Prepare yourself for your interviews by considering the following:

Understand your skills and how they relate to the job description.

Evaluate your skills in the following areas:

Performance Skills are work habits that can transfer between jobs and include adaptability, interpersonal skills, and work habits such as integrity, motivation, and self-management.

Technical Skills are specific tasks that are necessary to performing a job and may include allocation of resources, use of information, understanding systems, and technological skills. Realize your specific strengths and be able to discuss them in detail.

Prepare specific examples of skills used in previous situations.

Open-ended questions about past events are often asked during interviews.

Interview questions may include "tell me about a time when you managed pressure successfully," or "Tell me about a time when you were not successful dealing with conflict."

Be prepared to effectively answer questions by providing a specific instance of past behavior, describing results attributable to your actions, and positively summarizing your skills.

If asked about previous failures, describe what you have learned from your mistakes and how you have overcome them.

Convert positive skills into benefits for the company.

A skill benefit statement combines "I can" with "I am able to."

Combine your skills with what you are able to provide for the company in a positive statement of confidence. An example of a skill-benefit statement for a good team player might be "I can work with difficult people, so I will have no problem fitting into any situation you place me in."

Prepare to promote yourself.

Take a positive, businesslike stance towards yourself. Prepare to become your best advocate by developing the ability to effectively communicate your strengths and the job you really want.

Develop a resume that highlights your effective skills, develop a confident telephone presence that can be used in maintaining contacts and phone interviews, and continue to develop a network of contacts and other advocates who can also promote you.

Preparation on the People

Find out as much as you can about the people you will interview with. Name, title, personality, what their job is, how they got into the organization, etc. Your Search Consultants representative will be happy to furnish you with this background information.