Browse Interviewing Skills

Some questions will get asked in every job interview. But just because they're standard questions doesn't mean you have to give a standard answer. You can give a standout response with just a little coaching. I'm going to tell you how to answer 3 typical job interview questions: Why do you want to work here? Where do you see yourself in 3-5 years? Are you willing to relocate? (If you're not sure yet) Your answer should sound like, “I want to join this company because…” and then you need to list at least 3 reasons why.

Sample Job Interview Question #1: What do you know about our company?nnThis question is usually asked in the beginning stages of the interview process. To prepare for this question, you'll want to research as much as you can about the company beforehand. You can search for information in the most obvious place - the web or call the company ahead of time and request a company brochure. The things that you'll want to zero in may include; the industry, their length of time in bu

Describe a time when your workload was heavy and how you handled it. Asking you to describe difficult situations (and your reactions to them) is a favorite tactic of interviewers. It’s called behavioral interviewing. Behavioral interview questions get way past your basic skills and qualifications and get to the heart of “how will you act once you’re hired?” Past behavior predicts future behavior better than anything else.

If you’re asked about your references in the job interview, do you have a few names ready? Do you know what those people would say about you if they were called?

Humans are capable of communicating over four channels - voicenquality, voice content, micro signals and body language. Each ofnthe four broadcasts cognitive and emotional information in varyingnstrengths and forms. Because communication skills, talents andnhabits for each person vary, the ...

A 90 Day Interview Plan is also known as a 90-Day Plan, a Business Plan, or a 30-60-90-Day Plan. Whatever you call it, the point is that it’s a plan—a plan for how you will attack your new job in the first 90 days of employment. Having a plan, or a strategy, in place helps you show your true value to a potential employer. Why does a 90 Day Interview Plan give you a better interview?

What is the difference between an internal recruiter and an external recruiter? An internal recruiter works directly for the company they are recruiting for. An internal recruiter for Frito-Lay, for example, works to fill a variety of positions within the Frito-Lay organization, and receives a paycheck from Frito-Lay.

Money is a big item on a job seeker’s mind, for sure. You know you’re interested in the job, or you wouldn’t be there, and the top of the list for you is finding out the mystery of what you could get paid. But one of the cardinal rules of interviewing for job seekers is: Never bring up money in your job interview. It’s a BIG no-no. ALL you talk about in the interview is what they need, what solution they need, what problem they have, who’s been able to fix it before, and how you can fix it.

Job interviews are notoriously stressful, and in each one there are going to be a couple of difficult questions for you to handle. The key to being successful in your job interview is being prepared for the most difficult interview questions so that you can answer them smoothly and with confidence. "Tell me about yourself." Some candidates see this as an open invitation to talk about everything that's happened to them since birth. That's just not right.

Describe a time when your work was criticized and how you handled it. Have you ever been asked this question? I know…to you, it feels like oral surgery without the Novocain…but interviewers love behavioral interview questions because they tell them so much about you—in the story you choose to tell, how you tell it, with what kind of attitude, and the results you’re capable of producing under pressure. They just can’t get as good a picture of what life would be like with you on the job from only asking about your skills and qualifications.

One of the many, many fantastic applications of LinkedIn is that you can use it to land informational interviews. Informational interviews are just what they sound like: they are interviews that you conduct to gather information, usually about a job or a career field you’re interested in. They last 20-30 minutes, and give you an opportunity to get answers about what a typical day is like, what the person likes or dislikes about the field, and what it takes to be successful.

CVs are the long, detailed cousin of the resume. It delivers much more information than a resume and takes many more pages to do it. But whatever differences they might have, CVs and resumes both have the same function: to get you interviews. If you have a curriculum vitae and aren't getting the job interviews you would like, you can borrow good resume writing principles to make your CV more effective.

I can’t emphasize enough just how important your LinkedIn profile is to your career in medical sales. Your LinkedIn profile is the primary thing other people (all 40 million of them on the network) will see about you. It is the online world’s equivalent of a first impression, so it should be utilized well. Even the simplest errors on a profile page can have dire effects.

