Succeeding In Interviews
In today’s competitive world, Organisations are looking for customers who have a positive attitude and can deliver. An Interview is a face-to-face meeting between two people.
Nothing will excite an interviewer except the fact that you know how to deliver. So when you are going to an interview, it is vital that you are in control of the kind of questions you are going to be asked.
Typically a job interview comprises of two elements improvisational and then written questions. So it is a two-way interview.
What you say is only 10% of the story, but everything you say is important. Understand that in a live situation you are talking about your interaction, not your delivery. Your delivery will change at every stage of the interview.
In the improvisational stage, the interviewer will ask random questions trying to throw you off your guard. The interviewer will be looking for evidence of your flexibility and responding to their questions.
In this stage, it is often a non- sequitur. For example, what is that? What is wrong with that?
This is just one example of the types of questions you may be asked in the improvisational stage.
In the written stage there are 5 key components t that can be used to form a paragraph.
- A headline;
- A subject;
- A problem;
- A solution;
and 5. Lastly a conclusion.
Headline
Your headline should set the attention-seeking audience to attention, it should catch their attention and inspire them to read on and find out more.
The subject
For example, one of the questions I was asked in the Police oral interview is “What do you want to be when you grow up?”
If you had said astronaut you would probably be in a good position. If you had said president you might be in a good position. If you had said a sportsman you would be in a good position.
Choosing a subject is very important, but in the Police oral interview, you will generally be asked to choose a subject that is related to the job or profession you are applying for.
The prime consideration is to make sure you have chosen something that you believe is important to at least one of the questions.
Problem
Finding out precisely what is the problem is very important, and you should prepare thoroughly in solving this problem.
Generally, a problem is a situation that needs to be solved. It is not a vague description of what you want to happen, but more a specific description of what needs to be done.
Example
The hypothetical situation of hitting traffic is common in many oral interviews. In this case, there could be any number of possible subjects, but normally the situation will be unique.
If you have trouble with Traffic just imagine a rock-solid pavement like when you wake up in the morning.
The traffic situation could be;
A construction zone;
A pedestrian zone;
Somethingenders down;
A truck stuck in traffic;
A school;
A flight of stairs;
The sidewalk below ground level;
A sign says ” Watch and Wear Red” which means ” Protective equipment”.
literally hundreds of posses with various abilities and skills to help solve the situation but in real life, there is no real true answer, and traffic can get the best of you.
Wondering why hundreds of people may have problems?
A construction site will at some stage of the future require the Man and Monster to work together. I do not know whether the Monster now wearing a red baseball cap walks down the runway to safety or whether they simply stop, look up, and run.
stop, look up, and run.
In real life, there is only one way to stop traffic on a highway, which is to use a median barrier.
This is not merely a ditch in a grass verge; this is a real brick and metal obstacle.
The Monster would not be able to go around it, the Man would certainly try.
So what is the answer?
The answer is both easier and harder to achieve. The easier part is to find another construction site, another highway, and drive around it.
The hard part is to get away from it?
Maybe you could wear a red baseball cap (very popular in the US for 50 years ago), network systems administrator from some company, security expert, crash durations expert (the government contracts big pharma companies to make sure that their products are safe), and many other such specialists.
Maybe it’s time for you to take another look inside your job profile and see the possibilities with a new job altogether. Driving around in a red cap sure would be safer than driving around in a truck!