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Welcome to the Ace the Interview workshop. I'm Lisa Geddings, Career and Internship Specialist on the Dahlonega campus. And I'm Lori Cleymans, the Career and Internship Specialist on the Gainesville campus. And in this session today we're going to be discussing interviewing and give you some tips and strategies for success. So when you make it to the interview portion of your job search, you may be experiencing several different emotions.

First, you may be excited because you made it through the resume screening, and the employer likes what they see and they want to talk with you and get to know you better. Then after that, you may start to feel some apprehension and nervousness as you get closer to the actual interview date. But being prepared for the interview and the potential questions you may get that can help you to feel more confident. And that confidence can lead to success. So we've taken the interview process and we've broken it down into three phases. And we'll go through each of those phases today.

Phase one consists of the prep work. So this is the research, preparing what you're going to wear, finding out where the location is. This is all of those details that you're going to take care of before the actual interview date.

Then we'll move into phase two, which is kind of the bulk of the interview. That's the information exchange, that's where you're going to be receiving questions and you're going to be pulling examples and stories from your experience to illustrate how you are going to be a good fit for this position.

And then in phase three, that's the follow up. This is where you want to be sure that you are thanking the interviewer for their time. Letting them know that you are excited about the opportunity and that you can see yourself being a good fit at the organization.

Okay, so phase one, all that preparation work to get you ready so that you can be absolutely as perfect as you can be on the day of the interview. The interview is what is going to either get you the job or not get you the job, often. So we want to make sure that you do everything within your power so that you're well-prepared, can answer the questions and you don't have as much nervousness. And be a little bit more confident when you're walking into that interview.

One of the things to keep in mind in order to be successful for your interview is to really do a lot of research. You may have done research when you were writing your resume, but now it's time to dig a little bit deeper. Talk to your network, ask Career Services, talk to your friends and family. Does anyone know anything about that company? Do they know someone in that company that you can talk to, to learn a little bit more about what to expect, what the management style is like. What's the culture like in the organization? What do they value? And then really try to think about what skills really fit within that position as well as the company as a whole. And that way, you can start to think about what are some examples that you can give during the interview that will fit with what the employer is looking for in terms of that job announcement.

And really match up those skill sets and those experiences and accomplishments so that the employer can see you as already a part of their team and someone who really brings a lot of value to their organization. Also, when you do this research, it helps to really demonstrate your interest in the position.

Often some of the first questions you may be asked, are, why are you interested in this position? What do you know about our company? And by doing this research, you're able to easily answer these questions. And the employer thinks, wow, this person really wants to work here. They really want to be a part of our team. They've taken that extra time to research who we are and understand our products and or services. Whereas there are a lot of candidates who don't take the time to do this.

And so when you do research, that already sets you apart from the competition and sets that interview off on the right foot and makes a really good positive impression. So what you should research, you should look at the company mission statement. Their products and services. Understand really who they are, what it is that they do, who do they work with, even who are their competitors?

And also look at the size and the location of the organization. You may want to be in a company where it's a small, almost like a family feel to that organization where you know everyone. You don't feel like you're just kind of lost in a sea of people. However, that may limit your career opportunities within that organization. And for some of you, that may not be the right fit. You might be looking for an organization that will meet your career needs and your goals. And you say, you know what, I really want an organization that's much larger and has the opportunity to grow and to maybe move to other locations. And that's something that may be important if you're not interested in moving and you go with a larger company and they say, well, in order to get promoted, you need to relocate. That may not be something that's the right work environment for you.

And so those are some things to consider when you're doing this research on the company. You also want to understand what's, what the culture and the values are for that particular company. If you value a company that allows you time off, allows you to work from home, those are things that you want to look for. However, if a company doesn't fit the values that you have, that's when you may find yourself going to work every day and not being very happy. And that's why it's so important to really understand how that company functions, so that you know, if that's the right work environment for you.

So as you're preparing and doing this research, what of the things you really want to do is drive to the interview site a few days prior If you're able. This helps you to find parking, understand the traffic patterns. If you can, try to drive to that location during the time that you will be having your interview. So you'll know, is there a lot of traffic? Is their construction going on? Should you leave the house earlier that day? And that way you don't find yourself late, getting lost. I know for myself I always drive and find some place where I could maybe stop, maybe fix my hair, put on my jacket, and then drive to the interview site, refreshed and ready to go right as I walk in the door.

And some of the things you want to prepare ahead of time is basically a portfolio for yourself. Now this may not be a portfolio that you are giving work examples. It could be depending on your career field. If you're going into some kind of graphic design, maybe you need writing samples if you're going into public relations or journalism. But what I mean by a portfolio is really a notebook for yourself that has extra copies of your resume, maybe some letters of recommendation, your references. So that way during the interview, if they ask you for your references, you can hand those over to them.

