Practical Tips on Interviewing

Interview job candidates is a combination of science and an art. Interviewers do need to go through intensive training on how to conduct effective interviews to select the right person for the right job. Likewise, I noticed from experience that interviewees may lose a job opportunity simpley because they missed good preparation for the interview. Here are some tips that may help both side of the equation:

For Interviewees:
Work:
1) Describe the accomplishments you were most proud of in your last job.2) Do you consider yourself more of an independent contributor or a team player?3) What serious problems did you face and how you handle them?4) Describe an incident in which you handled a problem involving personal interaction well. Describe another incident in which you were less effective.5) Where do you see your career in five years?
For Interviewers:
Education:
1) Why did you choose your major field of study?2) What courses did you like the best? Least? Why?3) If you worked during school, how did you manage your time?4) Were you satisfied with your college?5) How important were extracurricular activities to your education?6) If you were starting college all over again, what would you do differently?
Activities and Interests
1) What activities are you involved in?2) Would you describe your role in these activities as more of a follower or a leader?
Strengths and Weaknesses
1) Give me three reasons why you are especially qualified for this job.2) What weaknesses have previous employers identified over the years?3) What part of this job would probably give you the most trouble?
Pay attention to personal hygiene and grooming including mustaches and beards should be neatly trimmed and combed. Hands and fingernails should be clean. Perfume and cologne should be used with moderation and should not overpower the interviewer.
Do not smoke, chew gum, or eat during the interview. This can detract substantially from your presentation and overall image.
Be polite, courteous, and friendly to the interviewer’s support staff (i.e. secretary, administrative assistant, assistant). These individuals will frequently relay their impressions of an employment candidate to their supervisor.
When greeting the interviewer, be pleasant, smile, extend firm (but not crushing) handshake, and look him or her in the eye. Do not sit until asked.
Maintain eye contact throughout the interview. Look out for a friendly face in the panel. It will help you to be at ease. Occasionally look away, at appropriate moments, so that your host does not feel challenged to a starting contest.
Be alert to your body language throughout the interview. Be careful not to slouch down in the chair. This may be interpreted negatively by the interviewer (i.e. you are disinterested in what is being said, you are lazy or sloppy, you are not concerned with your personal appearance etc). Conversely, do not sit rigidly or on the edge of the chair. If too rigid, you may project the image of someone who is overly formal, unfriendly, or distant. Likewise, sitting on the edge of the chair may take you appear nervous, anxious, high strung, or overly aggressive. Maintain good posture and a relaxed, but attentive demeanor throughout the interview.
Gesticulate appropriately to make a key point. However, be careful not to over-gesticulate, since this can draw the interviewer’s attention away from what you are saying and can detract substantially from your overall presentation.
Avoid unnecessary fidgeting with your hands or finger, such as tapping your fingers, playing with pencils and paper clips, stroking your beard of hair, pulling your ear, resting your shoulders on the table, rubbing your nose and so on. All of these suggest nervousness and will distract interviewers, thereby causing them to pay less attention to what you are saying.
Be pleasant, friendly, warm, and polite throughout the interview. Remember to smile from time to time. You will want to establish and maintain good personal rapport with the interviewer throughout the discussion. Do not try to pretend to know what you do not know.
Be careful not to dominate the interview discussion. This can cause the interviewer to feel anxious, or even hostile. Be sensitive to the interviewer’s right to control the interview, and do your part to ensure a well balanced two way exchange of information. Do not get into an argument with a hostile person. Thank him if he explains to you something. Do not try to fool or outsmart any person on the panel. Do not be anxious and never plead or beg for the job.
Never volunteer negative information to the interviewer. However, should such information come to light as a result of the interviewer’s questioning, do not dodge the issue. Be factual and honest, but be brief. Try to present this information in as positive a light as possible, but do not over-explain or apologize.–

On Effective Leaders Traits

Trait: Trait is defined as a particular characteristics, quality or tendency of a person.
The dictionary defines trait as a particular characteristics, quality or tendency that someone or something has. An effective leader has certain traits, characteristics or qualities which make him successful. Most leadership studies indicate that no single trait seems to set off the leader from other members of a group. However, it is a combination of many traits that makes a leader effective. Following are some of the traits or attributes listed out by a few famous personalities.
Courage: A leader must have the moral courage at every level and the physical courage at some levels. He must have the courage to take decisions and then to stand by them. People may say that this trait applies only to the leaders in the military or the armed forces. This is not true because in industry or in social organizations, if you do not have the courage to express your views and opinions, you cannot be a good member of that organization, and you cannot be a good leader.
Will Power: A leader to be effective has to have the quality of will power in him. He must have the determination to see and, if need be, force decisions through against the opposition.
Judgment: Judgment can be defined as a tool balancing pros and cons. A person to be effective in his leadership should have the ability to take judgments which are fruitful and aimed at the accomplished of the organizational objectives. Proper analysis of the pros and cons of the judgment have to be done before going ahead with the decision.
Flexibility: When a leader is operating in an environment where everything and everyone is changing, he has to have the ability of changing himself. He cannot hold on to the way he had been doing things in the past. His ways and methods should also change with the changed circumstances and conditions.
Knowledge: Naturally the leader must have knowledge and should keep a step or two ahead, not only of competitors, but also of his followers. Otherwise he has no justification of trying to lead them. Thus, a leader must keep learning. The extent of detail and specification of his knowledge required would depend on the level; in the hierarchy of command that he has reached.
Persuasiveness: The ability to persuade others to one’s own point of view can be the greatest leadership quality. A leader can with this quality make persons under him want to do what he wants them to do.
Empathy: What is needed to put the element of effectiveness in leadership is the need to understand the human beings – an understanding of their needs, emotions, feelings etc.
Decisiveness and initiative: A leader must be decisive. Whatever his style of leadership, it is he who has to take the decision. He must have the initiative,. He must have flexibility in decision making but ultimately he must be decisive and take the initiative where necessary. He must be assertive though not necessarily aggressive.
Creativity: Finally, an important quality of a good leader is creativity. Many writers prefer to use the word vision instead of creativity.The leaders must have the ability to analyze the needs, aspirations etc, of his followers and create a good work situation so that there is an integration of goals and objectives.
Leadership Styles:
The performance of leaders is often measured by the quality and performance of their followers. The quality of performance however is probably attributable to the style of leading.
There are many ways in which we can describe the basic leadership styles. The leader’s attitude towards human beings is the main basis distinction between these styles. These styles can vary according to the leaders’ philosophy and attributes. We can categorize leadership into three styles as:
1) The Autocratic Leadership Style.2) The Democratic or the Participative Leadership Style3) The Laissez faire or Free-rein Leadership Style