Transcripts
1. Introduction: Hi, I'm Greg Langstaff. I'm a professional resume writer and interview coach. And today I want to talk to you about interviewing. Now I know interviewing can be quite a stressful, nerve racking process. Trust me, I've been there. I've personally been interviewed at least 100 times. But also, I've been a recruiter, been a hiring manager, and I have interviewed hundreds, and hundreds of candidates have coached hiring managers on how to lead successful interviews. And I've been an interview coach since 2014. So I've really seen all sides of this process on I want to take all of that experience that I've gained to help you prepare for the perfect interview so we can take away the stress or most of it. So we can have you going and confident, prepared and landing jobs at those first opportunities. Eso in this course, we're gonna do a few things. I'm gonna make sure you're not caught unawares by teaching you the research you need to do going into the interview. We're going to make sure you come across as a true polished professional by going over some essential interview etiquette pieces. Um, I'm gonna make sure that you are prepared for questions that come up. I teach you how to kind of predict what questions to expect in the interview. We're gonna make sure you come across sounding like a pro. I'm gonna walk you through steps to answer questions. I'm gonna talk you through some of the most challenging common questions that come up. Like what's your biggest weakness is tell me a bit about yourself, all those kind of toughies, and I'm even going to give you my top 10 interview hacks to get you right up on my level and feeling great about your next interview. So I know this course. I mean, it's it's got a lot of pieces to it, but if you take the time, walk through it, put in the work, it's gonna be fantastic. So let's get started.
2. The Secret to Interviewing Like a Pro: so in the next few sections were going to get really into the weeds and the details of how to deliver a great interview. But before we do that, I just wanted to cover a couple of high level things. So you've got the context and kind of the mindset. You need to really crush these interviews. So as I mentioned, I have done training for hiring managers, teaching them how to hire the best candidates. And when I do this, I teach them to look for three things. So first is obvious. We're looking at job related skills, so we're gonna have questions that are going to be able to assess if this person is going to be good at the things that we need them to be good at during the while doing the job next, our interpersonal skills. So not only do they need to know if you'll be good at the job, but they're also going to need to know. Are you going to get along with people at the office? If there is a problem that comes up, are you gonna be ableto solve it like an adult? There's a presentation you need to deliver will you be able to do that well? And so these are the kind of things that we can assess both through kind of questions and formal evaluation processes, but also just how the candidates are carrying themselves through the interview process. So are they professional? Are they like a bullet? They relate. Those are the kind of things that they're also evaluating outside of just what you're saying with your answers, then the third thing that I teach my hiring managers to look for is just high performance, any indicators that this person just does extremely well at whatever it is that they're asked to do so the way that we can. We can show that in an interview that were high performers just to come in extremely, extremely prepared. Many times in my career, I have hired someone with less experience who came into the interview more prepared, and I've never regretted it because that kind of effort and energy level that goes into that they put into the interview they continued to put in throughout the time they were working for me, and that's really what I'm looking for when I'm hiring, so we want to come in extremely prepared. Uh, so now that we have covered this high level stuff, we're going to spend the rest of the chorus teaching you how to be extremely prepared and come in and really nail every single piece of your interview.
