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Contact Mike Barnes (below) for more information.
BITAA ICC Chapter has in the past
formed mock
interviews for the students in the Building Inspecting Technology
program at PCC. The mock interviews provided the students with a
real life opportunity to have their interview and resume skills
brought to a more professional level when seeking CWE experience and job
opportunities.
Each event consisted of
three to four interviewers who performed one-half-hour session for up to
four students. The students were then brought together at the end
of the session with pointers for improvement as a group. The
students were prepped and given a specific constructive advice for
future interviews.
If you would like to volunteer please
contact me at
mikeba@ci.hillsboro.or.us and include a day or evening time
preference to better accommodate your schedule.
Please see attached sample interview
questions and student preparation information.
Below is the prep.
Information for the students
STUDENT INTERVIEW POINTERS
KNOW WHERE YOU ARE GOING AND GET THERE EARLY
Get directions. Get a map
if you need it. Do a dry run if you have to. Allow for last minute
glitches and plan to get there early rather than right on time
BE YOURSELF
It’s natural to be nervous before an
interview. Keep in mind that you have a lot to offer as an employee.
Affirm those good qualities to yourself and maintain your confidence.
BRING YOUR MATERIALS TO THE INTERVIEW
As an aid to help you focus and bolster
your confidence, bring your letter, resume and application to the
interview site and review them before the interview starts.
KEEP YOUR EYES ON THE PATH
While it is good to keep your goal in
sight, keep foremost in your mind that attaining your goal is a step by
step process. If you keep looking up at the mountaintop, you may not
pay enough attention to the details at your feet and can stumble badly.
Your strategy in the interview should be to perform as well as you can
in every part of the process.
DON’T BE HUNGRY FOR THE JOB
By giving the interviewers signals that
you want this job very badly, you will hurt your chances of being
successful. Go into the interview with an “I can take it or leave it”
perspective. This won’t be your only opportunity for employment.
BRING
THREE REFERENCES
Bring a list of your
references with their names, job titles, current addresses, and phone
numbers to provide to the interview committee at the conclusion of the
interview. Be sure that you have obtained their agreement to act as
your references. If you can, give each a copy of the job bulletin to
provide a context for your reference when he/she is contacted by the
hiring authority.
LISTEN
TO THE QUESTION
The most important part of
the answer is the question. If you don’t hear the question properly the
odds are you are not going to answer it properly. Listen without
anticipating the end of the questioner’s sentence. Don’t start trying
to formulate an answer before the question is completed.
PAUSE BEFORE ANSWERING
Don’t jackrabbit start your response.
Give yourself a few seconds to collect your thoughts before you start
talking. One strategy is to ask yourself silently a short list of
questions such as where/when did I do this, what was my role, how much
of this activity did I do on a daily, weekly or monthly basis.
Answering these silent questions and then providing the information to
the interviewers can provide you an orderly way of responding.
LISTEN FOR THE CUES
Keep in mind that interviewers can be
just as uncomfortable in an interview as you are, and that their actions
in the interview may reflect their unease with the process and not be a
reflection of how you are performing.
Some interviewers may seem cold or aloof. This may be an interviewer’s
way of reinforcing his/her own objectivity. Some interviewers may nod
enthusiastically as you talk. This may be a reflection of their desire
to make you feel welcome. The best strategy is to ignore most of these
cues and keep your focus on responding to the question.
There is one cue to which you should pay attention. If you have
finished answering a question and a member of the interview panel says
something like “Let me explore that a little further” or “Let me put
that another way”, the interviewer is probably telling you that you have
provided only part of the answer and there is more the panel is waiting
to hear. This cue is giving you an opportunity to provide more
information. Seize this opportunity and add to your response. Do not
repeat in another way what you have already said.
COVER
AS MANY POINTS AS YOU CAN IN YOUR RESPONSE TO EACH QUESTION.
When answering a question, present your
response in outline form rather than trying to formulate an in-depth
detail-packed explanation. Most interviewers are expecting you to cover
several points in response to the question. If you only cover one point
and get bogged down in the nuts and bolts details, you will be rated
lower.
LOOK
FOR PARALLELS & MAKE CONFIDENCE STATEMENT
If you are asked
about something you haven’t done or an area of knowledge you are not
very familiar with, do not say you have “no experience”. Before you
respond, look for parallels between what the interviewers are asking
about and other functions you have performed. For instance, you know
Word and some Excel, but have never used Access. Rather than stating
that you have no experience or knowledge of Access, you will be better
off saying that you have learned other computer programs in the past
quickly, and you see no problem with becoming proficient with Access.
