Repost: How to impress your future employer at a job interview

How to impress your future employer at a job interview
Written by Sean Power and Sandra D'Amico
Thursday, 30 April 2009

HR ADVICE
By Sean Power And Sandra D'Amico


"We'd like you to come in for a job interview."

These are the magic words that all job seekers want to hear. It means you've finally made your first big breakthrough in your search for a job. Now, it is all up to you in the interview.

Having an interview opportunity is exciting, but also quite daunting, as the employer is likely to be interviewing many candidates for a single position. You might wonder how you can make the best impression and get the job. What can you possibly say and do in an interview so that you stand out?

It is a mistake to believe that what happens in an interview is beyond your control or just a matter of luck. There are things you can do, both before and during the interview, to ensure you make a good impression and give yourself the best possible chance of success.

The secret to a successful interview is good preparation. The more time and effort you invest, the more confident you will be and the better you will perform.

When you are first invited to the interview, find out who will be interviewing you and try to find their profile on the organisation's website.

Research the organisation. Find out everything you can about its strategy and main areas of business, how many people it employs and the provinces or countries in which it operates. Think of ways to demonstrate this knowledge in the interview.

Think of the interview as a conversation rather than a test.


Read over your resume and cover letter carefully as your interviewers will often ask questions about things you have written in them.

Think about how you want to promote yourself during the interview. What main messages do you want to communicate? What are your biggest selling points? Is it your education, your work experience, your technical skills or your positive attitude? Look for opportunities to talk about these strengths in the interview.

Make sure you know exactly how to get to the interview location, so that you don't get lost. Go there the day before the interview to make certain you know where it is and how long it will take to get there.

On the day of the interview, make sure your appearance is neat, conservative and professional. For most office jobs, this means a collared shirt, tie, slacks and leather shoes for men, and a long skirt or slacks for women. It is better to be too formal than too casual.

Aim to arrive at least 20 minutes before the scheduled interview time. If you are running late, call the organisation to let them know how much longer you will be, but remember that tardiness will hurt your chances.

First impressions count so give the impression of being confident and friendly. When you arrive, greet each interviewer with a firm handshake and smile. Maintain good body language, sit up straight and make eye contact with each person in the room.
Everybody gets nervous in interviews; the important thing is not to get overwhelmed by nerves so that you can't think straight. Remind yourself that you are a great candidate and would be a great employee. Think of the interview as a conversation, rather than a test.

Your attitude counts for a lot in an interview. The interviewer will be looking for someone who is enthusiastic, motivated and friendly, and who is genuinely interested in the organisation and the role.

Finish the interview on a positive note. Thank the interviewer for their time, shake their hand and say you are looking forward to hearing from them. If you don't hear from them, don't be afraid to follow up with an email or a telephone call.

Finally, if you don't get the job, ask the interviewer if they can provide any feedback that will help you in future interviews. Ask what you need to improve on - is it your skills or was it something you said in the interview? If you are not successful, try not to feel too discouraged or ashamed. Think of the process as a learning experience. Interviews are like anything else - we get better with practice.

Next week, we will cover some of the common questions asked at interviews and how best to answer them

WhenYouthTakesAction Project in Banteaymeanchey 17th-18th September 2011

My very first leading experience for the project - WhenYouthTakeAction Banteaymeanchey September 17th-18th 2011

The third project conducted by Cambodian AEIF team has been successfully accomplished again in Banteaymeanchey Province on September 17 and 18, 2011. This is the first time to conduct a workshop on the theme of "Youth and Purpose of life."

It was just 3 weeks in advance that I, as a project leader to this province, started to aware that the schedule has been pushed faster than it was set. So within these 3 weeks before the trip, I could say I was very nervous but at the same time, those nervousness wouldn't help so I tried all my best to plan everything instead. The day came closer and September 16, we left Phnom Penh to start our journey for this project. Proudly that my 10 organizers have been such a great help and important resource for this project.

During this project, we shared, we laughed, and we cried. Lectures on triggering questions, what are the purpose of life & Why we need it, an inspiring story, eulogy are all the main session for this. Besides, we included the fun activities for students to play and think about the message we tried to convey regarding the route of their journey to reach their life purpose. Noticeably, It was proud and more than expected that we found out the message we tried to convey has been through the students' mind. It proves us during the last day of the workshop, it was in Eulogy session which aim to put students in a visualization so that they can imagine their Ultimate goals. The session was about the question that if you found out that you are dead today, what would you like to hear from your family, friends, and other people.

Finally, we found our 10 potential and active students to be the student leaders from this project. With the organizers' great teamwork, students' involvement and cooperation, we successfully accomplished this project with very satisfactory result.