3. A Little Research Goes a Long Way: a successful interviewer is going to go into an interview with a strong understanding of the organization and the industry. They're about to join now. No one is expecting you to be a complete expert on everything just yet. But if you want this job, you need to do your homework in this section. I'm gonna teach you three things about the preinterview research. I'm gonna teach you what information you need, where you might find that information and how you can use that information to your advantage. So I've created, uh, research worksheet for you that you can use. And if you don't have the means to print this out and obviously recreated yourself eso going into an interview, we want at very least a high level understanding of the industry, the organization, and, if applicable, the department that will be joining. Um, And if you can learn a bit more about the hiring manager great. And when I say high level information talking about these five things that values history, structure, major changes and any current or upcoming challenges. Now in a moment I'll walk you through an example of each of these. But just so you know, if you If you can't fill out all of these boxes, don't worry about it. You're probably not gonna find all this information. Um, especially about the hiring manager. But the more you can find, the more prepared you are. Uh, as for where to get this information, there's a lot of places toe look, but the five that are probably the most useful to you is first on inside source. So if you know anyone at the organ that organization who would be willing to chat with you about these things, that is fantastic. I would ask them to coffee or a quick phone call. Three organizations website obviously is going to be a huge help, especially if they have a department website that you can scroll through. Um, if the industry as a governing body and they have a website like the National Association of Etcetera etcetera, that will be useful. Obviously linked in is a huge help, especially with looking into information about the hiring manager and then a final useful sources just Google, especially the news tab of Google. So between these five sources, you should be able to find just about everything you need. Uh, So now I'm gonna kind of walk you through how we fill out these boxes. Just you get the idea. Let's say I'm interviewing for a student recruitment position at South Pole University. First will believe the values in history blank for higher education, cause those are pretty self evident. Um, now, maybe on the university's about page will see that there publicly funded. It's a part of the university system. Ah, Google News Search about the education landscape might tell us that there's an online education boom, but there's also a lower perceived value of university degree. Now, back on the university's about page, we might find their specific values, their history and a bit about the structure of the university. And then a quick look at their strategic plan, which is often linked to the about. Page will tell us about the upcoming online expansion. Now, if we surge in the news for South Pole, University might see that they're a little bit worried about government cuts. Um, no. If we dig in and visit the recruitment website, likely, hopefully they'll have their own about Paige, uh, and or section. And what we can do is from looking at that will see that there. Maybe they're a part of the division of students. Um, And next week we reach out to our source, and we find out some more information about this organization. Like they're trending towards recruiting more international students. Um, and you know, they We also know that they recently hired a marketing firm to renew the branding and that one of the biggest challenges they face is weather recruiting to the South Pole. Believe it or not, our cousin's friend or friend of a family or whoever it is that we have on the inside, they happen to Luckily, no. The hiring manager as well. And we find out from this person that Regina Campbell are potential boss really values, creativity, problem solving and maybe another fun fact like she really loves Cordis. Um, which is great, cause we also love Corky's. Now, finally, we we sign up for ah, a one month free trial of Lincoln Premium and we snoop on Reggina's profile. You find out that she used to work at Greenland University? Great report recruitment program there. By the way, I would assume, um, she is Thebe, rector of recruitment and admissions She started the position 18 months ago. And look at that. Now, we've got a lot of useful information to give us context if we prepare for the interview, Um, so now that we have all that information, we can use it to have a frame are answers. We've got context. We're feeling a little bit less like an outsider might be able to reference this and some of our answers, Some of the questions that we give to them. Um, the most important thing is we just have that high level context that will give us the confidence to do well in this interview. Now that we've got that covered, we're gonna move on to talk a bit about professional interview etiquette.
4. Professional Interview Etiquette: So etiquette is not so much about winning the job as it is not losing it. Ah, in this section, we're going to make sure that you're absolutely just the perfect professional in your interview. So we're quickly going to cover what to wear, when to arrive, how to greet your interviewers. I contact and your energy level throughout the interview. Some of these air pretty obvious, but I wouldn't be doing my job if I didn't at least mention them. So I'll move quickly for a tire, honestly, just Google interview outfit. And even if the workplace dress is casual, I say dress more professionally for the interview. Um, but Google will be your best friend in this case of for timing arrive and 15 minutes if you're earlier, they'll probably feel a bit awkward, Um, and not know what to do with you. If you're any later, they might think you're not taking the interview seriously. So, um, you know, feel free to show up at the location more than 15 minutes early. But don't present yourself at reception until that time We do in terms of greeting your interviewers, um, shake each person's hands, you know, look them in the eye and say, Great to meet you. Um, if you could repeat the name back to them, that's even better. Um, make sure to do handshakes with everyone again at the end of the interview. They might be tired they might not offer. So just take that initiative. Um, so if you're being interviewed by an interview panel or multiple people, make sure you're sharing the eye contact. It's not too hard, but just keep this in mind that you should spread your eye contact across the whole panel and not just stare at one person. And, uh, just from my experience, this is something that people have a tendency to do. Ah, and it's It's awkward for the person who's getting all of the eye contact, and it's also awkward and a bit alienating for the people who are getting none. So just keep that in mind. It should be pretty easy to to follow on. Then, finally, energy wise, My final etiquette tip is just to not be a robot, So these people, they know that if they hire you, they're gonna have to spend a lot of time with you. They they want to see a bit of personality. So when you're talking about something that excites you, just get excited. It's very natural. Will come across, is genuine on and and it will also help perk you up in the interview as well. So just let them hear that excitement in your voice and let them see the excitement on your face. Um, those are really the basic interview etiquette tips I have for you that I wanted to cover. If you have any questions around other etiquette things, cause I'm sure there's a lot of a lot of questions out there, feel free to contact me directly.
