Close Topic Options

Tips And Suggestions For Jobs Interviews

Well I'm having a job interview tomorrow and I would really like to get this one. So if you have any suggestions to give, please say so. I don't know what the job is specifically for, it's to work on a computer's store, so it can be hardware technician or seller.

I had about 15 job interviews so far, and the question I usually get stuck at is when they ask: "Say one of your defects/bad qualities". I mean, what am I supposed to say in order to don't give bad impression about myself? I was thinking saying something like "too perfectionist", but maybe I would sound a little too presumptuous/arrogant?

Please share your experiences to a person who is looking for his first job.


And, sorry if you notice any error or if a sentence sounds a little weird. My native language is Portuguese, but I do my best to write in proper English.

Message Edited... Persephone: Please check over your spelling using the built-in Spell Checker before posting your message.

Interviews Jobs Suggestions Tips

First off, best wishes.

I am curious, what did your interviewers say to you in the last 15 interviews? Did they give you any hints? Did they look excited when they saw you or your resume? A lot can be learned or should be learnt from each interview.

In the past, before become self-employed, I recognized that if an interviewer shows excitement about you then it is likely they will hire you. I have found that when they ask a lot of questions, especially "what if" questions then they are trying to deliberate between you and other people.

Well, anyway for the interview itself here is some of my suggestions:

1. Dress well, keep yourself clean and tidy and smelling right, but do not use cologne - that does not appeal to some people

2. Ensure your resume is well written and covers all details associated with the job you are interested as opposed to simply your educational history

3. Ensure you know a lot about the company - act like you have been researching because you really do have an interest in being there

4. Look excited.

5. Be on time.

6. Be articulate - do not stammer or sweat after each question. Sit up in your seat, be alert and courteous.

7. Show your worth - in other words - why would you hire you?

Hope these things help. Maybe others will give more input. Do let us know if you have success.

Tips And Suggestions For Jobs Interviews History & Civil Business Politics

On my previous interviews they didn't seemed excited nor anything like that, lots of questions like "give me a reason to hire you instead of someone else", "say one of your bad qualities", and most of them seemed very displeased with the fact of having no work experience at all. Hell, last job interview I had the last question they asked me was "what is the color of this table".

Anyway, I would really like to know what I am supposed to answer when they ask me " say one of you bad qualities".

Good tips tough, I will follow them tomorrow.

Interviews Jobs Suggestions Tips

I do not think I have ever been asked this question, but if I was I would turn it into something colorful by saying something like "I do not have this job yet", "That I have not looked at this company for employment sooner" or something similar.

You can fix that by doing work for companies for free in return for experience and recommendations.

That is an insulting question in my opinion. Are you showing them your stuff or are you just only answering what is asked?

Interviews Jobs Suggestions Tips

Blackheart:

That is a favorite question of many possible employers that are basically reading their questions straight off of a interview form. I have seen it many times, as I have had to interview a lot of people. You basically answered your own question though or at least gave one possible answer however you could soften it a little if you are concerned about sounding arrogant. Maybe something like this...

Q: What is one of your bad qualities?

A: Well, I am not sure that it is bad, but once I have a problem or a task to solve I don't like to do anything else until I fully complete the assignment. You know...always try to delight the customer.

or

A: At times, I may be a bit too detailed in my work.

But you got the idea... The correct answer is one that is a positive fault.

A couple words of advice. Do study up on the company you are going to work for and try to ask them at least one question about the company. Also, you think you have an idea about the jobs that you might be interviewing for...so think of questions that they might ask you and have answers for them....just like the one you mentioned. A few others that might be asked of you that you should already have a good idea of how you are going to answer are:

What is your biggest accomplishment?
What was your most difficult problem that you solved and how did you do it?
Where do you see yourself in 5 years?
Why should I hire you for this job?
What makes you a good fit for this job?

If you lack direct experience for the job, you need to take all other experience you have had and try to show how it does apply to the position. This can be difficult, but you need to be a bit creative in how you do it. Like my first job was making pizza's and I was a assistant mgr of a store, so when I graduated from college and was going for my first job, I had to make that assistant mgr's job seem like it had many things that made me a good fit for a engineers job. I mentioned how I trouble-shot the pizza oven and fixed problems, started cost saving ideas (food and electricity) and had to deal with internal and external customers.

GOOD LUCK

Rather off topic, but... I am not sure if you are going for something like a electrician or computer repairs, but the color question about the table on your last interview could have been to determine if you are color blind. If this was it, they probably did it in a poor way. However, if you are color blind, this could be a problem when trying to identify wiring color.

Edited: Vincenzo on 6th Sep, 2007 - 2:23pm

Tips And Suggestions For Jobs Interviews

First of all, I really appreciate your input, you are really helping me out.

First, I'll talk better about that table question. It was a job for selling various thing, a store wich had computers, books, vacuum cleaners, etc. So one of the last questions was "what is the color of this table?". Well I thought too it was to see if I was color blind, so I answered "It's grey". Then he asks me "And what if I tell you it's black?". At this time I was like, ok, maybe he's trying to see if I'm nuts or something. So I said: "I don't agree, I say it's grey". And he replies(this is the best of them all) "And what if I tell you to look better?". This time I thought that surely the point was to see if I was insecure, and I replied " I don't need to take a better look at it, I'm pretty sure is gray." And the interview ended here.

Later at home thinking about the question I realized that maybe I should have answered something different, analyze the question from the seller's point of view.
When he asked "what if I tell you it's black?" say something like "it's also black, it's a mixture of the color black with the color white, which results in grey".

Still, I think it's a pretty dull and plain question to decide if a person is fit to a job or not, but hey, what can I do? I only got to this conclusion after giving some thought, and in the interview I have to answer right away.

On the question of "say one of your bad qualities" maybe I'll go with that "At times, I may be a bit too detailed in my work." Vincenzo said, but I'm afraid they ask me how can that be a bad quality, and try to be a little more specific.

Tips Suggestions Jobs Interviews

Oh...if they ask that question, then you can say something like:

Well, if I am really involved with something and am really getting into the details, I can become too focused on the problem and can dedicate too much time to solving it (you can mention working extra to fix it or something like that).

As far as the table is concerned, I think you kind of got it. It sounded like a test of delighting the customer (him). If he wants it to be black, let it be black, as long as he buys it (or hires you). It was pretty stupid though and you are probably better off without that company!