How to succeed in Interviews?

"33% of bosses know within the first 90 seconds of an interview whether they will hire someone.” - Forbes, 2015.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FEJswfDbXyw

Above is a clip on what not do during an interview!

Ms. Monica Bisca, head of talent at the Bulldozer Group in Dubai, spoke to us during the third week of our personal development session. The following is my interpretation of the class based on the Rolfe et al. (2002) model of reflection.

What?

After successfully graduating from my Diploma program, I was excited to begin my working career before starting my Bachelor's Degree. I remember applying to various companies and having to attend interviews. At the time I felt extremely anxious as it was my first time attending interviews. Nevertheless, I tried my best to go with a positive mindset and hoped for the best.

Reflecting back, The first few interviews I attended were extremely nerve-wracking as I stumbled upon my words and did not undertake any research on the companies I applied to. Moreover, I realized that my lack of self-belief led me to mess up while being interviewed as I ended up stuttering and taking too long to answer. Later, I was often questioned about my experience in my CV but unfortunately did not take the time to frame my answers and ended up looking unconfident.

As time went on, I attended more interviews and improved from each mistake I had previously made by reflecting, and although I still lack some interview skills, I can attest that I am much better now. However, as my last semester in university closes in, I have decided to further brush up on my skills by joining this class to ensure success in future interviews.

So what?

Ms. Monica was thorough and covered a wide range of interview-related subjects. One of the parts that resonated with me was my lack of preparation. She also underlined the need to prepare and investigate the organization I want to apply for. Ms. Monica also instructed us to ask the company questions: "What are the organization's goals and values?" The organization's services or products, and how you will contribute to its value. Can you tell me about its culture? This will undoubtedly benefit me in future interviews and make a favorable impression on my interviewer.

The most beneficial component for me was learning how to answer behavioral questions, which most companies use to determine what sort of personality you have and how you would behave in specific scenarios. I recall some of my questions during my interviews, such as "Tell me about a time..." and "What do you do when..."

Ms. Monica later introduced us to the STAR TECHNIQUE, which stands for:

S: I must provide details of the situation.

T: I must Identify the task and what needs to be done.

A: What action did I undertake?

R: What was the result?

This technique will be highly advantageous to me since I will be able to respond clearly and succinctly without continuous rambling, which the STAR interview style allows you to do. "It's useful because it gives a basic structure for assisting a candidate in telling a compelling story about a past job experience," says Al Dea, CareerSchooled's creator, and a career and leadership coach.

Now what?

Upon completion, I found the class highly interactive, as Ms. Monica provided many real-world examples. However, the majority of my learnings came from discussions inside the lecture. This might be because I observed diverse points of view and expressed my understanding of them. Ms. Monica also emphasized asking the employer questions at the end of the interview. For example, "what did you see in my resume?" can provide insight into the merits of my CV that I might employ in the future. Or, "When will I receive feedback?" Because it will benefit my abilities for upcoming interviews.

Additionally, even though I am a recent university graduate, I have realized that it is critical to highlight the skills I have developed via my studies and voluntary work. This knowledge is helpful to me as an interviewee because I only used to include jobs that paid in my résumé. Therefore, I need to have essential skills obtained in schools linked to the job I'm going for and unpaid internships as a next step.

With my interview skills enhanced, I now know what to expect when applying for a job, and more significantly, I will be more prepared and much more professional. Furthermore, in the future, I will make sure to use internet interview templates to assist structure my research and write everything out before attending my interview as well as incorporate some breathing techniques to reduce my anxiety.

Overall, I found this lecture to be quite useful, and it showed me the significance of making a strong first impression before beginning an interview.

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REFERENCES:

• Rarr; V., 2021. How Interviewers Know When to Hire You in 90 Seconds. [online] Undercover Recruiter. Available at: <https://theundercoverrecruiter.com/infographic-how-interviewers-know-when-hire-you-90-seconds/> [Accessed 25 March 2022].

• The Muse. 2021. How to Use the STAR Interview Method to Get the Job. [online] Available at: <https://www.themuse.com/advice/star-interview-method> [Accessed 25 March 2022].