5. Predicting Interview Questions: predicting which questions could come up in an interview may be the single most important part of your preparation process. If we do this effectively, weaken, then prepare high quality answers and come off looking like a well spoken professional. The best part is it's really not that hard to predict questions you can find most of them just by re reading the job posting apply to. Obviously, we're not gonna predict every question perfectly. But if we put in the work will be well positioned to answer questions on any subject that is brought up during the interview. So predicting interview questions. It's a simple three step process. Part one will dissect the job posting and make a list of skills and experiences that are most important for this job. Part two will turn those skills and experiences into questions, and then in Part three, we're just gonna add on some common interview questions that might come up. So let's start part one now. First, I create a sheet that looks like this. I've given you one of these to work off, but again, it's very simple to recreate yourself if you need to. Um, so first we're gonna take a look at the job posting for which were interviewing to identify all job duties and work behaviours listed and put them in the left column Here. This will tell us what skills and trades the hiring manager is prioritizing in the interview process Will do one now together so you can see how it looks. Have created a job posting here for educational assistant at the South Pole District School Board. And don't ask why I've done all these South Pole examples I don't really know, but I'm in a mood and we're going with it. So anyway, um, we're gonna highlight here. Like I said, some of the job duties and work behaviours. Um, we've got collaborate with teaching staff support. Students with physical disabilities are supporting students with developmental delays, with autism, with acquired brain injuries, hearing a vision loss and behavior disorders. We've also got helping teachers with eyepiece, uh, supervising students in a variety of settings, assisting students with personal and medical care in completing assessments and report writing eso. We've already got 11 topics that might come up in our interview, which is great. And then we'll add in just a couple questions about work behaviours. They've listed so, patients. We've got verbal communication skills and crisis response. Um, so if you filled in all of these on the table I gave you earlier, it would look something like this. Uh, no, if you've reached this point. Firstly, congratulations, because you've done more preparing than a lot of people do before an interview, but we still have a long way to go. So next I'm gonna teach you how to translate thes bullet points into questions. And easiest way to do that is the Tell us about a time method. So for our first bullet, collaborate with teaching staff are question would be. Tell us about a time you collaborated with teaching staff. We can also add a prompt to the end of this questions over bullet to question might be. Tell us about a time you supported a suit him with a physical disability. And how did you make sure you did that effectively? Oh, for the third question, we might vary the wording up a little bit with something like, Have you ever worked with students with developmental delays? And what did you learn from that experience? Now there's a lot of ways to do this. Wouldn't worry too much about the wording, because you're not going to get all of it exactly correct. Anyway, the more important thing is you're prepared to speak about each topic. Um, so now that you are done creating these customized questions for yourself, you can add in some of these standard questions that come up commonly in interviews. So, you know, tell us about yourself. Why you interested in this position? Tell us about your biggest failure and what you learned from that experience. Um, tell us about a time when you resolve the conflict with the co worker. What part of this job will challenge you the most? What part of this job are you most excited about? And feel free to add on any other questions that you've been asked before? We've heard about, uh, that could come up now. At the end of this process, you might have a list of 20 questions. You might have a list of 40 questions. Obviously, the interviewers are gonna ask you every single one of these. But the longer our list is, the more likely that we thought of and prepared for everything they might ask. Um, now you've got that big list of questions. I'm gonna teach you how to answer them
6. Nailing Interview Answers: Now the moment we've all been waiting for. How do we give the interviewers those sweet, sweet answers that are gonna have them nodding their heads, smiling, making notes and eventually, Iris? I'm gonna tell you how to do that right now. So the majority of interview questions these days, or what we call behavioral interview questions in a behavioral question, the interviewer is trying to determine how we will perform certain tasks or in certain situations that are likely to come up in this job by hearing about a time where we did something very similar in a previous job. These questions could sound like Tell us about a time when you resolved an unexpected problem, Or how have you kept your team organized when you've had multiple projects on the go in these behavior questions, the interviewer is looking for an answer in the form of a story, which is great for us because stories are a lot easier to tell and to remember on the method that I'm going to teach you to tell this story. You may have heard of this before. It's called