If your job search sucks, it's probably the result of one of 3 things:

Recently, I had a candidate who was going to get an offer-it was all over but the references. And that's where it all went wrong. We began calling to check (yes, we really do that) and two days later, only one was done. It wasn't even a matter of them trashing my candidate...they just wouldn't return our calls. If your references don't even think enough of you to call back, it reflects badly on you. It cost my candidate a job. Many candidates believe that their references don't matter all that much. And it's true that hiring managers sometimes don't check them.

If you’re in the job search for a medical device sales job, you know how tough it is. Even if you have the right background in science and technology plus sales experience, there’s some intense competition for these fantastic positions. What can you do to prepare for your medical device interview so that you’re the one who walks away with the job offer? * Harness the power of LinkedIn LinkedIn is a powerful resource for the job hunter.

Salary negotiations can be the most stressful part of the entire interview process in medical sales or laboratory sales, just as it is in any hiring process. It's not about whether you can do the job, and if things have progressed to here, you probably feel that you have a good chance of getting this job, and you don't want to blow it.

Sometimes, hiring medical sales reps feels like a roll of the dice. You hope you get a winner, but you’re never sure you will. In an article called “Stop Hiring Poor-Performing Salespeople,” Brian Jeffrey wrote about 3 specific pitfalls of hiring sales reps you should look out for, and that one way to avoid them and improve your odds of hiring a winner is to use a sales assessment tool. I think assessment tools are a great idea.

Are you overqualified for this job? If you get asked this question in your job interview, you may jump straight to frustrated-especially if you're an older worker and assume they're telling you you're just too old. But companies really don't want to make a mistake. They don't want to go to the time and expense of hiring someone who will just move on to something that pays more as soon as they find it. And most people want to climb the ladder and make more money, so why wouldn't you?

I don't think it's even possible to be "over-prepared" for your job interview. The better prepared you are, the more confident you will be--and that shows. Especially in this job market, you've got to show up with your "A" game right off the bat to avoid getting eliminated from consideration. That means putting everything you've got into getting ready for your interview. When you think about your interview strategy, think about your goals. What do you want to accomplish in the interview? * You want your potential boss to see how successful you are going to be in the job.r

Making ready for interview questions is never effortless, particularly when you have no clue what inquiries you are most likely to be requested. Competency dependent job interview queries are being employed an increasing number of by companies who would like to evaluate your outlook and mind-set as element on the interview course of action. Hence, comprehension how to respond to these inquiries is now even more crucial, if you'd like to try and do perfectly in your job interv

Recently, someone who saw my presentation on the importance of LinkedIn for the job search asked me this: “If it’s not a good idea to include a photo on your resume, why is it a good idea to include it on LinkedIn? Doesn’t the photo on LinkedIn invite the same potential discrimination issues as including it on the resume does?”

Once your AMCAS and secondary essays have been submitted, getting into medical school kicks into high gear with the interview season. Because medical school admissions have become so competitive of late – especially in this weaker economy - rnthe medical school interview has become critical. Thank you notes can be good ways to alert institutions of your interest. They can also serve as reminders to your candidacy. The thank you note should follow these rules: 1.It should be

Phone interviews used to be a practice only appropriate for out-of-state candidates, but now everyone does them. A lot. So chances are, you've either had some experience with them, or you will soon. You can get through them successfully every time if you know why companies rely on them and learn a few tricks-of-the-trade. Why do hiring companies do phone interviews so often now?

Think about the kind of impression you want to convey to your interviewer or hiring manager: experience, ability, and confidence. If you’ve been paying attention to me, you’ve got the experience and ability portions down: a winning resume, a brag book, a 30/60/90-day plan, and high-quality references. Your confidence comes out in your physical presentation, your body language, and what you say and how you say it. Good communication skills are essential. Sounding even remotely uncertain of your ability to do the job you’re interviewing for (and do it well) is an interview killer.

