Whether you’re a new college grad just entering the workforce and looking for media jobs, or a seasoned professional who finds yourself back in job hunting mode for the first time in a long time, you’re probably a bit intimidated at the prospect of sitting for an interview with a prospective employer. Honestly, even those who have recently been through numerous interviews are rattled by each and every one, at least to some degree.
Interviewing, after all, is a stressful process. There’s a lot riding on your performance during that interview, after all.
There are ways of honing your skills and the primary method for becoming more competent in interviewing is through practice or mock interview sessions. A mock interview is, simply put, a practice run that mimics the real life interview process as closely as possible. By going through several such practice session, you will become more confident and capable of making a strong positive impression when it comes time for the real deal.
Wrangle a Mock Interviewer
While it’s entirely possible for you to run through potential interview scenarios in your own head – which you’re likely doing anyway while you stew over how intimidating the interview process may be – the most effective means of practicing for an interview is to actually have a friend or family member play the role of interviewer.
If you can wrangle someone into being the mock interviewer, you’ll have the opportunity to run through question and answer practice sessions. This provides you the chance to refine your answers, practice speaking clearly and delivering clear and comprehensive responses, and to master the non-verbal communication aspects of interviewing for fulltime jobs and partime jobs as well. The manner in which you conduct yourself during an interview is as important as the answers you deliver to an employer’s questions.
Stage Your Practice Sessions Effectively
Best methods for productive mock interviews require that you mimic the real work interview situation as closely as possible. This means you should dress the part for at least some of your practice sessions, in order to get more comfortable in your suit or other business attire. Wear the outfit you plan to wear to the interview so you can ensure its comfortable, fits properly and doesn’t cause you to fidget or feel self-conscious.
You should also sit at a table, with the mock interviewer across from you. Practice making appropriate eye contact while interviewing. Pay attention to how you sit in your chair – square your shoulders, don’t slump, and don’t move around too much in your seat. Keep your hands in your lap or on the table, only using conservative hand gestures in appropriate places in your conversation for providing emphasis to verbal responses.
Try to avoid falling out of character during the practice session. This means both you and the mock interviewer that you’re wrangled into helping must maintain the professional manner and demeanor throughout the entire session. Save any and all discussion of performance, behaviors or other details for after the mock interview is complete, whether you’re interviewing for sales jobs or any other variety of positions.
Ask the interviewer to take notes during the session on areas of potential improvement they see or hear. This will not only help you better your interviewing skills during future practice sessions , but will also let you get used to the way it feels to have someone taking notes while you’re speaking , which is something that will occur during a real interview for a social worker position or any other job.
If possible, you should consider video recording some, if not all, of your practice sessions. You may be a bit self-conscious with the process, but it can help you learn how to control your facial expressions, posture, hand gestures, and other forms of non-verbal communication which all play a role in interview performance and the perception of a candidate by a prospective employer.
Get All Your Facts Straight
Mock interviews give you the chance to practice discussing the details of your own resume, work history, demonstrated skills and competencies, as well as the opportunity to promote yourself in a positive manner. Take advantage of the sessions to ensure you have all your facts straight and in your head about your past positions in fulltime jobs or partime jobs and job duties and responsibilities, no matter if you’re interviewing for administrative assistant, sales jobs, engineer jobs, or even social worker jobs. While it’s fine to occasionally reference a copy of your resume during an interview, doing so too often can make it appear as though the information contained within that document is fabricated or exaggerated.
Do Your Research
In your search for jobs, you’ll also be looking into the background, work environment and reputation of prospective employers, or at least you should be! After all, you’re considering them to see if they’re a good fit for you as much as they will be doing so with you if you’re called in for an interview. When you find media jobs of interest to you, take into account the postings and the employers and compose some relevant mock interview questions from that information. Ask your interviewer to read questions from that script during your practice sessions.
Tothego.com is the new search engine for job opportunities, cars and property in the US. Tothego.com provides a single window into the offers available across a multitude of sites, saving time and energy. One results set contains everything the user needs to know – that’s the added value of tothego.com.Practice interview media jobs image from Shutterstock
Is your job search turning into a grind with no end in sight? It may be time to take a step back and reevaluate your entire approach.
In cold weather climates, the beginning of spring is a time to clean the house and get organized—a practice known as spring cleaning. Through the years, spring cleaning has taken on a larger meaning with people using the time to organize and declutter things in their lives.
