Interview Guide

The interviewer hopes that YOU are the right person for the job. They are under pressure to fill the position so that they can get back to their own work. Therefore you are in a greater position of strength than you think. Concentrate on what you have to offer in the way of qualifications and experience instead of feeling intimidated.

An interviewer has 3 aims:
1) To learn if you are the right person for the job.
2) To assess your potential for promotion
3) To decide whether you will fit into the company environment.

The key to a successful job interview is in preparation 
Be prepared: For the types of interview questions you will be asked
Be prepared: To ask questions yourself
Be prepared: To research the company 
Be prepared: To look the part 
Be prepared: To turn up on time

Job interview questions you may be asked 
Q - How would you describe yourself? 
A - You should describe attributes that will enhance your suitability for the position. Have some ready in advance. 
Q - What are your long-term goals?
A - These should be career orientated. Make sure you have goals to discuss. 
Q - Why did you leave your last job? 
A - This could be for more responsibility; a better opportunity; increased income. Do not be detrimental to your previous employer. He could be the interviewer’s golfing partner. 
Q - Why do you want this job? 
A - Your answer should be: more responsibility or better opportunity or similar. Not: because it is closer to home or the gym. 
Q - What are your strengths? 
A - You should highlight accomplishments and experiences that relate to the position for which you are applying. Also, give examples of situations where your strengths have been demonstrated. 
Q - What are your weaknesses? 
A - This should not be a list of deficiencies. Don’t mention anything that could make the interviewer question your ability to do the job, for example “I am always late for everything.” Instead, discuss a weakness that could also be a strength such as “I am a workaholic!” 

Last but not the least!

You should show interest in all aspects of the job and the company especially if shown around the premises.
Do your homework on the company and the nature of its business.
Take care in how you dress for the interview. First impressions still count!

Tips for Self-development

In a short column "Getting to Done", written by Keith Robinson gives some advice of self development. As I read through the points he made, it occurred to me they are good personal-development tips, useful for just about any kind of situation.

Choose to change
Glenda Cloud says, “Change is inevitable, growth is intentional.” We prefer the comfort of where we are to the perceived risk in change. However, if we want to grow, we have to choose to change.

Work harder and smarter
As an employee it can be easy to show up, do what you’re told, then go home. While that is the easy approach, there is a lot of reward in being an extra-mile worker.

Don’t make excuses
Take responsibility for things that go wrong. It puts you in a position to change or correct them.

Master your time
Work smarter; get organized; manage your time and priorities; focus on what matters; plan.

Get out of your comfort zone
This goes along with choose to change. Learn new things. Develop new skills. Learn from the past and use it as a stepping stone to new experiences.

Communicate
This is good advice for any kind of relationship. Go out of your way to make sure people understand what you are saying.

Lead by example
Just because you communicate well doesn’t mean the message is always accepted. It’s easier to motivate and encourage by actions than by words.

Embrace risks
Don’t worry about failing or making mistakes. It happens to everyone. If you’re not risking anything, you’re probably not accomplishing much.

Be flexible
With your time, with your attitude, with your support, with everything except your principles.

Own it!
Be confident. Make decisions and stick to them. Own up to your mistakes.

Don’t settle for average
Always work to your very best. Hold yourself to a higher standard. No one goes far by just doing the minimum.

Stick up for your passions
You will always encounter people who try to boost themselves up by pulling you down. Ignore them! Your mind will question your actions or decisions. Ignore it! Is there something that you are passionate about? Listen to that!

How to Mitigate the Urgent to Focus on the Important

I have just gone through a short essay of HBR. In this essay, Gina Trapani shared some important tips for effective time manegement and to ehance personal productivity.

Gina wrote "Busy people have two options when they decide how their workdays will go: they can choose to be reactive to urgent demands on their time, or proactive about focusing on what they decide is important. The only way to actually get things done is to mitigate the urgent to work on the important".

She further differentiate between urgent and important tasks: "Urgent tasks include things like that frantic email that needs a response RIGHT NOW; a sudden request that seems like it'll only take two minutes but often ends up taking an hour; a report you've got to write up before a meeting . . . Urgent tasks are usually short-term and we're drawn to them because they keep us busy and make us feel needed. But dealing with a constant stream of urgent tasks leaves you wrung out at the end of the day, wondering where all the time went, staring at the undone actual work you've got to complete”

She further considered “Important work moves you and your business towards your goals. The important stuff doesn't give us that same shot of adrenaline that the urgent requests do. It can involve thinking out long-term goals, being honest about where you are and want to be, and just doing plain hard work that feels boring and tedious".

Finally, She provides the following points and conceded that an awareness of the difference and a few simple techniques can help:

Choose three important tasks to complete each day. Write them down on a slip of paper and keep it visible on your desk. When you have a moment, instead of checking your email, look at the slip, and work on an item. Keep the list to just three, and see how many you can complete.

Turn off your email client. Shut down Outlook, turn off new email notifications on your BlackBerry, do whatever you have to do to muffle the interruption of email. When you decide to work on one of your important tasks, give yourself an hour at least of uninterrupted time to complete it. If the web is too much of a temptation, disconnect your computer from the Internet for that hour.

Set up a weekly 20-minute meeting with yourself. Put it on your calendar, and don't book over it — treat it with the same respect you'd treat a meeting with your boss. If you don't have an office door or you work in an open area that's constantly busy, book a conference room for your meeting. Go there to be alone. Bring your project list, to-do list, and calendar, and spend the time reviewing what you finished that past week, and what you want to get done the following week. This is a great time to choose your daily three important tasks.