How to recover from a bad interview
Q: I did a bad interview – there’s no other way of saying it. I didn’t need to wait for the inevitable PFO letter to know that I had gone down in a ball of flames. I was so hopeful beforehand, but it just ran away for me, and it felt like I couldn’t stop […]
How to handle the conflict question in job interviews
A question that regularly comes up in job interviews for teachers, assistant principals, deputy principals and principals is ‘how do you deal with conflict?’ It can really throw candidates so it is important to be prepared beforehand, writes Patricia Maloney, Career Coach, Sli Nua Careers. Based on my experience interviewing and managing numerous teachers as […]
Eight things not to do in a job interview
Q: Can you give me some ‘must not do in a job interview’ pointers? I fear that I have built up some bad habits over the years and I would like to start eradicating them. It almost feels like I need a total reset. Your pointers might kickstart me? (OK, email). A: My pleasure. Here […]
Five tips to make a job interview more ‘real’
Q: I often find interviews stilted or impersonal. I struggle to bring the real me into the room. It’s like listening to a recording of myself. Any tips on how to make a job interview more real? (CG, email). A: A good interview panel should relax you to the point that the ‘real’ you emerges […]
Should I go for face-to-face or online interview?
Q: I have been offered the choice of face-to-face or online for the interview. I dislike interviews at the best of times and I’m finding it hard to say which one I prefer. I have a good chance of getting the job as I have the experience they require, but I struggle to get the […]
Turn a quick job spell to your advantage in interview
Q: I have an interview next week and I’m afraid they will pick up on the fact that I have only been in my current job 13 months. In reality, I took a step downwards for this job after the previous company I was in closed, (not my fault, I hasten to add, the market […]
Facing the ‘bad cop’ in a job interview
Q: At an interview I attended last week, I felt the panel had designated one interviewer as a ‘good cop’, while another played the role of ‘bad cop’. Maybe I’m wrong, but that’s how it looked and felt to me. The good cop would ask the soft question and the bad cop would follow up […]
Prepare for the unexpected in a job interview
Q: I’m going for an important job interview next week and I really want to be ready for the unexpected. I know that’s a contradiction in terms. But are they any possibilities I should consider. My aim is to leave it all out on the pitch, as the saying goes, so any tips, or tales […]
Nine tips for a better presentation
Q: They’ve asked me to do a 12-minute presentation at a job interview next week. The presentation will focus on the challenges I see for the sector (car sales) in the years ahead. I have very little experience of this kind of thing – the interview is for the position of financial controller. Where would […]
How ‘unasked questions’ can make your answers better
Q: I have put huge work into preparing for a job interview next week. It is a position I really want to get as it will set me up for the next ten years or so of my career, either in this role or in another one that will almost certainly evolve from it. I’ve […]