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In the past, through several extra-curricular activities I did in college, I received professional training to perfect my interviewing skills. Additionally, I had the privilege of being supervised by a Career and Employment Specialist whom I learned a lot from to the point where I trained others on their interviewing skills.
Here is a quick read and some minor tips to help improve your interviewing skills and quality. Interview setting and background: As a result of the pandemic, most interviews are now conducted via video or phone calls. At the start of the pandemic, I purchased two equipment pieces to help with the mechanical aspects – A light ring and a phone holder. I realized that I performed better at interviews where I felt my appearance was clear, and I didn’t have to worry about my phone slipping at some point or the weather changing the lightning. I also recommend sitting upright on a chair – not your sofa and having a good background like your curtains or a plain wall at least. Lastly, I sat in an area where family members won’t be of disturbance. Read the job description aloud 10-minutes before the interview: Reading the job description aloud before the interviews allowed me to feel more confident approaching the interview. As a result, I could tailor my experiences to my responses during the interview. Research the interviewer(s) before the interview: I learn about every interviewer before the interview, even if it was a group interview. I used LinkedIn and the company’s website to identify the following information:
Write questions you’ll ask the interviewer: Always have at least 3-5 questions to ask an interviewer at the end of your discussion. Here is my guide for curating the questions. Ask:
How to answer your interview questions effectively: I have helped train many people, some of whom have been extremely nervous about their interviewing skills. Here are some tips I have found helpful in responding to interview questions and calming one’s self. Except if a concise answer is required, aim to say at least 7 sentences when responding to a question. Sometimes, being nervous can make you limit your answers. However, if you keep in mind to say about 7-10 sentences to respond to a question, or even count your fingers underneath the table, it can help keep you calm. So, for example, if someone says, tell me about yourself, here are 7 prompt lines for your response:
If someone asks, what are your goals, here are some prompt lines for your response:
Pause if needed. When you are asked a question, if you need to take 10 seconds, say “hmm, let me think for a second” or take a sip of water to stalk briefly but not too long. After the interview, what should you do? Always send a thank you email to your interviewer within 24hrs. In your email:
I hope you find these tips useful.  Job hunting anytime can be stressful, not to talk of during a pandemic. When I graduated in May 2021, at the peak of the pandemic, and began my job search, I kept in mind to take notes of what made the experience easier for me. I made it my focus to work smart while working hard to secure my first full-time job.
If you find this blog post useful and there is any specific thing you want me to discuss further in a different post, please don’t hesitate to send me an email – shoolaoyin@yahoo.com. If you need help with content building and editing you can check out my services at www.shoolaoyin.com/services. Some of the things I’ll share in this blog post, I wish I knew earlier, while others, I learned along the way. In this post, I’ll share the importance of being strategic with Job posting websites, why you should have multiple resumes, how you can keep track of your job search applications, and how to spend less time on your applications. I’ll also provide a list of documents I recommend you start compiling as a way to stay productive ahead or while applying for jobs; that way you won’t be bored. As usual, the list I provide in the early part of this post will only make sense if you read the full blog post but take a screenshot. After this blog post, I challenge you to complete at least two of this list per week. I am taking a break from blogging for the holidays. I'll be back first Sunday of 2021.
Happy holiday! Best, Oyindamola Shoola |