Tag Archives: Interview
Interview Like a S.T.A.R.
Entry by Pat Patterson
From the January 2011 INTERNnetwork:
In internship interviews, employers commonly ask behavioral interview questions that focus on past events in your life and your responses. Since a student will typically not have much work experience, behavioral interview questions are open-ended questions that focus on past performances to assess behavior – in particular, how you may respond to similar situations in the future. “Can you tell me about a goal you accomplished at a previous job?” is an example of a behavioral interview question.
Since behavioral interview questions are open-ended, they can be difficult to answer. Therefore, you need to be prepared. The S.T.A.R. technique for interviewing is a method for thoroughly answering behavioral interview questions. Using the S.T.A.R. technique, you describe your actions in past situations to answer behavioral questions.
S.T.A.R. is an acronym for Situation, Task, Action, Result.
Situation – Provide some …
Students: What Employers Want
Entry by Pat Patterson
Before an internship or job interview, it is important to learn as much as you can about the particular opportunity and organization. The more you know about an opportunity and organization, the more you can understand an employer’s needs, and how you may address such needs if hired. However, in general, employers will look for certain skills/qualities in potential hires. According to NACE’s Job Outlook 2011 survey, employers listed verbal communication skills as the top quality they look for:
Survey respondents indicate that verbal communication skills topped the list of “soft” skills they seek in new college graduates looking to join their organizations, followed by strong work ethic, teamwork skills, analytical skills, and initiative.
Employers Rank Top 5 Candidate Skills/Qualities
Verbal Communication Skills Strong Work Ethic Teamwork Skills Analytical Skills Initiative
Read more.
To hone your verbal communication skills, make sure you practice your elevator …
Research…Or lack thereof
Entry by Nicole Goble, Director of Recruiting and Development in the financial services industry in Zionsville, IN
The biggest mistake students make when applying and interviewing for an internship and/or a full-time position is the effort spent researching the company and the career. We are very lucky to live in a time that allows us to access almost any piece of information we wish at the click of a button – this also leaves little room for employers to empathize with candidates who lack the preparation.
There are many ways students search for internships, including and certainly not limited to, career fairs, campus career centers, club and class company presentations, Indiana INTERNnet, and many others. The mistake lies when the proper research is not done prior to applying for these positions and then when getting the first interview, going into that first meeting.
To make the best …
The #1 Interview Question: “Tell me about yourself.”
Entry by Valerie Petrey, Public Relations & Event Planning Intern, Purdue Liberal Arts Career Development
Preparing for an interview, whether for an internship or job is stressful. It’s simple to answer questions about yourself, right? The hard part is answering those questions in a way that will convey your specific skill set to an employer.
When answering the infamous question, “tell me about yourself,” you must limit the answer to a minute or two. Also keep in mind your future employer doesn’t care about your obsession with the Chicago Cubs, that you like music or if you’re double jointed, UNLESS you can turn those things into experience that would benefit the job you want to do for that employer. In which case it would make you stand out among the hundreds of other candidates.
A fabulous guest speaker came to my class this week and told us the story of …