Times are changing fast and everything is so different from how it was 5 years ago.
- NEVER go for an interview with the intention of being offered a job out of sympathy. For example, unless asked, never bring up the topic of being a widow, orphan, disabled or any other physical or emotional challenge.
This used to work before but if doesn’t anymore. Just tell the employer how you’ll help their business and not how you expect to be helped.
- NEVER say that you can learn on the job. Ati you are a fast learner. The employer is not there to teach you.
You may not know everything but you should already have an idea of what the job entails. It will be easier to teach you if you know the basics.
- NEVER talk so much about yourself. Unless asked, concentrate more on what you’ll do for the employer. For example, if you are interviewing for the post of an electrical engineer, don’t dwell much on your skills. You already did that in the CV.
Tell the employer exactly what you intend to do if they hire you. You can tell them how you’ll help reduce the cost of electricity in the company, how you can reduce the chances of accidents involving electricity, how you can you can partner with other engineers to automate some systems without spending much and so on.
Nowadays if you can’t prove your skills, they are useless.
- NEVER demean your previous employer even if they physically mistreated you.
- NEVER talk about your other skills that are irrelevant to the job you are interviewing for.
Actually, you shouldn’t even include them in your CV. Only do so if asked.
For example, If you are interviewing for the post of a bank teller, unless asked, don’t say you’ve been in the construction industry or you’ve been a waiter. Tailor your answers to the job in question only.
- When you are asked your expected salary, quote the industry standard even if you are inexperienced in that field. A friend applied for the post of a manager in a certain farm. He was fresh from university and didn’t have the confidence to quote the industry standard. He didn’t even know the industry standard. Actually, he had been told by a certain person what to quote. He was asked to quote 180k and don’t go below 150k no matter what happens. Having never earned even 20k per month, he thought the guy was misleading him so that his kin would get the job(the guy was a senior person in the company)
My guy had been an intern in the company for six months and the owner had seen his potential. In the interview, the guy quoted 40k thinking he the other guy was misleading him. The interview panel didn’t put up a bargain. They instantly agreed.
It was a private company where things are not so transparent. Six months down the line, he came to know that his assistant was actually getting 107k. He had no one to blame except himself.
Every company is different from how it conducts its interviews, but for the many I’ve interacted with recently, that’s the trend.
Very important: Learn a digital skill or a foreign language. It really sets you apart from the rest. The good thing is that most digital skills are free to learn. Some sites may need you to part with a small fee for certification though.
Things are changing fast. Sometimes back, like 2yrs ago, people were gathering courage and going with placards to the streets to beg for jobs. It worked.
Nowadays it’s irrelevant. So try keeping up with the current trends.
A lady gave the deputy president a nickname “Riggy G” and got a job.