You do want to also make sure you have a pad of paper in there. So if you need to take any notes and also have questions already prepared for the interviewer as well, which we'll get into a little bit later. Make sure you have a nice pen with you. So test it out. Make sure it writes. And that way you are all set for the day of the event, ready to go.

You may already be nervous, so we need to try to find ways to help not be so nervous. And by preparing in advance, you won't be running around the house trying to find these things at the last minute, running late for your interview. We definitely don't want to start off the interview on a, on a bad note.

So by having all of these things well in advance, you'll help calm your nerves and get ready for the big day. And appearance does matter. It helps to demonstrate if you really understand that company, who are they? What is their culture? And when you're doing your research, you need to ask yourself, is that the kind of work environment that I want to be in? Do I want to be in a work environment where I am expected to wear a suit every day, where I need to make sure that I have certain kind of jewelry or not.

I know when I worked for Walt Disney World awhile back, I had to have earrings that were a certain size and I couldn't wear bracelets because I worked on the frontlines with all the rides and with all the people and we didn't want anything getting caught. So there were certain restrictions on what I could and could not wear. And those are some things that you can find out when you're doing your research. And that way you can ask yourself, is that the kind of environment that I want to be in? Or are you looking for a more relaxed environment where you can either work from home, wear jeans and a T-shirt.

Basically what is important to you when it comes to going to work every day. And again, it helps you to figure out if you are really interested in this company and it helps the company to understand that, gosh, you again, you took that time to do the research. And you're making a really good first impression because they'll make an impression within the first few seconds that you even just pull into the parking lot and walk through the front doors. So you want them to already be thinking, wow, this is a great candidate. We can't wait to talk to this person.

So some of these outfits that I'm going to be showing you on these next few slides are going to be for the majority circumstances you may encounter when it comes to interviews. Again, doing your research, you may find that wearing a suit is maybe too dressed up. Other times, you will find that a suit is perfectly appropriate. But that's why you need to do your research. So these next few slides you're going to see probably about 90% of what you're going to encounter when it comes to the expectations for an interview.

Now, for both men and women, you usually want to stay very conservative and traditional with the colors, blacks, charcoal graze, navy blues. You can use color, but you want to keep it very limited. The reason being is you don't want your outfit to stand out in a way that distracts from your accomplishments and your experience and your skills. You really want them to focus on what you have to offer and not so much on the outfit itself. And so you want to keep everything pretty much to a minimal for both men and women, make sure you have your hair back out of your face so it's not distracting you and you're messing with your hair. We don't want to be doing that.

It's also making sure that your jewelry is very minimal. And making sure that it doesn't jangle or cause too much noise or get caught on something. So those are some things to keep in mind. Now for, for ladies, if you're going to be wearing a skirt, if that is something that you choose to wear, then you want to make sure that the skirt goes to right at about the knee or right below the knee. So that way it is the appropriate length. If you're going to be wearing pants, that's perfectly fine. I would say one thing you'd want to do is try on those pants with the shoes that you're going to wear to make sure that the pants are the right length for you so they're not too long or too short.

Things to keep in mind. Some extra items here for the shoes you want to make sure they're are about one to two inch heel, nothing too clunky. Make sure it's closed toed. And again, this is for the interview itself. When you actually get the job, your attire may change to match what they are wearing on a day-to-day basis. But for the interview, you want to dress up, dress up a little bit more.

So that way you have that good first impression. You want to avoid any kind of large bags, backpacks, brief cases, anything that's going to be jumbling around, causing a distraction, you might have to go digging around for pen, we don't want to be doing that. We want to keep it very smooth, very clean, very easy for you, and not distracting for either yourself or the employer.

Now for that notebook at the bottom there, that's what I mean as the portfolio. So having that notebook paper, your resume's in there. And again, that's for both men and women. Everyone should have some kind of little notebook portfolio there to keep everything altogether. And what I do for myself because because my keys have a lot of janglies on them. I take my key off my key chain and I tuck it right there into that pocket. So I have my key. It's very simple to use, very easy to carry and it's nothing distracting and clinking on the table or having to dig through a bag or anything like that. Don't have to worry about it. Keep it very simple.

Now for gentlemen, us again, the same thing with the colors, keeping it fairly conservative and traditional with the colors. And again, your research may show you something different it's something you need to look into and make sure it's the right outfit for the culture of that company. But for, again, for the most part, you're going to be sticking with the blacks, navy blues charcoal, maybe a medium gray, something pretty straightforward, not too distracting. Same with your shirt. It can have lines, it can have patterns, but keep it very muted so that it's not something that's too distracting for the employer. Especially if you're going to be doing a virtual interview, you want to make sure that the pattern is it too busy on a camera, and again, that it gets too distracting.

