The Most Important Characteristic of the Candidate - Essay Example

?First Interview: First interview always seems like the toughest because one doesn’t know what to expect and also the confidence level is not very high, which is why most candidates dread them. An interview tells us a lot about ourselves, as to how well we can handle difficult situations, how much confidence we have, where we stand, and how well do we know our strengths and weaknesses. At the first interview, you just don’t know what to anticipate; your friends who were by your side throughout your university life, now stand beside you as your competitors because everyone is eager to land the best job possible. Sitting in the waiting room, waiting for the interview, you realize that you are an adult now and you need to act and behave like one. Your palms are sweaty and your legs are shaking but you try to appear calm and composed. The clock seems to have slowed down, on one hand you want the time to pass slowly, while on the other hand, you want to fast forward everything and just get the interview over and done with. But one must always keep in mind that the interview is the initial place where you can prove to the interviewer that you are the finest person for the job and outshine all your competitors by being confident and giving the right answers. Tips: There are a lot of tips which could help in polishing your interview skills but in my mind the most important one is “Practice”, for I believe that practicing time and again is the key to success, as it does wonders for your confidence level. One should try to think of possible questions and then practice after developing precise answers for each one. These are the three prime things which can lead you to triumph. You should be passionate and self-assured while giving answers and not be in a rush to complete your response. Where it’s important that you don’t rush with your answers, it’s also extremely important that you don’t go on with unnecessary details. Try to provide precise answers without fumbling with your words or showing confusion by repeating yourself or giving long pauses. An excellent technique is to write down your answers to the expected questions, read them, edit or rewrite them and then practice them till you know them well by heart. Have someone take a test interview and see how well you perform in it and find room for improvement. (Best-Interview-Strategies, 2003) While preparing for the interview, you should get to know a little bit about the company, for instance the major people and functions including heads of key departments, the product line, services they provide, where their various branches are, chief competitors, and the most recent news on the industry in which the company under question lies. The easiest way is to start with the company’s website, and furthermore the newspapers etc. (Hochkeppel n.d) In relation to dressing for the interview, it is very important that the dress should be appropriate as well as impressive. Not only the dressing, but the overall look should spell class. You should look well groomed. Get a haircut if necessary and go to bed early the night before so that you wake up fresh the next morning. Wake up a little early than usual the next morning and start your day with a fresh shower, wear clean classy clothes, groom yourself and you are all set to go. (Carr n.d) Interview Schedule: Interview Schedule Applicant Name: Aaron William Date: 12.2.11 Position Applied for: Assistant Sales Manager for the brand Kellogg`s Frosties Recruiter’s Name: Ben Richard Recruiter’s Phone: ( 004477984570142 ) Start Time End Time Interviewer Location 9:00 AM 10:30 AM James Henry 93- Thorton Heath, Surrey The Interview and Questions: Precisely at 9:00 A.M, Mr. Aaron’s name was called. He walked into the room and was asked to take a seat. The interview started off just fine but after a couple of questions he started fumbling with his hands and kept readjusting his position in the chair. He was very confused but still tried to remain calm. Either he had not prepared for the interview or his confusion was getting the better of him. The head of the marketing department was conducting the interview along with the HR manager. Both of them were well experienced and were pros at conducting interviews. They tried to relax Mr. Aaron, by wishing him a good morning and asking him to be seated and be comfortable. The interview was started with very general questions like: Tell us about yourself. Tell us a little about your family and background. What do you know about Kellogg`s company? How many different types of cereals of Kellogg`s do you know of? How many of them have you tried? Which one in your opinion is the best, and why? What is your greatest strength? What is your greatest weakness? What is the one thing you have accomplished in your life that you are really proud of? What are your future goals? And did you achieve your goals that you have set for yourself in the past, if so then what were they and how did you accomplish them? Since this is a sales job, how good are your communication skills? Are you a health conscious person? because you get appointed you will be handling sales of Kellogg`s cereal and cereals are considered a health food. Then they moved on to questions that required some thoughts on part of the candidate to phrase his answers well, so that the interviewers could judge the candidate. At this time, both the interviewers took turns in asking questions, while one asked the question the other remained quiet and observed the candidate. How do you handle stressful situations? What is the toughest problem you've had to face, and how did you overcome it? Why do you want this position? Why are you the best person for this job? How good are you at achieving targets? What would you suggest to maximize the sales of our cereal? Where do you think our company stands in comparison to our competitors? Following these, were questions for analysing why the candidate wanted the position he