the Star Method, so star stands for situation, task action and results And when we answer a behavioral question, we're going to just try to hit those four points to give our interviewer the full story of this experience. Um, so let's break it down. The situation is more or less know What is the place that you were working out? What was your job title? What were your overarching responsibilities? The task is just an overview of what was required of you in this story that you're going to tell. Um, the action is a list of steps that you took to complete the task along with small explanations of why took those actions. And then finally, the result is where we're just gonna wrap up the story that we're telling them by telling them how it went. If you have numbers for for this, like sales or roll, mint pass, fail rate, anything like that is great. But if not, you can always round out with something like and the event was a success or in the problem never happened again. Or I was praised by my manager for a great work, anything to kind of give closure to the story and confirmed that your actions lead to success. Um so we can walk through an example now, just so you get the idea. So let's say the question is, you know, how have you kept your team organized when you've had multiple big projects on the go of ones situation? In my previous role as new student transition coordinator at Greenland University, I supervised a team of students responsible for planning our new student orientation, facilitating our incoming student Facebook groups and coordinating our online orientation task. For each of these projects, there are many elements to delivering because I'm supervising students. It's a new team every year. So in terms of experience, were always starting from scratch. It's my job to keep them on task. But I also want to give them freedom to plan and organize these projects on their own so they can learn and grow action to make sure they stay on task and complete high quality work. I give my team ah, high level overview of what we're gonna be working on about a month in advance so they can wrap their heads around it. Then I assigned small sections of each project, each team member based on their skills and interests and then I'll meet with them one on one to explain the ultimate goals of their part of the project and how it fits into the bigger project as well as any subtle nuances involved. And then I'll walk them through how this project went past years. Then, once they've got those ideas, I'll lead a team training on project planning, including out of creative work back plan, how to get stakeholder by in how to organize tasks from multiple projects at once. And then I give them a week or so to create their profit plan in a shared Excel document, which is great Senate, and keep an eye on things they don't have them walk me through each step of their plan in a one on one setting. I'll give them feedback on their timelines and the tasks that they list it, Um, and then I'll give them a bit of space to start working on things. But I'll still check in frequently to offer support and talk them through challenges just to keep them on track. Um, and then from there, I just keep an eye on their project plans and continue to receive updates until everything is finished and ready to deliver. And every year, student teams have delivered all their projects on time in a very high degree of quality, and many of my students have gone on to successful careers in planning and administration. I have used the tools I taught them in this process. And sorry that last bit was theory. Result. So you can see that answering this question, it took about 2.5 minutes, which is totally in the range of what's okay for an interview. Answer. Um, and I spent most of that time on the action section. It was more, more or less a list of each of the things that I did through the process, with little explanations here and there. Something just to keep in mind is when we're talking about our actions, try to use fewer we statements and more I statements. It's okay to use we sometimes when we're talking about our collaborative work, but we want to make sure we're putting specific, uh, emphasis on the things that we did. So instead of saying we delivered 10 training sessions, I'd rather you say I personally delivered three of our 10 training sessions. Um, so we've gotta work she attached for you so you can create your own star method. Answer. Um, And before you try answering anything out loud, just take some time to jot down some notes that I I find that writing out a couple of answers before it can be really helpful. Um, so that's the star method and behavioral questions for you, but I do have a word of caution. Um, so once you have predicted your questions and played around with the star method, you have to practice. You have to practice, preferably allowed, even record yourself and listen back. Or ask a friend to interview for practice. That is the best way to be really prepared. And I have heard people say that they want to sound natural and not rehearsed so they don't want to practice their answers. That's not how it works. I have interviewed hundreds of people I can tell who has practiced and who hasn't, and those who have practiced always perform better. And if you don't practice, believe it or not, you're less likely to sound natural and more likely to sound lost on speaking circles and not be able to make your point. So please, please, please practice answering these questions. Okay? Rant over. Um, in the next section, we're going to talk about how to answer some of the most common tricky questions, including what is your biggest weakness?
