There is nothing I dislike more, than attending a job interview. They are a necessary evil, no doubt, but I have always dreaded them. It seems to me that all you do is show that you are good or bad at job interviews, and not whether you are good at the job you're a candidate for. Some job interviewers approach the interview very scientifically, reading up on techniques, psychological profiling and so on. For the interviewee, you must know how to answer job interview questions.
A job interview is the art of telling people what you think they want to hear. Having said that, there must be a degree of honesty here. We all exaggerate our experience and skills a bit from time to time, but remember that if you claim to have a four-year track record of flying passenger airplanes, you will need to back it up later on.
To answer job interview questions is to walk a thin tightrope. The questions tend to be designed to find out lots of contrary information. For example, are you a good team player and do you also enjoy working alone? Do you like to lead and are you good at following instructions?
Sometimes, I have been so nervous at job interviews that I don't listen properly which make it difficult to answer job interview questions at all. In fact, the key is to swallow your nerves and listen intently. Otherwise, you'll have to wing it. The questions are not there to trip you up, but to find out about you, and what's more fascinating than talking about yourself!
When I answer job interview questions, I try to be calm and collected. I have had some success with meditation exercises before going into the interview. Some people do the much-recommended technique of imagining the interviewer in his or her underwear. I tried this once and got a fit of the giggles. Unsurprisingly, I did not get the job. Try to think of it as a conversation between equals, rather than a job interview.
The worst situation is when you really don't want the job. In my younger days when getting a job was a case of needing cash quickly, I went for all manner of different positions. When this is the situation, they always seem to want you to answer job interview questions like, why did you choose their particular company? You have to quickly come up with an answer. Out of all the companies manufacturing ball bearings in the world, why did I choose them? Tough one.
To answer job interview questions is an art. In the end, the only person you can be is yourself. Trying to be who they want you to be is hard to sustain, especially if it's a panel of interviewers peering at you. Each job interview gets easier. Well, it's marginally preferable to going to the dentist.
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