Job interview questions for employers

Job interview questions for employers by Michael Cheary The most important thing to remember is that an interview is a two way process…You’re there to find out information about your employer as much as they’re there to find out about you â€" and the more details you know, the better you’ll be able to ascertain your suitability for the job. In other words, always be prepared for the obligatory ‘do you have any questions?’ line.To avoid any embarrassing responses, here are some potential questions for you to ask employers:Can you tell me more about the company?This question will help you to learn more about the company and what they do, as well as give you an opportunity to demonstrate how well you’ve researched it.You can also personalise it by asking about the workplace, what the environment is like, and why it’s a great place to work.And although this question is a great way to find out more about the clients the employer deals with, their industry, and the marketplace in general â€" use your in itiative before you ask it. The last thing you want to do is go over ground you’ve already covered.Is this post a new or existing one?This can help give you an idea of what’s expected of you, and can lead to a wider discussion.If it’s a new post, then ask why it’s been created or how your performance will be measured. If it’s an existing one, ask who you’ll be replacing (and if they’re big shoes to fill). This can also set groundwork to further discuss your potential responsibilities and duties.But again, always use your initiative here (see above).  How many other people are there in the team?Not only will asking this give you a better idea of what it would be like to work there, and whether the team dynamic will suit your way of working â€" it’ll also give you an idea of who’s in your team in terms of their specific roles, and how they relate to your position.And, if you’ve talked about working well in a team on your CV, this can be a great way of demonstrating your capabilities.  What would my day-to-day responsibilities be?This is a proactive way to figure out whether the role is actually right for you.Find out what a typical day in the role would entail, and ask your interviewer if they can describe your area of responsibility, and what their expectations are.That way, there will be no surprises if you end up being offered the job.  What are the promotion prospects?The last thing you want is to fall into a dead-end job all because you didn’t find out more about the potential for career progression.To ensure you’ll be given the opportunities to move up within the company, ask how the position fit into the company’s long-term plans, and see if there’s a clearly defined career path for you to follow.It’s also a great way to demonstrate your drive and desire to progress within the company.  Do you run any training schemes?This is another chance to find out about progression, development and  training â€" but one which isn’t nec essarily motivated by a promotion or financial gain.After all, when it comes to job satisfaction, personal development can often be just as important as  career development. And, if you’ve got a personal development plan, this is the perfect opportunity to discuss where you see your career going, and show how their organisation could fit in with your overall goals.  What are the company’s plans for the future?Asking this is a great way to show that you’re interested in the company â€" not just the industry as a whole. It will also allow the recruiter the chance to get overly excited whilst talking about their plans (something some recruiters have been known to enjoy).However, there is a slight possibility that you won’t always understand everything your interviewers are talking about here.So if all else fails, just smile and nod.  How would you describe the ideal candidate?Approach this question with caution.Although it’s a great way to see if your answers have ticked all the boxes, build up a good rapport before you ask it. Because if you’re not sure your performance was what they were looking for, you might not like their answer.And no matter what they say, it’s probably safest to not add anything afterwards â€" especially if it’s to say how much it sounds like you.  When can I expect to hear from you?This is the perfect way to end an interview â€" so don’t forget it.Not only does it show that you’re keen, it’s also good for your peace of mind. No-one wants to sit by the phone for a week, waiting for it to ring â€" especially if it turns out it’s not going to for a minimum of two weeks because they have other interviews to do.And if you don’t hear back even after asking this, here’s why they haven’t called â€" and how you can get feedback.  Final thoughts Of course, you don’t have to stick to these questions, and they won’t necessarily work in every situation. Especially if you think of more specific to your interview during your conversation.However, it’s always best to have a few prepared just in case you do draw a blank.And remember: this is a bonus opportunity to sell yourself as the best person for the job.Don’t pass it up.The worst thing you can do at an interview?  Aside from asking the wrong questions (or having nothing to ask at all), what  interview nightmares  worry jobseekers the most?We spoke to a group of university students to find out and see if recruiters actually agree Are you an employer searching for something to ask candidates? Here are five interview questions you should be asking.Read more interview help tips  Still searching for your perfect position? View all available jobs nowFind a job What Where Search JobsSign up for more Career AdviceSign up for moreCareer Advice Please enter a valid email addressmessage hereBy clicking Submit you agree to the terms and conditions applicable to our service and acknowledge that your personal data will be used in accordance with our privacy policy and you will receive emails and communications about jobs and career related topics. Questions to ask at a job interview