Your tie should be a fairly traditional color. Again, nothing with any kind of cartoon characters or anything too silly. Your shoes should be the kind that you slip on and polish. You can have them where they tie as well. But the main thing is to make sure that they're not sneakers or sandals or flip-flops, anything like that. Typically, your belt should be the same color as your shoes and your tie. The length should be where it goes to about the middle of your belt buckle. And that's how you know if your tie is the correct length as well.

As some of the things that you do want to avoid everyone. Everyone needs to avoid these things. Making sure there's nothing in your mouth that such as mints, gum, I hope not food. Those kind of things that you need to make sure that aren't distracting. It's not going to be something that makes you look unprepared. Keeping your cell phone either completely silent or off or just locking it in your car so that you're not sitting there scrolling or getting phone calls in the middle of the interview. I've had that happen where the candidate had the phone ring right in the middle of the interview. And it just completely interrupts the flow of conversation and it's very distracting.

And so you want to make sure that you limit your distractions as much as possible. Avoid playing with any of your hair, any kind of fidgeting that you may do. If you find that you're the kind of person that when you get nervous, you tend to tap your foot a lot or you fidget with your fingers a lot. That's OK. What you can do is try to really concentrate and practice with putting your feet flat on the floor.

Practice putting your hands crossed in front of you and resting on the table to help prevent any of those kind of distractions. And if you want to have some practice because maybe you don't notice that you have some of those fidgeting habits. That's okay.

Career Services can work with you and we can schedule an appointment with you to do a lot of that interview practice. You do want to also avoid any kind of heavy perfumes, colognes, aftershave, any kind of very strong smell. There are people with a lot of strong allergies or sensitivities to smells. And if you're in a small enclosed room, especially that's when you need to make sure that maybe I need to not wear that today because it could really irritate someone and cause them some sinus issues or headache. And again, you don't want them to remember you because you smelled like too much perfume or too much aftershave. You want them to remember you for your skills and your accomplishments.

Ok, so now moving into phase two, which is going to be the information exchange. And like I mentioned earlier, this is where the employer is going to be asking questions and you are going to be going through and gathering your stories and thinking about, you know, what examples from your experience will best illustrate the skills and the value that you're going to be bringing to this position. And so there are ways to prepare for that. And we're gonna go through some of those typically asked questions and types of questions.

So to begin with, interviews can be set up in a variety of formats. They kind of come in all shapes and sizes. And two that are the most familiar to people are going to be the individual, which is the one-on-one interview and then the panel interview. Both of these types of interviews are going to take place in person at the physical location of the company. Now, in the individual interview, this is where you are meeting with one interviewer. It gives you the opportunity to develop more of a relationship and a rapport with that person. So a lot of times in these situations, your nerves kinda go down.

You're getting to know this person, but you do have to be a little careful because you don't want to forget that you are in an interview and you don't want to go too casual, you've got to remind yourself that I'm interviewing for this position, Me and the interviewer, you may have a lot in common. However, stay on your toes and remember that your objective is to get this job. One of the downsides of the individual interview. Is that there's only one person who is going to determine whether or not you proceed through to the next stages of the interview process. So it puts a lot of weight on that one individual's perception of you and whether or not they determine if you have the skills and the qualifications and have something to bring to the organization.

Now the other type of interview is going to be a panel interview. And this is where you are sitting down with more than one person. So you could be in a room with four to five people, possibly interviewing you and asking you questions. In this situation, generally the way it works is that each person will take a turn asking the question. And you have to be mindful to make eye contact and include everyone that is in the room in your answer. So you, you want to make sure that you're addressing the room. And the best way to do that is to make eye contact with the person who asked you the question. When you first start to answer, maintain eye contact with them.

But then as you move through your answer, make sure that you are making eye contact with the rest of the individuals at the table. In these situations, I think your nerves maybe a little bit higher because you are meeting with several people rather than just one. But you do have the advantage that you're getting more than one person's feedback on, on your interview performance and what you're going to be bringing to the company and to that position. So it's not left in the hands of just one individual. Employers also like to use phone and video interviews to be able to connect with candidates.

In situations where an in-person meeting is not possible or where a remote interview might be more cost effective or could reduce the amount of travel that either the candidate or the interviewer may have to have. So a lot of employers will tend to go to these types of interviews as maybe like a first round interview, a chance to screen and narrow down the candidate pool before they move into more of the in-person interviews.

And we're actually right now we're seeing a lot more of the virtual interviews. Employers are getting use to this technology. So in the past, let's say, six months ago, virtual interviews were used, some by some employers. But now we see it a lot more. And I think because the employers have become used to the technology, we're going to see that increase more and more as we go forward. But some things to keep in mind. We'll start with the phone interview. If you have a phone interview schedule, make sure that you are in a quiet location at the scheduled time. If you're going to be at home or at your apartment, you know, let your roommates or family members know. I have an interview. I'm going to need to be in a quiet area.