7. Answering Common Tricky Questions: in this section, we're gonna briefly talk about three of the most common challenging interview questions. Tell us about yourself. Why are you interested in this position? And what is your biggest weakness? Eso tell us about yourself is usually the first question to come up in an interview If it comes up, Um, and it freezes a lot of people. Which makes sense, because when we think about this, there's a lot of things about ourselves we could tell them. So in this answer, most interviewers are looking for two things. Uh, what is important to you and what transitions in your life led you to apply to this position? Um, so here's a sample. Answer that for us. A. Ah job at International Opera House. Ah, well, I've always loved planning events and solving problems and working with people as an undergrad, I was involved in my faculties. Student council is a social chair, and I got to plan all sorts of events formal ski trips paintballing, and I just loved it. So I decided to take a post grad event planning certificate, and there I got the chance to do internships and wedding planning and concert hosting and I just found that that running concerts was such a rush. I loved the energy. I left the people, and I just loved having that big moment every night. Um, locally, I was able to transition that internship into a full time job, and I've been very happy there for three years. Um, now, as I'm starting to settle down family wise, I'm looking to use those problem solving communication skills, the concert logistical background in a similar setting, but maybe with a bit more reasonable hours, Um, and this opportunity at the International Opera House just seemed like a perfect fit for me . So I mean, there's a lot of ways to answer that question. This version is nice because it gives gifts, um, history and takes them kind of on your journey that led you to applying to this role. Talks about how we got into the field, what we like about it on our transitions. Um, so next let's talk about the ever popular Why are you interested in this position? So this question it's pretty simple once you realize that it's really a two questions disguised this one. So the two questions are Why do you want to do this job, and why do you want to work for us? So, part one, you just want to give them maybe 24 things that you're really excited about doing in this job. Um, maybe list a few times. You've done similar things in the past, how much you've enjoyed them and then for part two. You want to tell them why they represent a great opportunity for you? Even if you would gladly do this job at any company, they still want to know why them? So we're gonna make them feel special. Maybe they're an industry leader. Maybe they've got some exciting projects coming up. Maybe they just have strong organizational values that align with yours. Um, this is it's really a great chance to at this point, go back to that research that you did earlier, um, and and pulled from that. So finally, we can talk a boat Kind of a dreaded question. Uh, tell us about your biggest weakness. This one is tricky. I'm gonna be honest you because we do not want to out ourselves and say something that will reveal that will be bad at the job. However, we don't want to give a cliche. Answer like that worked too hard. I'm a perfectionist. Um, when an interviewer asked this question, they're generally looking for two things. Um, sorry. Do we have the self awareness to notice that we have weaknesses? And also do we work on those weaknesses to improve our professional performance? Um, so to decide what weakness we want to talk about. I have three criteria. First, it should be something small that is related to the job, but not an integral part of the job. Uh, next, you know, it should be something maybe that you used to be bad at, um but you've been working on it, and you're getting better. And three, it can't be something that you used to be bad at. Now you're great at. So maybe something that you're you're not great at, but you're better than you used to be. Eso let me Let me give you an example. Uh, so I used to have a lot of trouble being concise with my e veiling. I've always been very concerned with things getting lost in translation over email. So I would write these big, long emails, and I know reading Yugi males is in a great use of people's time, and sometimes people are even less likely to read carefully when they see a huge block of text. Um, so I read a few blogged articles I watched on YouTube videos on writing short, concise emails, and I even have my department sent me to, ah, this great half day seminar and professional writing, and I learned some really great techniques from all of that research that I'm using now to be more concise. Um, I'm doing better at this much better, I think. But I still have a tendency to get a bit long winded whenever my emails contain instructions just because I have this underlying fear still of being misunderstood. Um, but as I practice more, I'm you know, I'm seeing it work. I'm having a bit of an easier time, I guess, trusting my readers. But I still have a ways to go in that sense now. This answer works well because it's relevant. You're gonna be emailing in this job, but it's not an integral skill, um, to the job, and it's not, you know, it's not a cliche answer. It shows that you have some self awareness. You noticed a flaw in your taking initiative to take action to resolve it. So at the end, you know, we said we're getting better, but we're not amazing at it yet. Ah, and in that sense, it still counts. Is telling them about a weakness, which is kind of the sweet spot. Um, so now that we've made some progress on answering questions, I'm gonna tell you what to do when the tables are turned and the interviewers ask you if you have any questions for them.
