Susan Hodgson - Brilliant Answers to Tough Interview Questions

Help the interviewer by being well prepared and easy to interview and help yourself to give a really compelling performance.

Being a brilliant candidate is not easy. Interviews demand a lot of you and even when they seem low key, you are still being put on the spot and given this one opportunity to get something that you really want. Knowing what you are up against and what you can do about it is an essential psychological and tactical starting point for anyone who has been invited to a job interview. While this book might be of special interest if you have recently graduated into a very competitive job market, or if you have lost a previous job as a result of economic conditions, you could be in any of the following situations:

• You are applying for your first job after leaving school.
• You have just completed a course at university or college.
• You are in the process of changing your career direction, either through choice or as a result of market forces.
• You are making a sideways move in your field of employment.
• You are returning to work after a period of absence raising children or caring for other family members.
• You are looking for work after an enforced period of unemployment.
• You are seeking promotion in your present profession.

Whatever job you are applying for full-time, part-time, professional, practical, technical, administrative, creative or caring you have to convince a person or a panel of people that you are the ideal choice. To add to your difficulties, every other candidate will be trying to do exactly the same thing.

Dont waste time wondering about the other candidates your interview is your interview. It is your chance to take centre stage. Make the most of it.

Dont take these references to acting too literally. Showing the most confident and persuasive side of yourself works well, but be careful not to create a false persona that is nothing like the real you. This puts a strain on you, and the interviewer can almost always tell that you are not relaxed and natural. If you have to pretend to be someone you are not, you probably wouldnt enjoy the job anyway.

It is easy to neglect interview preparation as part of your job-hunting strategy. Preparing an excellent CV and ensuring that you fill in application forms really well, combined with all your research on who to apply to and when to apply, can mean that interview preparation ends up taking a back seat. Many people state that it is the paper part of the application process that they really hate and that if only they can get to an interview and talk to employers face-to-face they will be fine. As the invitation to an interview drops onto the doormat, or appears in the in-box, breezy optimism flies out of the window. Talking to employers face-to-face isnt quite so easy. What questions will they ask and what answers will you be ready to give?

This book will help anyone who has been invited to any kind of selection interview for any job to prepare more effectively, feel more confident and be well armed to deal with whatever questions obvious, tricky or challenging are thrown at them.