had applied for and how well suited he was for it. What interests you about the position you’ve applied for? This question will clarify how serious the candidate is about this job; because a good candidate will have done enough research on both the company as well as the department to give a complete and satisfying answer and it will also shine light upon their level of motivation. (Swinton, 2004) Managing your own workload is vital in this job. Can you give me an example of a time where you had to manage your workload in order to meet contradictory deadlines? This question will clarify one of the most important characteristic of the candidate that is how good he is at balancing his workload and how well he can work under pressure. Instead of providing hypothetical situations ask the candidate to provide a real life example. (Swinton, 2004) The next question is in connection to the last. That’s a good example but can you elaborate more fully, what your role was in this example? After the candidate has explained how he handled workload in order to meet contradictory deadlines, he can be asked what role he played in that situation and the words he chooses in reply explain a lots of things like, if he is a team player, then he would use words such as we or the team but if uses words like I then that would signify that he is not a team player. His tone can also clarify if he is shy, confident, proud or egoistic. (Swinton, 2004) What are your career plans, and how does this job fit in? When a company hires someone, a lot of money is spent on that employee besides other things like time. Therefore, it is very important that the employee takes the job seriously. The company doesn’t want the employee to have a non serious attitude that would indicate his inclination towards not having any interest in the company or the desire to work there, which in turn, might even boost such an attitude that turn over might not be a big deal for him. (Swinton, 2004) Another very important question is where do you see yourself in the next five years? And how can this job help you in achieving the goals that you have set for yourself? This can give a view of the future plans of the candidate and how well in line the job is with his future plans. Towards the end of the interview Mr. Aaron was asked if he had any questions or queries to ask and clarify. And then he was asked to do a short case study to check his writing and problem solving skills. Analysis of the Answers: When asked to tell about himself, Mr. Aaron was honest; he focused on his personal traits and only gave a general view of his academic background. He ought to have highlighted his accomplishments and shared some good experiences but it seemed like he was in a hurry to wrap up his answer. Next, he told us a little about his family background, being the son of a commercial pilot he should have answered in a clear confident voice, but in his confusion he only managed simple and straight forward answers. He did know a few basic things about the company like when it was developed and by whom. He could certainly have done better than that because quite a lot of information is provided on the company site, not only about the company but also about its various products. He named a few of our products and was good at comparing them with one another and he said that he liked Kellogg`s Special K the best because he had actually taken on the challenge of two bowls, two weeks, everyday and it had helped him reduce his weight. His greatest strength, he said, was that he was very flexible and that he could adapt to the environment quite quickly and well. In telling his weakness, he made a major mistake, for he said that he is short tempered. Sales, is a front desk job where the Assistant Sales Manager would have to deal with a lot of different types of people every day and being short tempered is a major drawback for this position. When asked about an accomplishment in his life that he was really proud of, Mr. Aaron was lost in thought for quite some time and after a while he talked about being the team captain of the Basketball team in College. Although that is fairly an accomplishment, he could have come up with a better answer because the way he talked about it, it didn’t seem like much of an accomplishment that made him proud, but rather like the best possible reply to this question. Mr. Aaron said that he had excellent communication skills, and yes that was believable to an extent for he was very polite and humble in his answers, but if he had had confidence to backup his answers then yes his communication skills would have been real good, for then he would have spoken in a clear and confident tone instead of mumbling in between lines. Considering he had taken on the special K challenge, it supported his answer when he said that he is a health conscious person because it is important for the sales manager of Kellogg`s to be fit and fine. When questioned on his problem solving skills, he said he could work well under pressure and assured that he could meet deadlines. He said he doesn’t lose control under pressure and it doesn’t cloud his mind, although he was unable to provide a suitable example to support his answer. He said he wanted to work for this company because it was a renowned multinational company and the best in its industry. He wanted to work in a place where he would be happy coming to work every day, instead of dragging himself through one day to the next and he wanted to be proud of it. He said that when someone asked him where he worked he would be proud to say that he worked for Kellogg`s and that meant a lot to him. This appeared to be a nice and honest answer. In answer to why he was best suited for this job, Mr. Aaron was very enthusiastic and said that he was very hard working and a quick learner. He believed he could help in maximizing sales and that he would prove himself worthy of the position and make the company proud by giving an outstanding performance. SWOT Analysis: Strengths: