind or family
- Take Note Of Things Employers Watch Out For in Your Response to Questions: Flexible thought process
- Ability to work efficiently within a group
- Eloquence and confidence
- Ability to construct and deliver logical responses
- Relevant wealth of experience
- Good use of grammar
- Bigger picture thinking
- Relating responses to business value
- Mature and well thought-through responses
- Body language and unspoken cues
- Things You Should Not Do: Stay Away From Gum, African Time
- What to Wear: Dress corporately
- Do your Homework
- Show That You Want the Job
- Watch what you say about your previous employer
- Avoid lying
Frequently asked questions on Job Interview Tips, How to make a great impression
1. What are the 5 C's of interviewing?
The five C's of interviewing are:
- Competence
- Character
- Communication skills
- Culture fit
- Career direction
2. What are the most common interview questions and answers?
- Tell me about yourself
- What are your strengths?
- Why do you want this job?
- What are your salary expectations?
- How do I introduce myself in an interview?
3. A Quick Guide On How To Introduce Yourself In An Interview
- Start by researching the company and your interviewers.
- Dress appropriately for the interview.
- Avoid distractions and keep eye contact.
- Be confident and comfortable.
- Be aware of body language.
- Prepare what to say.
- Rehearse your introduction with a friend.
Wrapping up on Job interview tips and how to make great impression
According to research shows 50% of applicants perform woefully at job interview.
The moment you have been invited for a job interview, it’s important you swing into the task of doing some research about your potential employer. When we say ‘research,’ we do not mean shooting the name of the company into Google and expecting miracles.
That will not suffice; neither will the latest news item on the company give you what you need.
Rather, what you need to do is to mop up as much factual information as you can gather about the organization and make the best use of it in your interview.
A good starting point would be the company’s website. There, you are bound to find a rich serving of information; not just about what the company does but also about its products and services, new projects, key personnel and much more.
Done with the website? Your next point of call should be LinkedIn.
On LinkedIn, you should go through your connections to see if you know anyone who has worked with the company. If you do find, feel free to have a chat with them as you are bound to learn a few helpful things from your conversation with them.
At this point, we must throw in a very strong warning when it comes to researching a company.
As beautiful as it is to research a company, it could become counterproductive. Are you wondering how that could happen? Let’s break it down. When you research a company, you are exposed to a wealth of information.
The question at that point becomes: What should you do with all that information? The answer? You should use it but use it wisely.
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