The Interview Handbook

Technorati Tags: Body Language,meaning of body language,body Language in,the body language,a body language

Here’s a fact which should be burnt into your memory: In face to face communication your words account for as little as 7% of the perceived impact of your message. Your voice tone is about 38%, but your body language represents about 55% -

WOW!! 55%. It’s amazing what you can revel without saying a word, so how can improve my job prospects by giving out the right signals and understand other peoples signals?

It’s such a massive topic and it would take hours to talk about it, so I just picked a couple of areas which are quite simple to use and to put into practice.

Body language is fascinating and intriguing and you underestimate its power and influence at your peril. One gesture can be interpreted in several ways; for example crossing your arms could mean that you feel anxious or angry – or simply it means that you are cold and you are folding your arms to keep warm. How about nose-touching, it could mean that you are covering your mouth to conceal a lie, or you may simply have an itchy.

Let’s look at how body language works within the work place. I have met so many people who have real talent, work hard and are conscientious but never receive the rewards their hard word deserves. Why? - They lack charisma, but with the right body language you can have real charisma.

For example when entering a room, remember these simple tips:

• Walk in talk, don’t slouch.

• Look relaxed, smile, don’t over do it; you’re not on a tooth paste ad!

• Walk with confidence

• Greet everyone you pass

• Use eye contact at all times

• Use friendly signals, touch, eye contact and mirrored gestures

The good news is that we all have the power to change our body language it does take a certain amount of work and effort. Have a go it could make all the difference.

Technorati Tags: The Interview,How To Plan A journey to an interview,How to Fail An Interview,Interview Questions

A little forward-planning is essential if you’re going to arrive fresh, with a clear mind and ready to impress interviewers. Follow my simple tips on how to plan ahead for a stress-free journey.

You’ve got an interview. You feel prepared, confident and even a little lucky. Then before your very eyes it all turns to dust: your alarm fails to go off, and you wake up 15 minutes before your train is due to leave. You arrive at the station out of breath, sweating; totally stressed out! only to discover the train’s been cancelled.

Is this your worst nightmare? Think it’ll never happen to you? If events are ever going to conspire against you, they’re guaranteed to pick the day of your interview. Being late is the number one sin; let me tell you here and now, you can never recover from this, remember first impressions count, even if it’s due to circumstances beyond your control, there are no excuses.

A little preparation and forward planning will go along way in helping you to have a stress-free journey to your interview:

Here are a few simple tips to follow, remember the simple things are things that people forget to do!

1. A few days before your interview, work out how to get there.

2. Plan your route and find out how long the journey will take. If you’re taking public transport, you might want to buy tickets so you won’t have to queue on the day.

3. Aim to arrive about 15 minutes early, and leave extra time in case things go wrong. Waiting may not ease your nerves, but watching the minutes tick past as you’re stuck in traffic is far worse. And if you’re early, employers will notice that you’re well prepared and have met the ‘deadline’ of your interview with time to spare.

4. Check the news and traffic reports to find out if there are traffic jams, accidents or major delays on the trains.

5. If you want to smell as fresh as you look on arrival, don’t smoke in your car.

6. If it comes to the worst and there’s just no way you’re going to be on time, do some damage limitation.

7. Call the organisation and explain what’s happened. Traffic jams delay everyone, so they should be sympathetic. It may be possible to postpone the interview by an hour or so, or to reschedule for another day if things are really bad. Never rely on this.

So remember the planning is in the detail!  

What a great question, so why do so many people fail to take the bull by the horns and follow up on their interview? Its so important to show that you have a real interest in the company, there are a few rules you need to follow, its not difficult so here we go.

You are quite happy with yourself because that last interview went really well. You feel that your chances of getting the job are pretty good but you hate the part where you have to sit back and wait for the employer to call you back. Well, guess what? You’re not supposed to just sit back and wait. An interview is never finished when you shake hands and leave the room; you have to follow up on it.

Following up after an interview can give you a winning edge over the other candidates. The manner in which you follow up is also important because it can win you or cost you the job. The best way to illustrate this is with an example.

Elizabeth had been hoping to hire a market researcher to fill a position that had been vacant for several weeks. Henry, Melissa, and Barbara were equally qualified and she was having a hard time deciding which one to hire. When she listened to her voice mail on morning after the interview, Melissa had left her a message thanking her for the interview. She made a mental note of the fact that this candidate had shown a serious interest in the job by following up. That same afternoon, when she checked her mail, she found a letter from Barbara. She was impressed by the care and effort that had gone into writing the letter. Barbara had not only thanked Elizabeth for the interview, but she had addressed some of the organizational issues that had been discussed during the interview as well. Barbara was offered the job the very next day.

Now that you know how important following up after an interview is, here are some pointers to help you get it just right.

Get the time frame right

Towards the end of your interview, always remember to ask the potential employer how long it would be until a hiring decision is made. If you get a good idea of when the company will be hiring, you will know how quickly you need to follow up. If you know the company will make their decision in 5 days, then you need to send out the follow-up letter right away.

The Letter

A follow-up thank you letter is an excellent way to get your interviewer to remember you. The letter should re-emphasize why you are a suitable candidate and discuss any additional information about your qualifications that you didn’t have a chance to mention during the interview. Whether you use email, snail mail, or fax depends on the type of company you’re interviewing with. If it’s a high-tech, trendy one, you might want to go with email. A posted letter may be more appropriate if it’s a conservative company. In any case, check that you have the correct information with regards to the interviewer’s name, position, and address. Asking for a business card after the interview is a good way of making sure that you do.

The Phone Call

If the hiring time frame has passed and the company still hasn’t called you, you can call them. During the phone call, let the company know that you are still interested in the position. Be gracious at all times and don’t be too pushy. You don’t want to give them the impression that you are desperate.

If you keep these pointers in mind when you follow up on an interview, you will be well on your way to making sure that the person who interviewed you keeps you in mind for the job. At the same time, you will also be strengthening your candidature.

I was looking around for places to find resume templates for the beginner.

A really good starting place is to go to Microsoft.com. Go to the section Top Searches, there you we see browse templates  and on the right hand side half way down you will see resume/CV. Click on this and you we see three categories:

1. Basic

2.Job Specific

3. Situation Specific.

From there you can down load any of the above and you just add your own personal information to the template, its a simple as that, once you get experienced in adding information you can then start to personalise your resume to suit individual job applications.