8. Questions to Ask Your Interviewers: So in almost every interview I've ever been a part of, there has been a point of which the hiring managers and the interview panel has asked. Okay, so do you have any questions for us? Um, they do this for two reasons. One, Obviously, they want to be able to answer any questions you have, but also they want to know how prepared and are you and how much thought have you put into doing this job? So generally I will. I will leave time at the end of an interview for 2 to 4 questions from the interviewee. But when I'm being interviewed or coaching interviewees, I say to bring 56 good, solid questions, but then be prepared to walk over there, not having asked every one of them. Um, as for what questions? To ask a generally find. There's three good categories of question you can ask. So the 1st 1 is sort of a research based question. We'll get into that in a second. There's also kind of fun, lighthearted questions, and then, finally, genuine questions that you really want the answer to in order to help you decide if you want this job. Um, so I'd advise starting with one or two kind of research based questions, because it's a great way to get to just show that you've done your homework. So you might ask, Say, you found something on their website about their their strategic plan. You might ask a question about what coming challenges did they have perceived with their upcoming strategic plan? Oh, you might say something like, um, I noticed one of your strategic priorities is client retention. Could you tell us? Tell me a bit about what tactics you have in mind to pursue that and how this rule might be involved. And these are just great because they kind of get them thinking about you in the role and also thinking are knowing that you're picturing yourself in the role and how you'll fit into their long term big picture plans. So fun questions. Generally, at this point, we're just trying to kind of put them in a good mood and also get a bit more information for ourselves just about, like what's important to them are these people people that I'm gonna want to spend time with if I accept this job, so there's a lot of cliche questions. You can ask you that that I would advise staying away from just like, you know, what do you like about working here That they're going to say the people or something else kind of cliche like that. So a nice, more specific version of that question is, um what was the time that you felt most proud of your work here? And I really like this one because it kind of gets them to lean back in their chairs and take a trip down memory lane and just be in a good mood, which is obviously great as we're nearing the end of the interview. But you'll also kind of learn what's important to them, and it will help you kind of gauge the culture of the office. Um, And then finally, as I mentioned anything that you really want to know, it could be about, you know, things that they see for this role. It could be maybe some stuff about the reporting structure you're not quite sure of anything that you really just want to know is great. Task here is well, but I'll go over a couple things now that I would advise not to ask. So first up, when will I be hearing back? It's a common question to ask at the end of an interviewer. And when I'm interviewing people, I generally cringe at this for a few reasons. One, it's It's I was already going to tell you, or I had already told you. But also, it's just sort of I'm worried about me type question, but this is your chance to ask them about them. You know you won't show your interest in in that, um, any questions about salary, vacation, that kind of thing. There's a time for that, and that is after you've gotten the offer. But before you've accepted the offer, uh, and then finally, I would say, You know, you've probably done your research is as I showed you how to do earlier, Um, I wouldn't ask about any major failures that the company has had. I mean, there'll be plenty of time to do that if you receive the job. But for now, especially towards the end of the interview, we don't want to do anything that's going to kind of put them in a bad mood. So if you're asking sort of a research based question. Just stay away from big failures that they may have been disappointed about. Um, aside from that, I would say whatever your questions are, write them down in advance so you're not feeling the pressure of trying to remember them while they're answering the previous question. It's totally fine to pull out a notebook or piece of paper that has your questions on them . In fact, I've found that often people are impressed by this. Just a nice little extra touch Utkan ad, Um, and that is more or less it for how to answer what questions to ask at the end of an interview. Next, we're gonna move on to some tips on how to prepare for phone interviews and video interviews.