For professionals on the job hunt, a little spring cleaning (metaphorically speaking) could be a great way to reinvigorate your job search. Here are a few strategies your job search spring cleaning should include.
Reevaluate Your Job Search Approach
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Make a list of the last handful of jobs you applied for and see if you can identify any positive or negative trends. Consider things like:
How did I learn about this job?
How did I apply for the job?
Did I earn an interview?
What was the ultimate result?
A lot can be learned about your job search approach just by answering these questions and identifying patterns. For example:
Negative Trends
You discovered five jobs through job boards, applied to all of them via the job boards, and never heard back from any of them.
The common pattern here is applying through job boards. This isn't to say that job boards don't serve a purpose in the job search process, but they have their limitations, and you can't run your job search entirely off of them. When you apply through a job board, there's a good chance that your materials will never get past the applicant tracking system (ATS) and never be seen by an actual person.
One simple fix is to research who the hiring manager or recruiter is that posted the position and email your materials to them directly.
The more efficient fix would be to take a proactive approach by putting together a bucket list of companies that you want to work for and start making connections on LinkedIn with people who work at those companies. You may already know some people who work there or have connections that can refer you to some individuals.
This is a great way to network your way onto a company's radar.
Positive Trends
You applied to three jobs via referral, were invited to two job interviews, and made it through multiple rounds of interviews for one of the jobs before being passed over for someone with a little more experience.
The pattern here is that getting referred to a job by a professional acquaintance is a great way to land a job interview. This indicates that you're leveraging your network well and you should continue to focus on your networking efforts.
The next step is to review the interview process and determine what went well and what needs to be improved. Sometimes the interviewer will provide feedback, and that feedback can be valuable. However, not everyone is comfortable with giving feedback.
Chances are you probably have a good idea about areas of improvement and the skills you need to gain. Put together a plan for addressing those shortfalls.
The good news in making it deep into any interview process is that it indicates that the company likes you as a potential employee (even if the timing just wasn't right) and the experience could be a roadmap to a job with that company at a later date, or another similar opportunity elsewhere.
Give Your Resume & Cover Letter Some Much-Needed Attention
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Are you continuously sending similar resumes and cover letters to each job opening with only minor adjustments? If so, your strategy needs some serious spring cleaning.
The reason why it's so important to tailor your resume is that throughout your career, you acquire numerous skills, but the job you're applying for may only be focusing on 6-8 of those skills. In that case, those skills must rise to the top of the resume with quantifiable examples of how you successfully used those skills at previous jobs.
Remember, recruiters go through hundreds of resumes. They need to be able to tell from a quick glance whether or not you're a potential candidate for the position.
While updating your resume, you could also spruce up your LinkedIn profile by highlighting the skill sets that you want to be noticed for by recruiters.
As for writing a good cover letter, the key to success is writing a disruptive cover letter. When you write a disruptive cover letter, you're basically telling a story. The story should focus on how you connect with the particular company and job position. The story could also focus on your personal journey, and how you got to where you currently are in your career.
If your resumes and cover letters aren't unique, now is the time to clean things up and get on track.
Build Your Personal Brand
Just because you're looking for work doesn't mean that you don't have anything to offer. Use previous career experiences and passions to build your personal brand.
Ask yourself, "How do I want other professionals to view me?"
Pick an area of expertise and start sharing your knowledge and experience with your professional network by pushing out content on your LinkedIn and social media accounts. Good content can include blogs, social media posts, and videos.
By sharing content about your experiences and passions, you slowly build your personal brand, and others will start to notice. The content could lead to good discussions with others in your network. It could also lead to reconnecting with connections that you haven't spoken to in years, or making new connections.
You never know when one of these connections could turn into a job lead or referral. The trick is to get on people's radars. So, when you're cleaning up your job search, be sure to build a plan for personal branding.
Maintain Healthy Habits During Your Job Search
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Your job search is important, but it's even more important to know when to pull back and focus on personal health and spending time with family and friends.
There are actually things that you can do for your own enjoyment that could help your job search in the long run, such as:
Grab coffee with a friend - It's good to engage in light conversation with friends during challenging times. And if your job search does come up, remember that most people have been through it themselves and you never know when a friend may provide you with a good idea or lead on a job.
Volunteer - Volunteering is a great way to get involved in the community and help others. In addition, if you develop a little bit of a career gap while looking for a job, you can always talk about how you filled that time volunteering, if you're asked about it during a job interview.