You should make Sarah Palin your mentor

You should make Sarah Palin your mentor Is no one going to say that Sarah Palin rocked the vice presidential debate? Who is so arrogant to think that they could do better with just five weeks preparation? She did a great job. She memorized speeches that she trotted out in good moments. And she had such nerve! Most of us would be too shy to flagrantly disregard the question, but she knew that was her job. She knew her job was to give set up answers and fit them in the best she could, and she did that. She delivered her lines very well. She played to the camera. She was friendly, and charming, and eloquent as long as you didnt mind that she talked about whatever she wanted. The thing is that most of politics is not about giving the right answer. Its about giving any answer the right way. The world is not bashing Kennedy for beating Nixon in the classic debate where Nixon wore all the wrong stuff and the wrong makeup and could have said anything and he still would have lost. No. No one is complaining about Kennedys dependence on style in that debate. And we didnt generally bash Reagan for being a great orator even though we thought he was probably losing his mind even before he got to office. He was still a great orator and could deliver his messages in a mesmerizing way. So give Sarah some credit. She did a great job. Sure shes probably not ready to move into the White House. But that doesnt mean she didnt do a great job. She can only do her best. And she did. And you have to respect someone who takes a huge risk and does a good job. Look, if you think shes unqualified, dont vote for McCain, because hes the bozo who selected her. But since shes there, learn something from her. Take advantage of a fun, capable woman who is rising up to the occasion. Shes ignoring the taunts (even I have thrown some) and she has enough of a sense of self that shes plowing forward. But really, its hard to believe that she will be on the winning ticket. Its hard to believe that anyone could choose McCain after he has shown such poor judgment. But Palin will land on her feet. Shell get some TV commentator job, or some interior secretary job, and shell learn the ropes, and shell succeed. If you are wondering why your own career is stalled, consider that its because you dont have mentors like her. She is scrappy and she knows how to manage her image. Its not small peanuts, and its hard to find a woman who is as good at it as she is and public about how shes doing it. Take advantage of the learning opportunity.

I dont know what I want to do for a career! How Harry embraced his career confusion. University of Manchester Careers Blog

