PRESENT YOURSELF

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Practice interviewing
Additional tips

Personal appearance
Your idea of dressing up and the company's dress codes may be entirely different.  Most companies ask that their employees maintain a certain appearance. If you blend in with the rest of the office, you may give the impression that you are already a part of the team. When asking for directions, casually ask if the company has a dress code. Once you find out, prepare your interview wardrobe.  If you're still not sure, here's a quick guideline that most major corporations follow:

• Hair: Neat and clean, in simple styles.

• Nails: Not excessively long,  clean and well groomed, no loud colors, designs and glitter.

• Clothing:  No denim or denim-like materials,  skirts no more than two inches above the knee, no latex or spandex pants, no loud patterns and colors (including hosiery), no torn or ripped clothing, no tight clothing. Basically conservative dress, also avoid anything that sparkles or glitters.

• Accessories: Small to medium bag or briefcase (should match shoes), avoid large belts and buckles.

• Jewelry: One ring on each hand, one bracelet, one watch, no long or large and dangling earrings, one earring per lobe, one necklace. No visible body piercings, aside from ear lobes.

• Makeup: Natural-looking, clean and fresh. Avoid heavy (evening) makeup and glitter.

• Perfume or Cologne:  Just a little.  Here's a hint... If you can really smell the perfume on you, you may have too much on.  Ask others if they can smell your perfume or cologne before you leave if you are not sure.

• Shoes: Clean and polished.  Heel should be no taller than three inches. No athletic or casual shoes.

Practice Interviewing
With a friend or someone you trust, organize and review your answers to both tough and basic questions.

Examples of Tough Interview Questions:

• How has your background (upbringing, school, social activities) influenced what you are today, your career, and your public interactions? 

• How do you define success? How successful have you been? 

• What mistakes have you made during your career? How did you deal with them? 

• What is the most difficult situation you had to deal with in your personal or professional life? How did you deal with it? What was the outcome? 

• What would you consider a good position and an excellent one?

Examples of Basic Interview Questions:  

• Tell me about yourself.

• Why are you looking for a new job or why did you leave your old one?

• What are your goals, where would you like to be in five years? (Are your goals compatible with our company's vision?)

• Why should we hire you for this position?

In preparing your answers to these questions, think of yourself as a political candidate. A skillful candidate is focused. Rather than being led by the interviewer's questions, candidates stay in control with responses that express what they want the listener to remember. Ask yourself, "What would I like to express in the interview?" Remember to try to incorporate your research on the company and the position when answering these questions.

Additional tips
Remember the two basic questions to ask yourself: "Is this the right job for me?" and "Am I the right person for this job?".  That's basically what the interviewer will determine after interviewing you.   

• Read the company's annual report, and make note of adjectives used to describe the leadership and the employees. 

• Will you be comfortable and happy in this environment?

• Be prepared with brief examples about your work that demonstrate the qualities that the company may value.  

• Don't give one word answers, elaborate a little to support your experience and give a complete picture of yourself and what you have to offer.

The more you practice your answers, the more your confident you will become. Rehearse until you can easily answer most questions and prepare yourself for the tricky ones.

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