Interviewing Tips Be Prepared for the Entire Interview Interviewing for a professional position in Information Technology or Engineering will require you to be well prepared since all the candidates will be highly educated and versed in their field.  Show your professionalism in your demeanor, speech, appearance and preparation. First and foremost you must know your resume and job experience information as if you spoke of it everyday.  However, being prepared to answer tougher questions is what will set you apart from other candidates.  If you are well prepared, you will exude the confidence you need to get the job.   Questions may include such inquiries as:

• What qualifies you for the position over other candidates?  State the facts without being boastful.  Do not speak negatively about other candidates.

• Why do you want to work for our company? Research the company and answer by saying how their company attitude would encourage your best work.

• What projects have you worked on, what was your input and what were the results?  Know the facts.

• What is your greatest strength?  What is your greatest weakness and how would you overcome it?  Talk about your strengths and how they would benefit the company.  State how overcoming your weakness is an opportunity for you to improve yourself.

• Why are you leaving your current position?  State how you are looking for a more challenging career opportunity.

• If you had a chance to live your life all over, what one thing would you change? Focus on a key turning point in your life and state how you would have liked that to happen earlier.

• Are you interviewing with other companies?  If the answer is yes, you do not have to name the other companies.  Just let the interviewer know other companies are looking at you without sounding arrogant, but your first choice would be to work for their company.

• What courses or seminars have you attended to keep abreast of changes in your industry?  Know the latest news in our field.

• How have you resolved conflicts with previous co-workers or managers? The interviewer is looking at your ability to handle conflict.  When answering this question, do not speak negatively of or blame others.  Show your maturity and flexibility by stating how you discussed the problem and how the parties involved came up with a solution.

• What are your salary requirements?  State your current salary and inform them you would consider any reasonable offer in this range.

Practice your responses to your questions with an impartial party.  Take their criticism as a learning experience.  Responding correctly and with confidence will be a great advantage to your interview.  Speak clearly and concisely.  Make your point in as few words as possible.  Rambling on or trying to impress your interviewer with complicated explanations will be detrimental. 

Complete your interview preparation by dressing appropriately.   First impressions for a professional position such as an IT or Engineering job will set the tone for how orderly your work is done.  If you are dressed sloppily or too casually, the interviewer will assume you give the same regard to your work. 

And most importantly, body language tells more about a person than we realize.  Enter and exit the interview with confidence, not arrogance.  Sitting straight up, but not stiff, and keeping arms at your side or on your lap shows you are comfortable and open to discussion.  Always demonstrate enthusiasm in whatever you say and do.

After each interview, evaluate yourself to learn how you can improve and prepare for future interviews.  No matter how often you interview, there is always room for improvement.  The bottom line is when you enter an interview, the interviewer’s attitude is “make me want to hire you” and it is your job to make that happen.

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