The Undercover Recruiter

6 Interview Types You Must Know as a Candidate

Before you go on your interview, you should realize there are several common types of job interviews. You will definitely want to inquire what type of job interview you will be going on beforehand so you can best prepare for it. Don’t be afraid to ask your recruiter what type of job interview will be conducted, as it serves both of you and the interviewer to know. In this article, I am going to discuss the six of the most common types of job interviews.

1. Traditional one on one job interview

The traditional one on one interview is where you are interviewed by one representative of the company, most likely the manager of the postion you are applying for. Because you will be working with this person directly if you get the job, he/she will want to get a feel for who you are and if your skills match those of the job requirements.

You may be asked questions about the experience on your resume, what you can offer to the company or position. Many times the interviewer will ask you questions such as “Why would you be good for this job?” or “Tell me about yourself.” The one on one interview is by far, one of the most common types of job interviews.

2. Panel Interview

In a panel interview, you will be interviewed by a panel of interviewers. The panel may consist of different representatives of the company such as human resources, management, and employees. The reason why some companies conduct panel interviews is to save time or to get the collective opinion of panel regarding the candidate. Each member of the panel may be responsible for asking you questions that represent relevancy from their position.

3. Behavioral Interview

In a behavioral interview, the interviewer will ask you questions based on common situations of the job you are applying for. The logic behind the behavioral interview is that your future performance will be based on a past performance of a similar situation. You should expect questions that inquire about what you did when you were in XXX sitation and how did you dealt with it. In a behavioral interview, the interviewer wants to see how you deal with certain problems and what you do to solve them.

4. Group Interview

Many times companies will conduct a group interview to quickly prescreen candidates for the job opening as well as give the candidates the chance to quickly learn about the company to see if they want to work there. Many times, a group interview will begin with a short presentation about the company. After that, they may speak to each candidate individually and ask them a few questions.

One of the most important things the employer is observing during a group interview, is how you interact with the other candidates. Are you emerging as a leader or are you more likely to complete tasks that are asked of you? Neither is necessarily better than the other, it just depends on what type of personality works best for the position that needs to be filled.

5. Phone Interview

A phone interview may be for a position where the candiate is not local or for an initial prescreening call to see if they want to invite you in for an in-person interview. You may be asked typical questions or behavioral questions.

Most of the time you will schedule an appointment for a phone interview. If the interviewer calls unexpectedly, it’s ok to ask them politely to schedule an appointment. On a phone interview, make sure your call waiting is turned off, you are in a quiet room, and you are not eating, drinking or chewing gum.

6. Lunch Interview

Many times lunch interviews are conducted as a second interview. The company will invite you to lunch with additional members of the team to further get to know you and see how you fit in. This is a great time to ask any questions you may have about the company or postition as well, so make sure you prepare your questions in advance.

Although you are being treated to a meal, the interview is not about the food. Don’t order anything that is too expensive or messy to eat. Never take your leftovers home in a doggy bag either. You want to have your best table manners and be as neat as possible. You don’t need to offer to pay, it is never expected for a candidate to pay at a lunch interview.

Chew quietly and in small bites so you don’t get caught with a mouthful of food when the recruiter asks you a question.

So, now you have an idea of these six common types of job interviews. However, no matter what type of job interview you go on, always do your best to prepare for it the best you can ahead of time so you can do your best and show them the best of who you are.

Guest Blogger

This post is written by a guest blogger. If you are interested in submitting a guest post, check out our Guest Post Guidelines - we look forward to hearing from you!

Filed Under: Interview Tips Tagged With: Interviewing

6 Ways to Start Building Your Personal Brand Now

build your personal brand today
Everyone has a personal brand. Do you know what yours conveys to potential employers? When your name is Googled, what comes up? If you haven’t given much thought to your personal brand, here are a few ways to start building it:

1. Sign up for professional networking sites.

You may have been one of the people who thought Twitter was going to go away or that LinkedIn was pointless. But guess what? They’re not going away anytime soon. And the truth is, employers are using these sites more and more to get a feel for how potential candidates could fit in with their organization.