Continue to focus on other passions - Are you a fitness nut? Blogger? Crafter? Continue to do the things that bring you happiness. And if you're in a position to profit from your passion through a freelance job or side hustle, even better!
Spring is the perfect time to clean up and improve your job search so you can land the job you want. If you're struggling to find a job, follow the tips above to reinvigorate your job search—and watch your career blossom!
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This article was originally published at an earlier date.
Whether you’re a new college grad just entering the workforce and looking for media jobs, or a seasoned professional who finds yourself back in job hunting mode for the first time in a long time, you’re probably a bit intimidated at the prospect of sitting for an interview with a prospective employer. Honestly, even those who have recently been through numerous interviews are rattled by each and every one, at least to some degree.
Interviewing, after all, is a stressful process. There’s a lot riding on your performance during that interview, after all.
There are ways of honing your skills and the primary method for becoming more competent in interviewing is through practice or mock interview sessions. A mock interview is, simply put, a practice run that mimics the real life interview process as closely as possible. By going through several such practice session, you will become more confident and capable of making a strong positive impression when it comes time for the real deal.
Wrangle a Mock Interviewer
While it’s entirely possible for you to run through potential interview scenarios in your own head – which you’re likely doing anyway while you stew over how intimidating the interview process may be – the most effective means of practicing for an interview is to actually have a friend or family member play the role of interviewer.
If you can wrangle someone into being the mock interviewer, you’ll have the opportunity to run through question and answer practice sessions. This provides you the chance to refine your answers, practice speaking clearly and delivering clear and comprehensive responses, and to master the non-verbal communication aspects of interviewing for fulltime jobs and partime jobs as well. The manner in which you conduct yourself during an interview is as important as the answers you deliver to an employer’s questions.
Stage Your Practice Sessions Effectively
Best methods for productive mock interviews require that you mimic the real work interview situation as closely as possible. This means you should dress the part for at least some of your practice sessions, in order to get more comfortable in your suit or other business attire. Wear the outfit you plan to wear to the interview so you can ensure its comfortable, fits properly and doesn’t cause you to fidget or feel self-conscious.
You should also sit at a table, with the mock interviewer across from you. Practice making appropriate eye contact while interviewing. Pay attention to how you sit in your chair – square your shoulders, don’t slump, and don’t move around too much in your seat. Keep your hands in your lap or on the table, only using conservative hand gestures in appropriate places in your conversation for providing emphasis to verbal responses.
Try to avoid falling out of character during the practice session. This means both you and the mock interviewer that you’re wrangled into helping must maintain the professional manner and demeanor throughout the entire session. Save any and all discussion of performance, behaviors or other details for after the mock interview is complete, whether you’re interviewing for sales jobs or any other variety of positions.
Ask the interviewer to take notes during the session on areas of potential improvement they see or hear. This will not only help you better your interviewing skills during future practice sessions , but will also let you get used to the way it feels to have someone taking notes while you’re speaking , which is something that will occur during a real interview for a social worker position or any other job.
If possible, you should consider video recording some, if not all, of your practice sessions. You may be a bit self-conscious with the process, but it can help you learn how to control your facial expressions, posture, hand gestures, and other forms of non-verbal communication which all play a role in interview performance and the perception of a candidate by a prospective employer.
Get All Your Facts Straight
Mock interviews give you the chance to practice discussing the details of your own resume, work history, demonstrated skills and competencies, as well as the opportunity to promote yourself in a positive manner. Take advantage of the sessions to ensure you have all your facts straight and in your head about your past positions in fulltime jobs or partime jobs and job duties and responsibilities, no matter if you’re interviewing for administrative assistant, sales jobs, engineer jobs, or even social worker jobs. While it’s fine to occasionally reference a copy of your resume during an interview, doing so too often can make it appear as though the information contained within that document is fabricated or exaggerated.
Do Your Research
In your search for jobs, you’ll also be looking into the background, work environment and reputation of prospective employers, or at least you should be! After all, you’re considering them to see if they’re a good fit for you as much as they will be doing so with you if you’re called in for an interview. When you find media jobs of interest to you, take into account the postings and the employers and compose some relevant mock interview questions from that information. Ask your interviewer to read questions from that script during your practice sessions.
Tothego.com is the new search engine for job opportunities, cars and property in the US. Tothego.com provides a single window into the offers available across a multitude of sites, saving time and energy. One results set contains everything the user needs to know – that’s the added value of tothego.com.Practice interview media jobs image from Shutterstock
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