9. Phone Interview and Video Interview Tips: so you already probably know this, but it's super common these days for an interview process to have multiple steps and even for local candidates to start off with a phone interview or video chat interview. Ah, lot of the prep for these kind of interviews is very similar to, ah, regular interview, but there's a few other things that you need to think about eso we're talking phone interviews. Obviously, location is Ah, big deal. Ideally, you're in a private quiet place indoors with good reception. Um, please don't do the interview in your car. And if you have to do it in your car, please don't do the interview while you're driving a car. But it's not safe and also won't help you to do on the interview. Um, once you have a good location sorted out a couple of tips, um, make sure you're you know, you're smiling of good posture, cause these nonverbals are gonna help you pick up your energy and they're also gonna come across in your voice. Next, don't pace around the room. They may be able to hear your footsteps, which could be distracting on. And it's also just another variable. You don't wanna have to deal with and then leave yourself some reminders, some motivational notes. I usually put a couple sticky notes on my wall in my desk that say something like, uh, you're crushing it, uh, or, you know, remember the star method just to keep myself on track. Other than that, I mean, you've talked on the phone before. It's pretty much a normal conversation. And, uh, no need to worry about handshakes now for video interviews. Um, you know, it's similar in terms of location for the phone was the phone interview. You want to make sure you've got good Internet connection on, then the other thing to consider Is this having a professional backdrop? Um, no. If you don't have, like, a nice office behind you, even I would just go neutral with If you get, like, a blank wall or something, you just don't want you know, your bed in the background or something kind of personal or messy space. We want to be looking professional. In this case, Um, there's a couple other tips that you need for video chat interviews, so obviously you're gonna want to dress professionally, just like we talked about in etiquette section. Um, I would I would stress wearing professional bottoms as well, just in case you need to get up. And also, it can just kind of help you with that that professional feeling. You don't need dress shoes. If, uh if that's okay in the place that you're in, you can wear whatever shoes you want. Um, in terms of where to look, it can be a bit awkward during a Skype or other video chat interview. And my biggest advice is not to think about it too much, because what you say is gonna be far more important. But if you're feeling comfortable, then I recommend you make sure you look at the camera sometimes because that is a great opportunity to give. The interview is what will feel like I contact coming from you, Um, in terms of when to talk. I mean, the audio can lag a little bit on these calls, so just make sure that you're being patient. You're trying not speak over anyone. Um, you know, for logging into the call, I'd say Try to get in 5 to 10 minutes early, but don't call them until it's time. They'll generally be assuming that they're going to call you. So whatever video chats off where you're using, just log in 5 to 10 minutes early. Be ready. Also, make sure you test this software before before the interview. Call us. Well, you want to make sure your microphone and camera is working. Um, And then finally, you know, you can leave yourself some fun, motivational notes and reminders just like we talked about with phone interviews. Um, these Arthuis interview tips for video and phone interviews. And up next, I'm gonna share with you my top 10 interview X.