I dont know what I want to do for a career! How Harry embraced his career confusion. University of Manchester Careers Blog It’s one of the most common things we speak to our students about. Not knowing what career path you’d like to take is completely normal and totally healthy. It not only keeps your options open, it also allows you to explore lots of different possibilities throughout your time at University. Here at the Careers Service, we’re here to help guide you in that decision making process. Check out a recent Ancient History graduate talking about his career confusion, how he overcome it and why it’s OK not to have a clear career path. I was the classic Humanities student who lived by the mantra “Humanities students can go on and do anything with their degree”. As true as this is, it can be frustrating to have so many options. While studying, I looked at every career under the sun, but after I graduated I joined the Careers Service on an internship in marketing and communications. And I still didnt know what I wanted to do for the rest of my life! I enjoyed the role (I have to say that â€" my old boss reads these posts), and marketing was where I saw my career in the foreseeable future, but I didnt want to pin myself down. This isn’t my way of telling you that I was a bad employee with no loyalty (although I did have a drink after work in Man Met Union once), it’s me saying there’s absolutely nothing wrong with not knowing what you want to do â€" because you’ll probably have a go at loads of careers in the future anyway. But that’s not helpful is it? I’ve got a few tips as to how you can help yourself. Go do some stuff! They say you come to university to try new things but people sometimes misunderstand this as ‘drink purple things, eat weird food, and go on a binge boxsets’. But that’s not just it â€" there are loads of different societies at the University that you can get involved in. Whether it’s the dance society, or the History society, you could benefit. Some societies have social media or treasury positions, and even post about work experience opportunities in Facebook groups. I personally got involved with the Manchester Media Group at university, which is the student radio, student YouTube, and a weekly newspaper. Take every opportunity â€" snowball effect Whilst I was at the Manchester Media Group I wrote a few articles. Then I took the opportunity to be the Sports Editor, through this I created some videos and podcasts. I literally just grabbed everything I could, as I thought it was the only way I’d find out what I like and don’t like. Because of this I was able to become a Video Production Intern in the summer and work as a match reporter at Manchester City. From joining the Manchester Media Group, the snowball effect meant that I could then get all these other opportunities. I ended up working with BBC Sport and producing a show for BBC Radio. The Careers Service I used the Careers Service for all they were worth when I was a student. Here’s some of what they have to offer that will be helpful to you. Guidance appointments: Pop down to the Careers Service on the first floor of University Place, in the Atrium â€" there you can see one of our staff members and they can get the ball rolling for you. Alternatively, ring 0161 275 2829. Internships: In the summer of your penultimate year, why not do an eight week internship to check out a sector of work you may want to go into? I personally worked for the University creating videos. Find out more. Events: Whether it be a ‘Meet the Professionals’ event where you can go hear from professionals in different fields, or the ‘Insight into Broadcast and Journalism’ event, there’s plenty put on at Careers for you to check out. These will be promoted on Careers Link. Clubs: The Third Sector Club and the Media Club are run by the University and often hold talks from professionals or workshops. You can check these out on Facebook too. Global Graduates: I went to New York for a week to network with some large organisations like the UN, NBC, and US Bank. It gave me a great insight into loads of different organisations that I’d never thought of before… plus I got to see the Yankees. Applications open for this open around February. Written by Harry Newton, Ancient History graduate now working as Social Media Coordinator at The University of Manchester. All

5+ Best Art Director Interview Questions Answers - Algrim.co

5+ Best Art Director Interview Questions Answers - Algrim.co We’ve compiled the absolute best art director interview questions and answers to help you with your future job interviews in the creative department. Art directors are an integral part of most agencies, primarily creative and advertising agencies. Art directors help to assist in the development of creative assets that coincide with campaigns, brand initiatives, advertising experiments and much more. Art Director Interview Questions & Answers 1. How would you measure the success of art direction? Successful art direction is when our initiatives are endemically tied together in terms of their creative direction. We need to ensure that all of the work we are producing has a similar line of thinking and a similar vein of execution along with it. Clients, should, of course, be very happy with our work as well. 2. How do you manage your time? Managing your time as an art director is really important. In reality, you will never feel as though you have enough time to be working on projects related to the client's needs. So you need to be able to diversify your efforts and know when its time to put effort into another creative. 3. What is a creative brief? A creative brief is one page or multipage document which outlines some of the goals and objectives to creative work. Within this brief, you might expect things like the audience information, which tells us who the ideal customer is. Or who the end user will be. This brief is an important part to understand what we will create and how well we can create it. 4. How do you deal with the client's needs? Clients should be heavily considered. But when there are situations that present itself, where we have to guide the client, we shouldn’t feel as though we can’t do that. We need to inform the client of our reasoning and make a strong argument for our choices. 5. What can you do to go above and beyond for the client? Being able to listen to what the client needs as well as wants. This is really important. At the end of the day, we are here to help the client succeed. And if we aren’t truly listening to the client then we don’t have the equipment to do a great job. Related Hiring Resources Art Director Job Description Sample Art Director Cover Letter Sample