So go sign up for an account now! And don’t forget to completely fill in your profile or bio and include a picture. An account with minimal information or that looks fake isn’t going to convey professionalism.

2. Interact and collaborate with other professionals on networking sites.

It’s not enough to just sign up for these sites anymore. You need to use them to meet other professionals and continue growing as a professional. After all, networking is still one of the best ways to land a job. Using these online tools will allow you to grow your network with no geographical limitations.

3. Create a personal website or online portfolio.

Make yourself easy to find by registering your own personal domain name, ideally firstnamelastname.com. Utilize your site to display your resume, portfolio items, case studies, accomplishments, recommendations and contact information. Include your website URL on your business cards, e-mail signature and other networking sites to connect with potential employers.

4. Identify what makes up your “unique you.”

What sets you apart from the other professionals in your field? What accomplishments do you have that others don’t? These affect your personal brand. In order to nail an interview, you need to have a good grasp on what sets you apart from your competition.

5. Start a blog.

Blogging is a great way to grow your network, sharpen your writing skills and show that you’re a dedicated and capable professional. Identify your interests, passions and expertise and how you can translate that into a unique blog concept.

6. Network anywhere and everywhere!

Don’t limit networking to conferences and events. Talk with people in unusual places, such as at holiday parties or on the train. You never know whom you’ll meet and where it can take you. Don’t forget to bring along business cards wherever you go, and ask for theirs in exchange so you can follow-up later.

photo by: Astragony

Heather R. Huhman

Heather R. Huhman is a career expert and founder & president of Come Recommended, a career and workplace education and consulting firm specializing in young professionals.

Filed Under: Personal Branding Tagged With: Personal Branding

How to Make Your Resume Stand Out Online

There’s a sea of online resume postings out there, and with the huge number of resumes submitted via e-mail or online forms that the employers have to scrutinize, they may all start to look the same. When you’re competing with hundreds of other equally qualified applicants, you have to establish yourself as the front-runner from the get go! So how do you ensure that your online resume will stand out from the crowd and not get lost in the black hole that many of the resume databases have become? Read on; you just might find the answers in the following tips:

1. Make your resume keyword-rich.

Recruiters and company resume databases search for resumes using keywords. Think of it as similar to the way you’d search for a restaurant on Google; you enter your key criteria for a place to eat, right? If your resume doesn’t have those keywords embedded, it won’t be included in the results. It’s crucial to identify the right terminology in the industry you’re applying for. Take time to research the company, look at the job requirements and highlight all the keywords and key phrases. Don’t get too crazy with the keywords, though. Just put enough to help employers find you faster. Remember this equation: Excellent Resume + Keywords = Job Opportunities.

2. Get your resume branded.

While employers care about your address, mobile number and e-mail address, what’s more important to them is how you do things differently; what makes you unique and what your bottom-line impact is in the organization. Ask yourself what you consistently do really well that is of value to the prospective employer. Once you identify it, turn it into a branding statement of three to four sentences, max.

3. Make it easy for employers.

Avoid the likelihood of conversion mistakes during upload and keep formatting as simple as possible; make it aesthetically pleasing and easy to follow. Use a different font – legible and not too fancy, but somewhat diverse from the usual Times New Roman or Arial fonts that everybody uses; this may just make a big enough difference to the eyes of the worn-out employer that has probably browsed through hundreds of resumes with the same fonts. Now there’s a good chance to give them – and yourself – a break!

4. Add a link.

Face it, social and professional networking sites are becoming hubs for job seekers and recruiters. Among the popular ones that most recruiters employ are LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and MySpace. Add links to your profiles. Likewise, if you have a website, a blog or if you are featured on somebody else’s website, add those links to your resume, too. Be sure that they contain information that will impress the reader.