Mr. Aaron clearly tried his best to remain composed and appear confident. He gave answers to each question and didn’t miss on any of the questions. His behavior was remarkable and he was very polite, well behaved and honest. Weaknesses: He wasn’t properly dressed. Although he was wearing a nice suit, he wasn’t carrying it suitably. His shirt wasn’t properly tucked in and his tie was crooked. Also, he needed to tone down his color scheme because wearing a blue shirt with a bright orange tie to an interview isn’t really a plus point. His lack of confidence was quite clear, even though he was trying to cover it up. His hands were tightly folded against his chest as if he was trying to protect himself, little beads of sweat appeared on his forehead after only a couple of questions and also he was fumbling with his words a lot. In his confusion, he ended up giving some very abrupt answers like when asked: how are you? He replied I`m ok. Although, it was a polite reply, it seemed very careless, instead of saying: I`m ok, he may have said I`m fine, thank you and how are you? He had not anticipated the interview at all and had had simply no idea what to expect. If he had spoken to someone, taken some guidance, some advice and shared someone else`s experience, things would have turned out much nicer and also his confidence level would have been boosted. No answers had been developed in his mind previously. If one forms proper answers of expected questions in one`s mind, then the answers come out automatically. Simple questions like Tell me about yourself? Or highlight your major strengths and weaknesses? Why do you think you are best suited for this job? etc, are some of such expected questions. If one forms answers to these questions well before hand, then the interview can progress much more smoothly. It was quite clear that he had not practiced well for the interview at all. He ought to have practiced his answers repeatedly for we all know that practice makes perfect. Mr. Aaron had not done much research on the company and was not well aware of either its history or its current position in the market. Opportunities: If he learns that practice and preparation will help him succeed, then he can gain confidence and improve his interview skills. Also, he should foresee and pre phrase the answers in his mind in order to perform better. Threats: His lack of confidence and preparation is his greatest personal threat. Besides this, he needs to realize that his class fellows are now his competitors therefore, if he goes and gives them hints of what types of questions to expect after leaving the interview room, then he is decreasing his chances of appointment, for then others could perform better than him. Analysis of the findings and advice: A person`s chances of success in life are increased if they uncover their hidden talents and overcome their weaknesses. Your talents will help you perform better at your job, while by overcoming your weaknesses; you may keep them from placing hindrances in your work. By developing your own personal SWOT outline, you can be clear about you strengths and how you can use them to your advantage and prove yourself better than your competitors and how you can further polish your skills. (Pasteur n.d) Mr. Aaron should take time to develop his personal SWOT framework and get to know his major talents as well as flaws. He must remember the three golden rules of anticipating likely questions, developing excellent answers and practicing them to perfection. Also, before an interview he must always know well about the company as well as the position for which he is applying, as that tells the interviewer that you are serious about this job. Dressing is extremely important; he must be well groomed and well dressed for the interview and avoid wearing loud colours or inappropriate ties. He should go for pastel colours and simple ties and ask for a friend’s assistance if necessary. It’s important to be there for the interview on time, it’s alright if one goes a little early but going late is a major drawback. He should sit comfortably and not readjust himself every few seconds because during interviews body language is very important and if you move around too much in your chair then it shows that you are confused and scared. Practicing for the interview with a friend can also prove to be very helpful. If a person has his arms folded, it shows that he is in protective mode and is possibly annoyed or judgmental, whereas if his arms are open the person is in an honest position and is comfortable with the situation he is in. (Hendes, 2008) When the interviewers asked him if he had any questions to ask, instead of remaining quiet and saying no thank you he should have asked some basic questions like: What do you enjoy most about working for Kellogg`s? Or have I said anything to make you think that I may not be the best candidate for this job? And most importantly when do you expect to make your final decision? Hence, Mr. Aaron should look into each aspect of his personality, from his voice to his dressing, to his level of confidence and preparation as well as his body language, so that next time his interview goes better than expected and he gets the job he wishes to obtain. References Best-Interview-Strategies.com, n.d, Job Interview Questions & Answers: Know What to Expect and What to Say [online]. Available at: [Accessed 24 Feb 2011] Hochkeppel, C., n.d, Interview tips for the first-time jobseekers [online]. Available at: [Accessed 24 Feb 2011] Carr.C.n.d, How to Rule at Your Interview Four tips to help you cope with your first interview [online].Available at: [Accessed 24 Feb 2011] Pasteur.L. n.d, Personal SWOT analysis making the most of your talents and opportunities [online], Available at: [Accessed 24 Feb 2011] Swinton. L. 2004, 7 Interviewer Interview Questions for First-Timers [online]. Available at: [Accessed 24 Feb 2011] Hendes.N.2008, How to read body Language-Top 10 tips [online]. Available at: [Accessed 24 Feb 2011] Read More