Interviews. careercenter.lipscomb.edu/page.asp BACK
Preparation. Biggest Mistakes. Top Questions.
| Preparation | ||
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• Learn as much as you can about the company beforehand—know its products and services, its profit margin, its management, its culture, its dress code, and anything else you can think of. Good sources are the LU library or public library, the Internet, or Lipscomb's Career Development Center. • Be honest. Don’t try to cover up mistakes. Instead, focus on how you learned from them. • Speak slowly and clearly and don’t be afraid to pause for a moment to collect your thoughts. • Think about how your experience in work, classes, and activities can relate to the job you’re seeking. • Allow plenty of time to get to the interview and, if possible, visit the site in advance and time how long it takes to get there. • Plan your interview attire in advance and make sure your clothes are pressed, your shoes, your hair, and your nails are clean. |
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| Biggest Mistakes | ||
| • Acting bored or cocky • Not dressing appropriately • Coming to the interview with no knowledge of the company • Not turning off cell phones or electronic devices • Not asking good questions during the interview • Asking what the pay is before the company considered them for the job • Spamming employers with the same resume and/or cover letter • Failure to remove unprofessional photos/content from social networking pages, web pages, or blogs. |
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| Top Questions | ||
| • Can you tell me a little bit about yourself? | ||
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Don’t tell them where you were born and raised. Don’t tell them you were a cheerleader. Focus on your academics and experience. Ask yourself, ‘what are the top five things I want this person to know about me?’”
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• What do you see yourself doing five years from now?
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| The interviewer wants to hear about something in their company's business area. If they are retailers, talk about something related to retail. You do not want to say, "I want to be an award winning screen writer" or "I want to be a stay-at-home mom". This question is usually asked to determine if the job seeker will be happy in that position, or if he or she wants to work in it only until they find something "better". | ||
| •What is your greatest strength? | ||
| Don’t just talk about your strength—relate it to the position. Let the interviewer know you are a qualified candidate. | ||
| •What is your greatest weakness? | ||
| Say something along the lines of, "I have difficulty with this, and these are the strategies I have developed to get around it. For example, you could say, "I'm not the most organized individual, so I answer my emails and phone calls immediately. I'm aware of the problem and I have strategies to deal with it." | ||