How To Ace Your Job Interview Preparation

April 1st, 2015 / By triOS College

Job interview preparation can cause stress because candidates feel like the interviewers will examine them under a microscope looking for flaws. The simple truth about acing interviews comes down to the fact that it’s about the company rather than the candidate. The hiring process doesn’t just involve the candidate for one or two-hour sessions any longer, but that’s a separate conversation for another day. You’ve come to the right place to learn how to find a job with a career college diploma!

shaking hands after a successful interview

A candidate’s interview preparation can cause stress as they believe that the interviewers will look for flaws when in fact, it’s about the company rather than the candidate.

 

Don’t prepare cookie-cutter answers for the interviewer’s questions — this is key to job interview preparation. As the interviewee, you should aim to guide the conversation in the direction that favors you most. Prepare questions and answers to these topics so that you can demonstrate your competence.

Ask about the daily routine at the interviewer’s place of work. Show that you wish to get a sense of how things run, the environment, the pacing, and so on. The answer provides insights about the quality of the workplace and it also gives you more information to work with while pressing questions to the interviewer.

Ask about the organization’s visions, goals, and where they see the need for self-improvement. Every successful company has mission statements, values, and goals that define the scope and quality of its operations. Figure out how yours align with the place at which you wish to work. The match doesn’t need to be 100% perfect, either! What are the differences in work ethic, project management, teamwork, and productivity between yourself and the organization? Can you bring something new to the table?

Pose your answer to the “flaw” question with a believable and honest positive point. Every interviewer asks this question: “what is your biggest flaw?” The answer gauges honesty and the ability for clear self-assessment under stressful circumstances. Be honest, but put a positive twist on it. Slow learners often learn to do things well rather than skimming over the information, for example. Also, try to put a spin on your flaw that uniquely suits your industry.

Show how your skills add value to the company. The interviewer will probably ask you about your hard skills that you acquired through your professional program in college. These qualifications land the interview, but your vision for self-improvement will show the interviewer that you aren’t going to settle into a single and narrowly defined role. Ask about what you can achieve in the position if nobody asks you: this shows initiative on your part.

While on the topic of education, experience, and skills, be sure to quantify your cumulative experience in all professionally related aspects of life to date. How many patients did you help per day in your personal support worker placement in Scarborough? How many cases did you help close in your police foundations placement in Windsor? These things should be on your résumé already, but it always helps to subtly reiterate them during the interview.

Explain how your college diploma and career training has equipped you with soft skills as well. Point out how your paralegal courses trained you to work with the newest office software, or how a supply chain class taught you how to work laterally with other departments and companies effectively. Interviewers treat your soft skills as a barometer to determine how well you will work with other people, how you will interact with patients or customers, and how easily you can adapt to changing situations.

Prepare for job interviews with these questions and answers. Always remember to frame your experience and education as the foundation or catalyst for your hard skills. Keep using your college experience to emphasize how you will benefit the interviewer’s company in the short-term and the long-term future with hard skills and soft skills to get that job offer. Contact us at triOS for more information on how you can capitalize on your diploma to secure the job that you want.

 

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