Job Interviews–What will they ask? What should I answer?
Your resume was great and now you have the interview. What questions will they ask? What questions CAN they ask? Is that a LEGAL question? You ask yourself, "How do I prepare? How should I answer? What should I wear?"
Research the company. Find out as much as you can about it. Speak to people already working in the same field. You already did some of this when first applying for the job. The more you know, the better prepared you are.
First impressions can make or break an interview.
I heard of someone going for interview after interview and not getting the job. She couldn't understand why. She was well-prepared, had a good resume, and was "dressed for success"–or so she thought. Finally she asked someone in the same field if they could find out what she was doing wrong. It turns out she was
a member of a mystery book club and wore the club pin, a skull and cross-bones, to her interviews to show her interest in books and reading. She thought it would HELP her get the job. The interviewers saw the skull and cross-bones and thought, "Hmmmm. I don't think I want this person working for us." They didn't know about that book club!
The pin might have helped her for a different job–something to do with Halloween, buccaneers, pirates, mysteries, or horror shows. It even might have helped in these interviews if she had mentioned the pin and what it stood for! Make your first impressions count–but in the right way.
The library has books, ebooks, DVDs, and recommended websites that can help you prepare for your interview. On the Toronto Public Library home-page, check out Find Your Way to Job & Career Help and click on Market Yourself. There you will find some of our newest books and helpful links such as the Guide to Interviewing Resources, from Quintessential Careers, and The Interview Game: Illegal Questions, from Career Link.
For more titles in our catalogue, you can search subjects such as Employment interviewing and Employee selection. You can narrow the search down by applying a date-range or other limiters. Some of the titles you get may be about questions the employer should ask. You can'take a look at these as well, to get an idea of the answers the interviewer might be looking for.
Don't forget to practice! Get a friend to role play with you and practice being interviewed. Film it if you can. You can–then you can see how you're doing.
Here are some books you can'take a look at:




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