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Preparing for a Job Interview
I had to deal with job hunting for quite some time and even prepared for getting help from my virtual assistants. Here are the main lessons I learned when preparing for a job interview.
The mundane: prepare your clothes
Learn how to tie a tie!
This is a key skill. It’s fine if your mom knows how to do it better than you – at the beginning.
(To be honest, my mom still makes better tie knots than me. But I know I can tie a decent tie if it comes to it!)
Think about it: what if your tie comes undone right before the interview?
You would be screwed if you didn’t at least know the basics of it!
If you want to learn how to tie a tie step by step, then you’ll love this video series!
You can download them for free now!
Have your suit cleaned and ironed in time!
There is nothing more useless and unnerving than trying to figure out what to wear a few hours before your big interview!
Make this decision the day before and stick with your choice. This will relax you a bit.
I won’t have to say that taking a shower and shaving are definitive to-do’s before an interview, right?
Prepare for hard job interview questions
Do your research!
- You can use tools like Glassdoor to research possible interview questions.
- Here is a great collection of 100 potential interview questions
- Do mock interviews with a friend or a spouse – or even record yourself talking as if you would discuss with someone from HR. Chances are, you could speak more slowly and clearly.
How can a Virtual Assistant help here?
You would have to be very creative if you wanted to find a way how your VA could help you preparing for a job interview. In principle, you are on your own as soon as you sit in that chair in front of the commission.
Still, just as it is possible to get coaching/reminders in Chemistry, as I did, you can simply hire someone to do mock interviews as often as possible with a few random interview questions until you are calm, prepared and ready for whatever they will throw at you.
Remember:
The best things you can do, next to real job interviews, are
- training job interviews and
- imagining doing job interviews
Sure, this is not very usual. But if you consider outsourcing as a lifestyle, then you are not very usual either.
Not that there is something bad about being creatively unique 🙂
Tips On Job Hunting
Accelerate Your Success – A How To
I was searching for a job for over half a year. Here are my best tips on job hunting for you. I only found out about the best and most effective job search tactics at the end of my job hunt.
Tips for your first job hunting
If you are just starting out and have recently graduated from college, looking for a job will be a challenge.
Chances are that you did not start applying for a job while still in college.
Even if this is good advice, your final exams were even more important to you at that time.
No problem. Tackle one challenge at a time.
Your First Job Hunting – The Most Important Tips
- Use your connections: ask friends, family, teachers and professors for help!
- Dress for success: get 1-2 good fitting sets of business clothes for your applications.
- Find job fairs: it was the number one place to get good job opportunities. Talking to people face to face goes a long way!
 Just know that your first job search might take a bit longer.
It’s probably a good idea to take a part time job while you do your first job searches.
Also, try to get as many
- testimonials,
- job references
- and advanced training
that you possibly can!
Why it makes sense to dress up in advance
Dressing up for success takes not only quite a bit of money, but also time. Shopping for suits, finding the right fit, and possibly adjusting the suits at a tailor takes a few days.
Time that you don’t have a day before your job interview, believe me.
You don’t want to be stressed out over a “minor detail” like your clothes at a crucial time!
Take the time to shop before right when you send out your very first application. You’ll be suited up by the time you get your first job invitation.
Why personal contact beats everything else you have ever tried
It has happened to me before:
- I send an online application with all my credentials, they decline politely and tell me they have no use for my profile
- When I get to know HR employees at a job fair and apply after that, they invite me. And they invite me with enthusiasm.
That’s why you should never, ever underestimate the power of personal contact. Even if – or precisely because – it is much harder to talk to a human being than to send a generic job application:
You will increase your chances of getting the job – a lot.
Establishing personal contact is one of the best tips on job hunting I can share.
Why you should never stop
What if you have your dream job, are happy and don’t want things to change, ever?
Well, life is changing around you. And if you don’t keep up, you’ll fall behind.
That’s why I’ll finish my tips on job hunting with this one: you must keep your options open.
If you have set up email alerts for job research websites
- keep receiving them
- use email filtering functions to mark them as read
- and move them in subfolders, in case you ever need them again
Keep building new contacts even if you are working. Who knows, perhaps you’ll secure your dream job of tomorrow?
Don’t try to search until you find your dream job – at first
Please take this tip the right way: a first job, some work experience and most importantly, some money are more important than starting out with your dream job right away.
If you have the possibility to work, do it. You are free to look for other opportunities after a year or two. Actually, your first job won’t be your last, in all probability.
Since you will change your position anyways, why not start out with this first job offer to make some “cash and XP”.
By the way, you make the best connections while working on the job!
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