Interview

by Stephanie Blye

A question and answer process during which both the interviewed and the interviewer want to determine whether the fit is right between them. In the job hunting process, the interviewer is usually the employer and the interviewed is the job seeker, and everything is about making the best matches. It is very important that the job seeker makes a good first impression on the employer (see dress for success) therefore interview preparation is a MUST DO preliminary step. There are various types of interviews:

• - behavioral interview: the interviewer bases his entire selection process on the premise that past performance and experience are the best indicators of future employee behavior. The questions he uses are strongly connected to that past behavior and they have the form of "Tell me about a situation when you confronted yourself with an unexpected problem" or "Tell me about a situation when you failed to achieve a goal".
• - case interview: the interviewer is interested in measuring your problem-solving abilities, your tolerance to ambiguity and your communication skills in various situations. This type of interview is mainly used by management-consulting organizations and its primary purpose is to determine how goods you are at identifying , structuring and thinking through problem situations.
• - panel/group interview: a typical type pf interview, which uses a group of people, usually sitting around a table, who ask you different questions. It is very important that you maintain eye contact with each member of the panel, and make each of them feel you are paying attention in a balanced way. If you are being asked a question by one member of the panel, be sure you answer it looking at all the others, one at a time.
• - phone interview: there is only one purpose of the phone interview and this is to determine whether there exists a good enough match to justify your calling to the site for a panel interview. There are also certain rules when it comes to having an interview by phone, the first and foremost being that you have to set a specific time for when you are to be called. Don't just tell them "you can call me anytime" or "you can call me sometimes this week" because they might call you in an inappropriate moment and you won't be able to deliver your best.
• - screening interview : the purpose of this type of interview is to eliminate unqualified candidates for a certain position. It is usually conducted by a member of the human resources department and it is based on providing more facts about your skills, abilities and achievements in a certain domain than on establishing rapport.
• - situational interview: also known as problem-solving interview (or scenario-based), in this type of interview the job seeker is placed in a fictive problem-situation (for example "how to deal with a difficult customer) and he is judged according to how well he reacts to it. The purpose of such an interview is to see whether the future employee can handle real crisis situations and whether he can solve a problem fast and effective.
• - stress interview: this type of interview is actually a willingly expressed attempt to see how job seekers handle themselves under stressful situations. The general atmosphere of the stress interview may be one of sarcasm, argument or total silence. Any of these options should happen, it is important not to take anything personally. Instead, answer every questions in a calm and clear way and also ask for specifications if anything is not clear enough. This type of interview is also called intimidation interview.
• - traditional interview: the typical interview, based on broad questions such as "Why work for this company?" or "Tell me more about you" or "What are your weaknesses and strengths". In the case of the traditional interview, it is more a matter of the job seeker's ability to communicate and establish rapport with the interviewer than to be authentic in the content of his answers.