Effective ways to ensure a successful job interview
You have managed to leap off the pages of your curriculum vitae and cover letter and have been invited to a job interview for a prospective job role. Of course, you are stressing out, yes you are one step closer to grabbing that dream but the pressure is mounting and you have to prove yourself one more time (and now there is no paper to hide behind!). How do you ensure that you are successful in your next job interview? Prepare and prepare and prepare Preparation is your friend and is going to ensure your success. One of the first steps should be to find out from your future employer if there is anything you can prepare ahead of the interview. If they are obliging, you could go further to find out the format of the interview and who will be on the interview panel. This is something you can (and should) also find out from current employees. Read over your curriculum vitae and cover letter, be familiar enough with them so that you can address any questions on them. Know why you included specific details – what were you trying to get across about yourself? If this is the first time you are applying for a job, make sure you are able to highlight how your background has equipped you for this position. The same goes for a position you are applying for within the same sector as you are currently employed. If you are looking at branching out from what you have previously done then it is necessary to be able to illustrate how your skills are transferable. For example, if you all your experience is limited to corporate and now you intend on moving to a government department, detail skills you acquired during your corporate experience and how these could be applied in your new setting. Preparing for this pre-empts the inevitable question about why you are making a change and goes one step further in showing that you have thought about how your past experience, although different, translates. Practice You could go about practicing by either going through a mock interview or even more informally just chatting through some questions. This is a must in ensuring that the actual interview is not daunting. Work through some basic questions such as personal background to start off with. Then move on to specific experience and education. Make sure you can also address questions about the new position and company. Would you be able to answer why you are leaving your current position? Or some of the more sticky questions such as what makes you different; what is the biggest challenge you have faced and what is one quality you would change about yourself. Make sure that you do not over-practice, you do not want to come across as rehearsed during the actual interview. So walk that fine line between practicing and coming across as rehearsed! Questions During the latter part of an interview, it is inevitable that you will be asked whether you have any questions for your prospective employers. It is imperative to ask questions and in order to be able to do so, you need to factor this into your preparation. Questions can relate to the working environment; the type of clients and if you are aware of who the interview panel will be ahead of time – questions can then be addressed to specific people. For example, if you know the head of the department will be part of the interview, try to research some of the work she or he has recently been a part of so you can ask a more detailed question. Remember, inasmuch as an interview is about you being judged, it is also your opportunity to assess whether this position is the best fit for you. So if work/life balance is integral to your happiness then be sure to ask about this in the interview. Current Employees Try to connect with current employees. They can assist in shedding light on what the work environment is like and what the position you are applying for entails. A good starting point for connecting is LinkedIn. More often than not you will have connections in common, which makes connecting a lot easier. They can also help you figure out if the position advertised is really what is described or in substance is something else. Current employees can be a great resource for understanding our potential work environment and role. Outcome of the Interview Before you leave the interview, be sure to find out how the communication following the interview will go and who you can contact if you would like feedback. Whether you secure the position or not, feedback is key. You have an idea of how you would like to come across but did that materialize and is there anything you could have done better? Of course, these are more critical to know if you did not secure the position. So often when we fail we want to forget about the experience entirely. But knowing what did not work will put you one step ahead in terms of preparing for the next interview. Do not read notes up until the last moment before you enter the interview. Take some time before to try to relax! It is really difficult to do, especially when you know you need to ace the interview, but having that sense of calm will translate when you go into the interview. Small things like speaking slowly are also important and are sure to ask for a minute to think something over if you are unsure – there is no need to answer immediately! And lastly but most importantly, be yourself and do your best. Got an article you’d like to share with us? Share your story with us here.
Facebook Live with Edleen B. Elba: Steps to landing your dream job (June 30)
Year after year, companies, and recruiters change their job eligibility requirements, expecting job seekers to acquire some certain skills – first class degree or not. Whether you’re a fresh graduate trying to jumpstart your career, or an oldie in the job market looking for better opportunities, we have one question for you. Are you fully prepared for your next interaction with a recruiter? To help you get started, we’re bringing you this Facebook Live session with Human Resources expert Edleen B. Elba, on Friday, 30th June. She’ll be sharing some insights on job search and how young professionals can land their dream job. Edleen owns and manages JobSearch, a human resources management company based in Sierra Leone, which provides recruitment, skills development, and human resources advisory services to clients of all sizes and within all sectors. [bctt tweet=”Looking for a job? Learn the do’s and don’ts for job seekers from @JobSearchsl -(June 30)” username=”SheLeadsAfrica”] Register below to gain access to this opportunity. Some of the topics we’ll cover How and where to find a job What employers really look for in applicants Principles to remember: The do’s and don’ts for job seekers Top 7 career fields in demand Case study: Persistence and determination Facebook Live Details: Date: Friday, June 30th, 2017 Time: Freetown 2pm // Lagos 3pm // Joburg 4pm Place: facebook.com/sheleadsafrica/ Watch here: https://www.facebook.com/sheleadsafrica/videos/1904771329746178/ About Edleen Edleen B. Elba is the founder of JobSearch, and a Chartered Human Resources Analyst, with almost a decade of Senior management experience within the private and public sectors She started her career in 2003 with KPMG, working in the Advisory departments in Sierra Leone and Ghana. In 2005, she created the Human Resources & Risk Management departments at KPMG and managed both for 3 years. Over the years, she has acquired skills which include financial management, strategic human resource management, strategic risk management, presentation, software applications, team leadership, time management, effective communication, assertiveness, negotiation, and analytics. Edleen is also the Chairman of the MEPS Trust Well Woman Clinic fundraising committee and a member of Heaven Homes’ fundraising committee. She is passionate about skills development and women’s empowerment.