5. Pitch a positive personality.

Just because you’re listing facts doesn’t mean you can’t make them sound pretty. Use positive language in all instances to give the employer an upbeat positive attitude when they’re done reading your resume. These ostensibly little differences in the choice of words can have a major impact on how your resume is perceived.

Make sure your online resume is dressed to impress and “speaks” loud and clear. Above all, don’t miss out on being found online! Use as many resources as you can to ensure that your resume stands out and get noticed online.

Jorgen Sundberg

The original Undercover Recruiter, after 7 years in tech recruiting Jorgen now runs Link Humans, a social media marketing agency in London.

Filed Under: Resume Tagged With: Resume

3 Hot Tips to Finding Your Dream Job

While a career contributes to your time on the planet in many ways, most people agree that it shouldn’t be the sum total of your life. If you work a regular full-time job, you get 128 hours per week to sleep, eat, be a romantic partner and parent, or participate in sports and entertainment. There are many, many possible career paths out there and a practically infinite number of possibilities. Your life can be one cohesive story if you fit your job in with your personal life rather than fighting with yourself to do it the other way around.

Tip #1 – Look to Friends and Family for Guidance

Chances are, the most important people in your life are your friends and your family. These relationships should never be sacrificed for a job, so make sure that what you want to do fits with what you must do for a given profession. One example of this could be a desire to strengthen your marriage. To do that, you will need patience, love and understanding but also time basking in your spouse’s presence. To that end, you’ll need to find a job with hours that are similar to your partner’s hours, even if it means slightly less pay. It will be worth it in the long run because a happy husband or wife makes a happy, and productive, employee.

Valuable advice from loved ones should also be important in your career choices. Your friends might know even better than you do what you’re good at and what you can add to a group setting. You will miss out if you don’t ask for their opinions. Your friends may also plan vacations or extended weekends together, so being in the loop will allow you to spend even more quality time with them.

Tip #2 – Define Your Values and Put Them to Work

As a wise man once said, variety is the spice of life. You are different from all other people and over your lifetime, have learned what makes you tick. An important step in finding a life-supporting career is defining your values and then finding money-making opportunities to match. Do you really, really like money? Affluence could be a value. Do you enjoy being part of a group? Belonging could be your personal value.

Other examples of values include creativity, altruism, integrity, helpfulness and justice. For example, a very caring person might find fulfillment in nursing while an adventurous person might love venture capitalism. If you can’t find anything that fits, remember that nothing is stopping you from creating something that does.

Investigate the new consumer encyclopedia site, North Orion, for descriptions of many careers and the values and education associated with them. Make a conscious decision to live your real values and don’t let the desire for quick cash or easy job tasks get in the way.

Tip #3 – Network with Friends and Professional Contacts

Most career advisors preach the importance of networking with professional contacts like school professors, former and potential coworkers, and people in professional associations. Gaining this habit is, in fact, very important in having an effective career. But, you may be missing the boat if you don’t network with friends and family members as well.

Those closest to you know best what you want and what is important to you. Use that as an advantage by asking them about companies near them or acquaintances they may have in your area of interest. Places like church, parent-teacher associations or social justice groups can also be network goldmines.

If you let your career be determined by your values, your family and your friends, you will be happier and have better self-esteem, which leads to creativity and even more acknowledgement of your worth as a human being. In the end, your life story will include all aspects of your life – including those 128 hours per week – so get on a path that will end in a coherent tale.

Also check out 10 Secrets to Getting Yourself Headhunted if you want the dream job to find you!

Rebecca Palmer is a writer and musician native to Logan, Utah. She spent about five years in the newspaper business before accepting a position as a Staff Writer for Utah-based TechMediaNetwork and NorthOrion, its subsidiary. Rebecca has a Bachelor of Science degree in Mass Communications with a minor in Viola Performance from Weber State University, which she attended after graduating with high honors from Roy High School.

Guest Blogger

This post is written by a guest blogger. If you are interested in submitting a guest post, check out our Guest Post Guidelines - we look forward to hearing from you!

Filed Under: Job Search Tagged With: Career Advice, Job Hunting