Wondering about the types of skills that employers are looking for in prospective recruits? A survey of 1,400 chief financial officers by Accountemps showed that more tha 75 percent placed a very high value on communication skills when hiring accountants. "Accountants are required to interpret numbers and data in their business, which requires strong verbal and writing competencies," Accountemps chairma Max Messmer said. Career World says no matter what your career or scho

The era of the thank you note after a job interview is over. Well, not the actual “thank you,” just the delivery system. It’s critically important that you thank the interviewer for the opportunity, but it’s also critically important that you get it to him within 24 hours. And a handwritten, snail-mailed note just won’t do that. Send an email.

Medical device sales is a hot sales category. Because it’s hot, you’re going to have some competition to beat to land the job. But never fear–the medical sales recruiter has a strategy for you! 1.

Before you get to go to the face-to-face interview, you’ll probably have to go through a cheaper, easier (for them) phone interview to prove you are worth the time, trouble and expense of a longer conversation. Here are the top phone interview tips to make sure you get your chance to prove your worth in person. 1. Concentrate on your voice.

It can be really hard to stay upbeat in a job search, especially if you’ve been out of work for any length of time in this difficult economy. You can stay motivated by setting realistic goals that aren’t activity-based, but are instead performance-based. And what I mean by that are actions that get you interviews.

LinkedIn is an amazing professional career tool and perhaps an even more amazing job search and prospecting tool. With over 65,000,000 members (and adding thousands of new members daily), this social networking service is your ticket to a world of career connections that would have been possible to achieve in years past. LinkedIn sets you up to unbelieveably leverage your experience, your skills, and your time during the job search. Are you aware of LinkedIn has to offer? Are you a member?

Always send a thank you email after your job interview, instead of a handwritten note. Some think that putting pen to paper for your note is more personal. But there are factors that are more important...like speed, adaptability, and the possibility of keeping the communication going.

Many companies use personality assessments such as DISC, Caliper, or Gallup as an additional evaluation for potential new hires. Even though resumes, job history, and past performance are powerful indicators of success in your new role, there are also intangible factors such as drive, people skills and personality. It’s easier to pinpoint those intangible qualities with personality assessments. These tools are very helpful to help managers, primarily because they can baseline the commonalities of their top performers—what characteristics or traits do their best people have?

At AACC, I had the pleasure of a long conversation with a national sales manager of a $30M company (10 sales reps and 10 technical support folks) where I discovered his opinion that “sales reps these days just aren’t as strong as they used to be.” I said, “Really? I’ve found that sales reps are just as good as the ones from the ‘good old days.’” So, naturally, I asked him about his hiring practices. He said that they hire their own people with no outside help (no recruiters) through ads, sales rep referrals, and a Rolodex.

There are so many details involved in a successful job interview, and every one of them is more critical than the last. Hiring you is a big, expensive risk for the company. (If they put in the money to train you, pay you, and give you health care benefits, are you going to make it worthwhile for them?) It's up to you to take care of every single detail to put their minds at ease and be excited to hire you.

As a medical sales recruiter, I specialize in placing sales and sales management professionals, and I’ve seen tens of thousands of resumes throughout my career. Since I often sift through them quickly, it takes a great resume to stand out from the crowd and get my attention.

Resumes are the foundational document for your job search. It’s so important that you get it right. You need it to act as your marketing document in your job search. It should grab the attention of the reader and make them want to talk to you to find out more.

Life has been tough for pharmaceutical reps for the last few years. Massive layoffs and changing sales practices by Big Pharma companies have resulted in a flood of sales reps in the job market. But life gets even tougher for them when they run into job postings with “pharma reps need not apply” or “we won’t consider candidates with a pharmaceutical background” right in the description! So is that the end of the road for them? Does that mean you can’t even look at that job if you’re a laid-off pharma rep? Of course not!