If for some reason the interviewer does not call at the designated time that you set up. I recommend waiting about five minutes and then calling that company or that interviewer back if you have their contact information just to make sure that there wasn't a miscommunication and who was to call who? Having the phone and the virtual interviews gives you a good opportunity to.

First of all, you get to be in your own space, so you're in an environment that's more comfortable to you. You are able to have your resume there in front of you so you can reference that. You can have some paper and a pen to take notes. Water, you're able to have water there. So if you get thirsty or you need to take a drink of water during the process, you're able to do that. So there's some kind of level of comfort that you can have with these types of interviews that maybe you're not able to have with those in-person ones. But then on the other side, there are some technology issues that you have to look out for.

So with the virtual interviews, making sure that you test your technology beforehand. And a lot of times, you know, we're not as comfortable speaking on the webcam. So maybe practicing that with family members or friends, or definitely Career Services. We can do a mock interview with you. To set up an appointment, just go to our website at ung.edu/careers and you can schedule that appointment. So practice makes perfect. The more you practice, the more comfortable you're going to become.

Another thing with those virtual video cam interviews is you have to be aware of your surroundings because they wanted to be able to see you and they're going to see environment that you're in. So you want to make sure that there is nothing distracting in your background. You want to be the focus in this process. You are trying to sell and promote yourself. So we need the employer's attention to be focused on you and not trying to figure out like what does that picture behind them or what are those books over there on the wall? So just making sure that you are the focus.

Again. Cut out as much noise and distraction as you can. So if you have pets, put your pets away, let family members know that you're going to need a quiet space. And then just some kind of reminders about when you arrive for the interview. A lot of people don't realize, but the interview actually begins as soon as you arrive on the property. So as soon as you pull up, you need to be in interview mode. And you always want to arrive ten to 15 minutes early. And you want to be respectful of your interviewer's time.

So you don't want to arrive any earlier than 15 minutes because more than likely they have a schedule and they're interviewing multiple people. And if you arrive too early, you could throw them off their schedule. So be respectful of their time.

Ten to 15 minutes early is the perfect time to arrive. Treat everyone that you come in contact with, with respect and kindness. And as though they have the authority to offer you the job position because you never know who that individual might be and you never know who the person interviewing you might go back and consult with to determine, hey, what did you think about this person? Did you have a chance to speak with them? Were they friendly? Did they make small talk? So just remember that you have to be on you're A-game the entire time that you're there.

Watch your non-verbal communication. You want to make sure that you're sitting up straight and that you maintain eye contact. When people walk into the room, if you're seated, you'll want to stand up and greet them. Always address them by Mr. and Ms. unless you're invited to use their first name. And then just basic manners. Remember to say please and thank you. So as you go into the interview process, you know that you're going to be asked multiple questions.

And there are some questions and types of questions that are pretty common and standard interview questions. So one of the best things you can do to prepare for that is to go ahead and start researching some of those commonly asked questions and in Career Services, we have a list of questions, so you're welcome to contact us and we can provide those to you. So get some of those commonly asked questions and start jotting down some answers.

Start collecting your stories and thinking about examples from your involvement and from past work experience that you can use to answer questions. You also want to go back to your research. And we can look and see what that employer is looking for and the person who takes this position. So if they're looking for someone to maybe develop a marketing plan for a new product that they're rolling out. And you've had a similar experience at another employer and maybe even in a different industry. But it was still the same basic process that you went through of developing a marketing plan. Then you want to be sure that somewhere the interview for some question that they ask, that you're able to weave in that example of a previous experience.

And then again, like I mentioned, practice makes perfect. And the more you practice answering these questions, the more comfortable you'll be. So to begin with, most interviews are always going to start out with the tell me about yourself question. And although this seems like it should be a fairly easy question to answer because they're asking about you. And who knows you better than you do. It still kind of throws people off. Because it is very broad and kind of vague, so you do have to be careful not to go too personal with the information that you share.

Just keep in mind to include information about your educational background. Include two or three strengths that are related to the position. You can share specific examples of accomplishments from either work or from volunteering, or even working together on a group project and tie in and how you can contribute. So what are you going to be bringing to the company and to this position? How is it going to be better because you're a part of it?

Employers really like to ask about the strengths and the weaknesses so this, these are two common questions that you will probably run into. So they may ask, you know, what are your greatest strengths or what are some strengths that you will bring to this position? Always remember to relate these strengths that back to the job position itself. Don't fall into the trap of just kind of doing a laundry list of strengths and list out, you know, three or four qualities or attributes about yourself without backing those up.

Always provide examples that illustrate how you have you used that strength in the past, in a previous position. That just gives that a little extra weight and makes it a little more meaningful and believable and concrete. Then employers like to ask about your weaknesses or an area that you need to improve. So when you're asked that, as always a difficult one