#YasminSays: Here’s why that interviewer never called you back
Over the last couple of months, I’ve been spending a lot of time trying to hire new talent for SLA. It’s been brutal. I often hear young people talking about how they can’t find jobs. They always blame the system. They don’t want to hire new people.” ”They didn’t like my face.” ”They don’t like people from different tribes.” After 3 months of looking at applications and interviewing a bunch of people, here’s a thought I’d like you all to consider…. Maybe you’re the problem. Maybe you went about getting a job the wrong way. Maybe you played yourself and set yourself up for failure. I know… I’m mean right? And I’m not meant to be mean because I founded SLA and we’re meant to be this cuddly organization that helps women. Hell – we probably spend our evenings braiding each other’s hair and giving group hugs as we sing kumbaya. WRONG. My job as a founder of SLA is to keep it all the way real with you and turn you into a corporate beast. Someone who’s going to go out and crush it all over Africa. So in the spirit of keeping it real with you, here’s a list of the dumbest things you can do if you’re applying for a job. Don’t ask basic questions A couple of weeks ago, I was searching for a new program manager. One of the prospective candidates sent me a question asking whether or not we charged people to be members of SLA. Needless to say, I didn’t even bother to look at her application. Why you ask? Because she asked a basic and frankly stupid question. All she needed to do to get that information was to go onto the SLA website and do her research. Yet, she decided not to and instead came off looking like the Founder, CEO and Chairman of SimpleHeauxs.com. When you choose not to take any initiative in learning about the company or gaining basic, publicly available information, you show that you actually aren’t that serious about the company and they shouldn’t take you seriously either. Don’t overhype yourself This one is so obvious that I’m actually sad that I have to write it down. One person who we interviewed called herself “an innovator from birth.” Is that so….? From birth huh? The only reaction someone will have when they see that is: The best thing you can do when applying for a job is to be honest and straightforward about your results and what you’ve actually been able to deliver. All the grammar in the world won’t help you if you can’t show that you know how to get things done. Don’t overhype your qualifications A couple of weeks back I was talking to a girl who said that she graduated from Harvard Business School. On further investigation, it comes out that she just did a course there for a couple of weeks. Her CV went straight into the dustbin because now I know she is a bona fide massage therapist – massaging the truth all day every day. If you didn’t have to take an entrance exam, then calling yourself a graduate is a stretch. Doing a summer course does not make you a graduate of that institution so chill your life. Not everyone in the world went to Harvard and THAT IS OKAY. No need to be so insecure. Don’t act entitled This one goes out to all you returnees out there. Especially the ones who went to fancy schools. Y’all think that because you went to fancy schools with big names like Stanford and Harvard that I should be falling over myself trying to hire you. False. Some of the most basic, offensive, simple-minded heauxs I know went to these Ivy League schools so relax yourself. No degree can overcome a stank, arrogant attitude and I’d rather take a chilled out, smart local grad over your annoying self any day. Chill with the fone If you spent one year in England and yet try to sound like Queen Elizabeth herself when I interview you, you will be rejected immediately. Why do we Africans feel the need to pretend to speak English with a foreign accent? It’s so weird and makes you seem really insecure. More generally, I’m not quite sure what the intended effect is. People know that you’re faking it and they’re probably judging you. In fact, sometimes the fone is be so strong that it’s actually hard to understand what you’re trying to say. I have a sort of English-American Nigerian twinged accent because I spent 14 years abroad. Does that make me better, more professional or smarter than someone with a Nigerian, Kenyan or Ghanaian accent? Absolutely not! An accent is an accent not a badge of intelligence so stop faking it. Speak as you speak and be confident with your bad self. So there it is. Five reasons why you may have gotten rejected from your last job interview. To those of you who’ve engaged in some of this behavior. Don’t worry. It is well. No one can fault you for not knowing but if you continue to make these mistakes moving forward… you have only yourself to blame. For those of you who are interested in learning more about how you can be well prepared to CRUSH the job market, check out a bunch of FREE resources we’ve created to make you the baddest B you can be. Till next time! Xoxo Yasbo