Preparing for Your Interview Webshop

Preparing for Your Interview Webshop

It is very competitive to make yourself stand out among other candidates who are applying for a same job position. Job application is a long process. It includes many steps such as searching for a job that fits your major and personality, writing and submitting a resume, interviewing and following up after the interview. The one step I find the most challenging is interviewing. I chose to view the “Preparing for Your Interview” webshop to learn more about what I need to do to prepare for an interview, how to handle an interview successfully, and what I am supposed to do after the interview.

The webshop is divided into many parts to guide the readers through the whole interviewing process step by step. The first step is to determine the interview goals and how to prepare for them. The first goal of an interview is to sell yourself. You need to show the employer what skills, accomplishments and abilities you have. Also, you need to show how you will contribute to the growth of the organization, and why they should choose you over other candidates. The second goal is to show how knowledgeable you are about the position, the employer, and the industry it is in. To do this, you need to do research about the position you are applying to, what services or products the firm offers, the organizational values and mission statement of the company, and what is going on currently in the industry. Lastly, during the interview you will have an opportunity to determine if the position is right for you. One important reminder about this step is that you can interview the employer as much as they interview you. The purpose of doing this is to learn more about the organization’s environment and what they value. It helps you to determine if the company is a right fit for you. The second step is how to prepare and handle the questions they may ask during an interview. A lot of employer nowadays conduct behavioral interviews, so you need to make sure you are prepared to answer those behavioral questions. Those questions are usually related to the professional experience you have, projects that you have done in which you demonstrated leadership or teamwork, volunteer experience, and your own strengths and weaknesses. Salary can be one of the discussion topics too but you need to be careful about this sensitive topic. One thing you need to remember is to never initiate the salary topic; but if they want to discuss it, you should give them a salary range rather than a specific number. Also, during an interview, the employer may ask if you have any questions for them. It is important for you to prepare at least three to five in-depth questions to ask them other than those questions that you can easily find the answers by doing research or looking at their website. Questions can be related to topics such as skill/experience of an ideal candidate, daily responsibilities of position, position’s role in the organization, work environment, and questions based on company research.