Resume Query Writing - Everything You Need to Know About it

Resume Query Writing - Everything You Need to Know About itResume query writing is the process of composing a well-written resume to address a potential employer's need for an employee. Employers' needs are very different from your own. You should know the difference between what you want and what an employer really needs. Your resume query writing should reflect this difference and show that you have everything an employer is looking for.First and foremost, when answering a question - do not make a comment about yourself. This will definitely get you a bad review by your potential employer, and he or she will make it very clear that your resume is for hire only. It will definitely be removed from the pile and never seen again.Know the details of the position you're applying for. It is quite easy to assume that a position is an entry-level position, when in fact this can be anything from a project manager to a sales and marketing specialist. The only way to make your resume stand out from the crowd is to make a point of explaining what kind of position you are looking for. It will make your resume stand out and grab the attention of the interviewer.Do your research on the career path you're going down. When an employer wants to know about your goals, his first question should be about what the career path is. You need to provide the employer with your career goals, and not your ideas about the career path.Prepare a well-written resume. This is one of the simplest things to remember when writing a resume, but it is also one of the most important, because it sets the tone for the rest of your career.Follow up with your current employer. There is nothing more powerful than showing your interest in a job, and asking for an interview. To get a second interview with your current employer, ask for his permission to send in your resume.Create a copy of your resume that includes your contact information. This way, when your potential employer calls and asks to speak wit h you, he can reach you immediately, rather than having to talk to the receptionist, and also have access to your resume before he can go ahead and read it.Give the resume your best shot. When writing your resume, make sure that you spell check and use the appropriate grammar and punctuation. You should also practice on something you know, such as a sample cover letter, and see how you fare when addressing the cover letter.

Low Cost Ways of Getting Into College - CareerAlley

Low Cost Ways of Getting Into College - CareerAlley We may receive compensation when you click on links to products from our partners. Having a college education will provide you with the opportunity to enter into a career with the knowledge and skills that will help you succeed and do well. One of the biggest factors that encourage people to go onto higher education is due to the significant difference in salary between someone with a college degree and someone with a high school education. Wherever you live in the world, especially if you live in the USA, college is very expensive. Despite the fact that the average college graduate in America leaves his degree with a debt of over 37,000 dollars, it is still worth attending college, however, as in the current economic climate, having a degree is necessary for the competitive job market. Look for scholarships Scholarships are a financial award given to a student to either cover or help in the cost of their education. These are often competitive, and many colleges, universities, and higher education institutes offer scholarships across a wide range of academic and practical fields. Most scholarships offered are academic, athletic or merit-based, which offers exceptional or high achieving students the opportunity to access higher education without the financial barrier they may face. A quick look online will give you an idea on what kind of scholarships and bursaries are available in your chosen city or state, which is relevant to you and your degree path. Online degree programme The significant advances in technology have affected the way in which individuals can get an education. There are many courses offered online that eliminate the need to attend classes in person. This is one of the best ways to get an education without having to spend a fortune. It is not only college fees that are expensive, but also the associated costs and extras that attending a college in person entails. Additionally, you avoid the costs of accommodation and living, if you have to move to away from your hometown, and can even work while studying. The flexibility of online degree programmes is one of the reasons that people from all age -ranges and careers choose this option. Some employers actively encourage their employees to attend an online college as a way to progress in their career which may require a college degree. Consider taking an associate degree programme An associates degree is a degree program which provides a similar level of education to a bachelors degree but is usually shorter and much more affordable than the latter. Some people use it to get a qualification that will improve their employment prospects, while others use it to prepare themselves to go on to study a bachelors degree. An associates degree enables an individual to become qualified in a particular field and to gain the necessary skills needed to go into a particular career path while saving on the costs of other degree programmes. For example, an individual interested in the arts might choose to attend an associates in arts degree online which is typically lower in cost than a bachelors degree, and shorter in duration, as well as often being less competitive to attend. Many colleges offer associates degrees across all kinds of fields, and it is becoming increasingly common for people to combine this option with an online degree. Get a sponsor Sponsorship is another way for people to get into college without having to take on the cost of higher education themselves. Many companies and organisations are now offering sponsorship to high achieving students in exchange for them working for them when they graduate. This exchange of financial aid for services is an excellent way of ensuring that an individual has a job guaranteed after they finish their degree, granted of course, that they meet the expectations of the particular company that is sponsoring them. We are always eager to hear from our readers. Please feel free to contact us if you have any questions or suggestions regarding CareerAlley content. Good luck in your search,Joey Google+