You won’t get the highest rating for your answer but you may score a
point on the question rather than the certain zero you would have got by
saying “no experience”.
AVOID USING THE WORDS “BUT” OR “HOWEVER” IN
YOUR RESPONSES
The words “but” and
“however” negate everything that came before them. For example: “I am
a very accurate and detail oriented worker but…”
TELL THE GOOD TRUTH
Tell the truth. Don’t misrepresent
yourself. On the other hand, a job interview is not the witness box;
it’s a promote-yourself-situation. Tell the truth. Omit the negatives.
DO NOT VENT FRUSTRATIONS OR BAD MOUTH OTHERS
The job interview is not a place to air
your on-the-job grievances or frustrations. Venting and badmouthing
others is inappropriate. Accentuate the positive.
MAKE EYE CONTACT
Maintain good eye contact
with all members of the panel as you respond to the questions. First
address the panel member who poses the question: then make eye contact
with the other panel members as you continue.
WATCH YOUR BODY LANGUAGE
Be aware of how you present yourself.
You do not want to distract the interviewers from what you are saying by
fidgeting, playing with your ballpoint pen, or rocking in your chair.
This is not to say you should be rigid and unexpressive. For example,
if you tend to use your hands when you talk, keep them within an
imaginary rectangle around your body rather than flinging them about.
Speak clearly and smile.
HOW TO HANDLE STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES
Generally we know our strengths and are
comfortable expressing them. Ideally, the strengths you express should
relate to the responsibilities of the job.
Describing a weakness is harder. There’s a concern that one might
damage oneself in the process. Whatever you do, don’t try to turn a
weakness into a strength. Example: “I work too hard.” Interviewers
will see right through this ploy. Besides, we all have weaknesses. If
you can’t express a weakness now, interviewers may wonder if you’ll be
receptive to constructive criticism in the future.
Pick a weakness that is technical in nature and that can be fixed by
training. Example: “I would like to improve my computer skills in
Excel.” Do not pick a weakness that relates to your personality or
character. Example: “Sometimes I get impatient with people.” Character
flaws are generally perceived as unfixable.
HOW TO HANDLE HYPOTHETICAL QUESTIONS
A hypothetical question evaluates how
well you analyze problems, devise solutions and accept responsibility.
There is not necessarily one right answer to a hypothetical situation.
Begin your response by
showing the interview panel how you think. Start by saying out loud to
the panel something like “ In a situation like this I would take the
following circumstances into account in order to come up with a
solution” Then go on to identify what these are, consider them, and
construct a solution.
For
instance, you are asked to resolve a situation where you are requested
by three different persons to produce a work product for each of them by
close of business. You know that if you must do all the work on your
own that only some of the three customers will get the product. In a
situation like this you could begin by considering the following. How
much work is involved to create each product? Can I prioritize these
requests in order of importance? Is the product destined for someone
higher up beyond the original customer? Is it possible to delegate one
of the assignments to a co-worker? Is it possible to negotiate with one
or more of the customers to push back the deadline? Is there other work
on my agenda that I can postpone to make room for these requests? Only
as a last resort would you want to take the problem to your supervisor
to resolve.
HOW TO HANDLE TWO PART QUESTIONS
Don’t try to remember all
the parts of the question. Remember the question has more than one
part. Answer the first part, then ask to have the other part repeated.
ASK A QUESTION AT THE END
At the end of the
interview, you will have an opportunity to ask a question of the
interviewers. This is your chance to demonstrate your interest in the
job and the agency you hope to be working for. Take this opportunity
and use it to your advantage.
If
you’ve done a little research about the agency, you may be able to ask a
highly focused question that demonstrates your knowledge and gives you
new information. A more general question you can use would be something
like “What do you see as the greatest challenge for the person coming in
to this job in the next twelve months? Or “What is the most important
goal management has for the new employee in this position?”
The question you ask should not be about you. It should be about the
job. Examples of questions you should
not ask are “How much does
this job pay? (You should know that), Can you start me at a higher step?
When can I get a promotion? Can I get flex time? etc.
SEND A THANK YOU
Within one business day,
send a thank you note or email to the panel members. Your note should
simply express your thanks for the opportunity to interview and your
enjoyment with meeting the members of the panel.
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