10. Top 10 Interview Hacks: So I've got 10 tips for you that didn't really fit into any of the other sections, but they're still super valuable. So I'm just gonna run through them right now. One, bring a pen and paper to the interview. And as the interviewers are asking you questions, right, those questions down, at least in point form, you'll find this really helpful just to keep your thoughts organized as you're answering questions. Um, and if you're worried about it looking weird, don't worry. They'll get used to it. And honestly, it's far more awkward to give a bad answer than to be diligently taking notes is they're talking. Um, second, bring a copy of your resume for yourself. You may be bringing them to give you the interviewers. Make sure you bring an extra one for you. Um, as you're kind of remembering the stories that you want to tell using the star method, having a resume in front of you could be really helpful to kind of jog your memory. Three. Bring an answer, Cici. So this is not a high school math test. You're allowed to bring notes. I recommend a nice one page excel table with a bullet point version of the question topic on the left and a bullet point version of the story that you want to tell to answer that topic on the right. Um, how you do this all the time? Very helpful. Next, bring ah, bottle of water. Nothing is better for buying you a moment to think or breather collector thoughts than a sip of water. It's completely natural of the interviewer's won't think anything of it. And, uh, just make sure you've got a nice professional looking water bottle and, uh, bring it to your interview next. Endure answers confidently. So, you know, I'm not talking about slamming your pen down on the table and yelling, Boo yah! After each answer, just don't end it with the classic. And, uh, yeah, um, if you don't think you've reached an obvious conclusion to your answer, just loop back to the question, um, in the form of, ah, summary statement like and that is an example of a time I resolved the conflict among my team. Next, just use a natural smile. So smiling shows confidence. It makes interviewers far more likely to connect with you. Um, and if you're worried about kind of faking a smile. Just don't you know, um, if you respond to questions with detailed accounts of positive experiences, you're going tohave, uh, smiles. They're just gonna come naturally next. Visualized the interview. So this one sounds obits in, but I've done the research and visit visualization does work. Um, if you know the interview space and the people who will be interviewing you, that's great. You can add those details to your visualization, but what's really important is that you close your eyes and kind of watch yourself confidently walking into the room, smiling, shaking hands and just delivering great answers kind of capture your tone. How are they reacting? Um, if you give this a try a few times, maybe in the days leading up to your interview on the day of it will help. I promise. Next, relax your mind and relax your body. So if you have a technique for relaxing when you're nervous, that's great. Keep doing that. I would recommend a very, very basic meditation technique, which simply requires you to focus on slow, deep breathing. This works for me because theocracy gin just helps me to relax, and I'm also focusing on something aside from the interview on that kind of columns. My nerves. So that's that's one that works well for me. Give it a try. Next, Just be grateful. I mean, think, you know, thank the interviewers frequently for their time. It's not uncommon for an interview panel Teoh interview multiple candidates back to back, sometimes for days at a time. So the interviewer's, uh, they could be going through quite a tiring experience. So you know, you just want to thank them for taking the time to get to know you. And in turn, they will feel grateful that you're expressing your gratitude, which helps us to form a connection. And then, lastly, just write a thank you email. So could be later that day. Or maybe early the next morning. Send a thank you email to everyone on the interview panel. Can't find their contact info. We consent it just to the hiring manager. Be brief, specific, and again, just be grateful. Um, the content could be something like this. Dear names. Um, thank you so much for taking the time to interview me earlier today at a fantastic time. Getting to know you have been better and learning more about the assistant director position. Thank you for sharing more details about the divisional priorities and your five year strategic plan. It was great to get a behind the scenes Look how that's going to unfold. Um, based on what we discussed today, I think my management skills and background and higher education make me a great fit for your team. But also I also got the feeling that we would be a great fit in terms of what I was looking for culture wise. So hopefully this works out. I would love to join your team. Thanks again and looking forward to hearing from you. And that's ah, you know, it's that simple. I'll post this up it as an example for you to take a look at in the activities.
11. Final Advice: all right, we've made it to the end of the course. Almost. I have one last big piece of advice. I mentioned this briefly earlier, but if you want to nail these interviews, if you want to impress the hiring manager, if you want to get this job, you need to practice practice answering your questions out loud. Practice in the shower, in your car. Have someone practice interview you. It will help on. And I know that some people don't want to sound overly prepared. But trust me, that is far better than the alternative of having never practiced your answers. So that's it. I'm not gonna drill down on that too much. For now. I think that just by putting yourself through this course and watching the entire thing, you have really taken a great first step to prepare for your interviews. So just continue with that effort, gonna be fantastic. I'm very, very excited for you and best of luck in your upcoming interview.
Greg Langstaff, Certified Resume Strategist. Fun Guy.