What is the opposite of work - The Chief Happiness Officer Blog

What is the opposite of work - The Chief Happiness Officer Blog I recently asked a seemingly simple question here on the blog: What is the opposite of work? A week later there were 30 creative, insightful comments on that simple question and there are some interesting trends you can notice in them. But first this: I had an ulterior motive for asking this question, and it was of course to get at a usable definition of work, as Martin Mouritzen guessed in the 2nd comment: I guess that really depends on how you describe ?work?. I love my work, so for me work is not work at all, and I can find myself working in the evening for relaxation. But: The work I do for relaxation is always something which does not have a deadline, which does not have any set expectations and something which can challenge me. So I guess for me the opposite of work is simply ?stuff I do to relax?. Many other comments echoed this. Rowan Manahan wrote: My evolving definition of work is ?Stuff you HAVE to do, whether you want to or not, because you are not independently wealthy.? By that definition, anyone who LOVES their job doesn?t work. It may take a lot of their time and make demands on their energy and availability for other things, but if they wholeheartedly LOVE it, it isn?t work per se. Robbert took a dictionary approach: Wordnet defines work as ?exert oneself by doing mental or physical work for a purpose or out of necessity?. As such the opposite of work can be several things: Excerting yourself for no purpose or necesity (Sport or hobbies) Not exerting yourself for a purpose (Sleep or recovery from illness) Not exerting yourself for no purpose (Lazing about, procrastination) Present in these definitions is that work is what you HAVE to do, which fits in well with the traditional, industrial-age-definition of work. Its what I do for pay and i do it because I need money to survive. The problem with this definition is of course that many of us love our jobs and would do what we do even if we didnt have to. Ioana took another approach: I prefer the sociological distinction myself: the opposite of work is leisure. Rest would be the opposite of activity and I don?t think the concept of work can be reduced to activity. I believe the productive aspect is the essential one. Work is productive activity. It usually involves some sort of compulsion, but it might be more appropriate to speak of necessity. In a paid job there is compulsion indeed, but not for other types of work, such as housekeeping (for one?s house) and child rearing, which are done simply because they?re necessary. This approach emphasizes production work is that which produces results. Chris Stapper echoed this: I want to believe that work is something like ?creating value?. And so did Ken Ferry: Work is what I do to accomplish something. There were also some silly approaches, like this: The opposite of ?work? is ?krow?. Thanks, Luc. And though Noel Coward did not actually comment on the original post, I still thought of this quote of his: Work is much more fun than fun. Rather than try to come up with the most correct definition of work, ie. one that would make sense in an economical, sociological and psychological perspective, Id rather try to find a definition of work or rather a view of work, that promotes happiness at work in most normal kinds of work. This immediately eliminates some definitions: If work is simply that you do because you have to, then happiness at work is almost impossible by definition. If work is only what you do for money, it eliminates all volunteer work. If work is only what you do for a purpose, then all aspects of your job that are not productive are no longer work. Im not claiming to have the answer yet, but as I see it here are some elements of a definition if work that is conducive to happiness: Work is something you choose to do. You may not have a choice of whether or not to work but you have choice in what work you do. Work is something youre valued for. Either someone pays you for your work or someone takes the time and resources to organize your work. Work is an activity where you make a positive difference for someone else. Does that make sense at all? Thanks for visiting my blog. If you're new here, you should check out this list of my 10 most popular articles. And if you want more great tips and ideas you should check out our newsletter about happiness at work. It's great and it's free :-)Share this:LinkedInFacebookTwitterRedditPinterest Related