If you are a woman in the business world, no matter what your age, you must read the book Women, Work, and the Art of Savoir Faire, by Mirelle Guiliano. It will help you step around the mistakes you might make in your career or as a business owner, and step forward into an opportunity that you might miss without this kind of coaching.

In the era of 21st Century, getting admission to a preschool has been the most challenging and the difficult task for both the children and the parents.Increasing competition and demand for good schools have led to many difficulties in the admission process as a small child of 3 or 4 years is expected to have knowledge of certain things and pursue certain qualities. Therefore, the word 'admission' appears to be nightmarish to both the parents and children. The beginning of a

How many contacts and resumes are enough? That is an excellent question. Perhaps the answer is simpler and at the same time more frustrating than we would like. As success driven people, we like concrete answers with concrete solutions performed in a concrete, fixed period of time. Yet, in this case the answer is as many as it takes to win the job. So, instead of wasting time trying to measure the unquantified, job hunters need to focus in a laser-like way on driving more contacts and reaching each contact with increasing effectiveness on each subsequent effort.

Fast follow up emails after the interview are better than handwritten notes. Lots of job seekers underestimate just how important it is to say "thank you"....for the time, for the conversation, for the opportunity to meet. And it's also important that you get it to your interviewer fast: within 24 hours of your interview. A handwritten, snail-mailed note just won't do that. Send an email. Why is it so important?

A field preceptorship a fantastic way to boost your chances of landing a medical sales job. Also known as a ride-along or job shadowing, it's usually something we associate with students, but a field preceptorship offers multiple benefits for the jobseeker: * It gives you on-the-job experience without having to get the job.

When you take the big step out of military service back into civilian life, the last thing you need to be worrying about are the difficulties of a civilian job search. It’s true that veterans’ unemployment rates are higher than average, and it’s true that there are specific obstacles in your way…but the good news is that there are 3 sure-fire solutions you can implement that will get you hired quickly. Obstacle (and Solution) #1: Civilian employers don’t understand how your training and skill sets will benefit them.

Job seekers over 50 (and over 40) can run into real trouble getting job interviews. Before you assume it's age holding you back, make a few improvements to your resume. With the right resume know-how, your age and experience will be a huge positive for you in the job search.

Hiring managers often use personality tests such as DISC, Caliper, or Gallup to see if a potential employee “fits” in the organization. They may even have a benchmark of what a top performing employee looks like in order to compare and evaluate you. But what if you fail the test? If you take a personality assessment and are told that you don’t fit, is there anything you can do to get back in the game? There are a couple of things you can do. They might not work, but they’re your best shot at saving your opportunity.

Nothing is as much of a foundational piece of your job search as your resume. If you think of the job search as a sales process (and you should), then your resume is your marketing document. What does your resume say about you? Does it grab the attention of the reader like it should? Does it give the reader the information he or she needs to make the decision to call you in for an interview to find out more? The first fourth of your resume is the key to grabbing the attention you need.

Your personal brand is nothing more (or less) than the image you project to others. It’s the whole (although abbreviated) picture of who you are and what you do–professionally. Online, it’s the sum of the parts. A large (maybe the whole) purpose of creating and maintaining an online brand is so that people who don’t know you (employers or potential clients/business partners) can find you, evaluate whether they want to meet you/work with you/recommend you.

Many, many people do not know how to write a resume, despite a wealth of information available. It's not just a list of jobs you've had, or skills you have. It's a marketing document. You are marketing yourself. In an uncertain economic climate, you must make the most of every opportunity you have to give yourself an advantage in a competitive job market. Your resume is the first place you can distinguish yourself from other candidates.

Actually, the first question should be: CAN med techs or other laboratory people transition from a technical role into a sales role? The answer is: it depends. The odds are low, but for those who can beat the odds, they'll likely be fantastic sales reps. It tends to be a love it/hate it proposition. Why is that? It's because the laboratory is a black-or-white world. There are absolutes and definites. In the sales world, there are many more variables, many more maybes, and much more fluidity inherently involved in dealing with people.