I am grateful for the amazing cooperation from my organizers team such as: B.Chamreoun, Dalin Ka, Mana, Yasak, Thida, Bunheng, Chiva, Pyseth, and Pisey... The tasks were perfectly done regarding logistics, finance, admin, PR, team building and lectures.. :)

Enhancement Workshop for Access Micro-Scholarship Students

Again, another trip began on 10th-11th September 2011. 12 organizers from USAC (Undergraduate State alumni Cambodia) went to Kampot province to conduct an enhancement workshop for Cambodian-islamic students who were the micro-scholarship students. It was the only-one-morning-workshop, quite short though but I gotta say we all enjoyed it very much and hope all the students did as well.
The 12 organizers are:
1. Tha Sanchivorn - Project Leader
2. Keng Kanika - me myself :P
3. Kheang Sathaborama
4. Lang Mesa
5. Leang Sovannarith
6. Chea Chandany
7. Chim Chhorporn
8. Vong Pisey
9. Phay Thida
10. Leang Srun
11. Pharen
12. Veng Molika


The main theme of this enhancement workshop is to help those students to build their capacity in terms of building their confidence and encourage them to study hard and find their goal of lives.
There were 20 access micro-scholarship participated in this workshop. We found a hard time at first when they seemed to be very shy and less interacted with our organizers. They just kept quiet and hesitate to raise their hands or answer the questions. But for a while, after we have presented them the team building games, role plays, as well as a lecture on "BE confident", we found a fruitful result after this workshop. They were one step ahead from the beginning which meant they started to feel less shy and interact with our organizers cheerfully. We are very happy to see this and hoping they can build their own capacity and take what they learnt from today to apply in their real lives effectively. :)

Here comes another busy schedule - Volunteerism & Fun time

So September look like a busy month for me...




Here, another volunteering work to do....
10th-11th September 2011, I'll off to Kompot province for an Enhancement workshop to teach Access micro-scholarship students (groups of Islamic high school students who have been awarded a 2-year scholarship to study English in their respective NGOs). There are 9 provinces that the workshop will be conducted: Kompong Speu, Battambang, Phnom Penh, Kompong Chnang, Kompot, Kompong Thom, Kompong Cham, Kratie, Rattanakiri. While one of those are Kompot and where i would be spending my time this weekend.. :)
*Will blog the whole content after I am back from this province.

16th-18th September, I'll be going to Banteaymeanchey province for my very first task as a project leader conducting the same phase 1 workshop for AEIF Project.. =)

At the same time, my senior year at IFL will also resume by 12th, September 2011. Quite hectic starting from this month plus I am having more invitations to join. Oh well, let's keep it to be written in the next blogs... MORE Fun events and interesting to share here later.. ^^

Legend's Fast Five&Cars 2 Show

31st was the premier day for the releasing of Fast five and Cars2 movie. So well, as a moderator, I went to watch the movie there and at the same time enjoy seeing cars show right there in front of City Mall Supermarket. :) I am such a movie lover and was very pleased to know the presence of the cinema in Phnom Penh screening Hollywood films.



WE ARE THE MODERATORS =)

WhenYouthTakesAction Project in Siem Reap - August 6-7, 2011

On 5th-8th August 2011, a group of the organizing Team of Undergraduate State Alumni Cambodia (USAC) spent their precious time on the journey to Siem Reap province to conduct WhenYouthTakesAction project at Somdach Ov High School under main theme of Volunteerism.

We have met the selected 30 outstanding students during the time of the project. My position during the trip was the finance person so I learn quite a lot regarding the budget spending and how to manage it wisely. FYI, we all are the volunteers to involve in this project.. :) We felt very good to see many active and young potential students in this province. Indeed, we really appreciate for what we have done.

Well to brief, this AEIF project (Alumni Engagement Innovation Funds) has 3 phases while this Siem Reap trip is in Phase 1 to select 10 potential students from each province to involve in Phase 2 and 3 so that they can be dependent to take their own actions with the giving amount of funds to help their community. The program consists of lecture on volunteerism, personal experience in volunteering, team building activities, field visit to an NGO on volunteering activity, debating skill and project development. 12 organizers for this trip are all the alumni coming from 3 different programs namely Study of the United States Institute (SUSI), the Undergraduate Intensive English Language Study Program (UIELSP), and the Global Undergraduate Program (UGRAD). We were very enthusiastic with this workshop by having an energetic and active students involving in our workshop.


Would like a bit introduce the name of a group of 12 organizers here =)
1. Kaing Menghun - Project leader
2. Keng Kanika - me myself as a finance
3. Bun Chamreoun - Lecture giver :)
4. Lay Soukim - Miss beautiful registration& refreshment
5. Nhean Dalin - Logistic
6. Nara Sokhema - Experience sharing
7. Chea Chetana - Amazing PR
8. Kov Ritha - Also an experience sharer with amusing facilitating
9. Soy Kosal - Facilitator
10. Leang Sovannarith - Mr. Admin
11. Huot Siekhuoy - Experience sharer :)
12. Thlang Chiva - Impressive lecture

More precise source:
http://cambodia.usembassy.gov/2011_workshop_on_youth_and_volunteerism.html


Day 1:
Role Play



Fun activity:


NGO Visits:




Students coloring the bridge

Students planting the trees and flowers

We clean up the NGO site.. :)

Visit kids inside the center



WE LOVE DOING OUR WORKS. :)

Harry Potter 7 part 2 - It ALL Ends

This August 24th 2011 is the premier night of the Final Harry Potter series. There were many people turned up at the Legend Cinema to watch this movie, while some of them were doing the cosplay by wearing the costume represent the characters in the movie. The movie itself was awesome. I have been catching with Harry Potter series since the first part. So here, just wanna share the fun and joy on the premier night with some pictures of the cosplayers.. =)

Time to make my blog alive..

It's been ages that i haven't updated anything on this blog. Probably almost 1 year that i haven't kept up anything on this blog but that doesn't mean i don't have new experience in life. Of course, there are many out there that I would want to share but I just couldn't find the right time and mood to put them down into words and posted here. However, it is time to update thing here again and make it alive.. =)
Please keep up with this page, I have many things to share about me. Enjoy