Bagi jurujual atau seseorang yang menyertai sesuatu pertandingan, perkara paling diutamakan mereka ialah penampilan kerana ia mampu memberikan penilaian pertama pelanggan atau juri. Jurujual biasanya berpakaian kemas supaya mudah menghampiri sesiapa saja manakala barangan yang ditawarkannya kelihatan menarik, termasuklah dibungkus kemas. Peserta pertandingan seperti nyanyian dan tarian, apatah lagi ratu cantik, berpakaian paling menarik yang boleh selain solekan supaya kelihatan cantik dan menarik.

Begitu juga dengan sesi temuduga. Tempoh 2 minit pertama, iaitu bermula membuka pintu dan masuk ke ruang temuduga hinggalah duduk di kerusi sebenarnya penilaian pertama oleh penemuduga. Bagi menilai penampilan, meja temuduga biasanya diletakkan sekurang-kurangnya 3 meter atau lebih dari pintu supaya panel penemuduga boleh melihat & menilai seseorang yang hendak ditemuduga ketika dia masuk dan berjalan ke meja. Tempoh 2 minit itu boleh menjadi penentu kejayaan temuduga atau sebaliknya. Jika pada pandangan pertama penemuduga sudah menyukai seseorang itu, mungkin soalan yang diajukan tidak susah, sebaliknya lebih seperti perbualan.

Oleh itu, serlahlah penampilan diri yang terbaik tetapi bukan bermaksud berpakaian secara berlebihan terutamanya bagi wanita. Cukup sekadar kemas dan menepati kriteria jawatan yang dipohon di organisasi terbabit. Persediaan itu tidak harus dipandang remeh oleh calon sebelum menghadiri sesi temuduga kerana apa juga kelakuan atau ciri luaran yang ditonjolkan, ia memberi  tanggapan pertama serta perlbagai persepsi daripada majikan. Seeloknya, graduan perlu dilengkapi perkara asas berkenaan sebelum melangkah keluar dari universiti supaya tidak “terkial-kial” mencari bimbingan dan nasihat kerjaya selepas itu. Ada institusi pengajian tinggi mengambil inisiatif menyediakan panduan menghadapi temuduga untuk pelajar tahun akhir mereka sebagai persiapan memasuki alam pekerjaan. Panduan itu bertujuan memberi bimbingan asas persediaan untuk sesi temuduga kepada bakal graduan.

Kebanyakan syarikat & majikan menetapkan beberapa ciri yang perlu dipenuhi bakal pekerja masing-masing, iaitu kemampuan berkomunikasi dalam bahasa Inggeris, kebolehan komunikasi secara efektif, mempunyai ciri-ciri kepimpinan, personaliti menarik, positif, kebolehan membuat keputusan dan bekerja dalam kumpulan serta dapat menyesuaikan diri dan bergaul. Kemahiran itu boleh dianggap kelebihan selain ijazah yang diperolehi sebagai pengukur kelayakan akademik kerana apabila bekerja, kita bukan sekadar melaksana tugasan tetapi juga perlu bercampur dengan rakan pekerja lain di syarikat masing-masing. Majikan melihatnya sebagai kayu pengukur dalam menilai dan membuat pemilihan tenaga kerjaya.

Terlalu gugup juga menjejaskan penampilan kerana ia menunjukkan kurang keyakinan diri yang menyebabkan majikan menolak meneruskan proses temuduga kerana beranggapan calon terbabit tidak layak. Calon perlu fokus dan bersiap sedia dari awal supaya ketika hari temuduga tidak terlalu gugup. Menjadi kebiasaan calon berasa seram sejuk apabila tiba masa untuk ditemuduga sehingga rasa gementar kemungkinan boleh menyebabkan seseorang tidak dapat memberi tumpuan menjawab soalan dengan baik.

Ada kalanya keadaan boleh menjadi lebih teruk jika penemuduga seorang yang tidak mesra dan melayan calon dengan sikap yang kasar serta dingin. Ini mungkin boleh memberi tekanan kepada calon sehingga melakukan kesilapan ketika menjawab soalan atau gagal menonjolkan kualiti diri dengan baik. Perlu diingat, sikap kasar seseorang penemuduga tidak seharusnya menjadi halangan kepada calon untuk meneruskan sesi temuduga atau mengubah fikirannya untuk bekerja di syarikat terbabit. Antara cara yang boleh dilakukan ketika berhadapan dengan sikap penemuduga yang kasar adalah menarik nafas dan bersikap tenang serta berfikiran positif. Calon perlu fikir bahawa sikap penemuduga tidak mewakili keseluruhan syarikat terbabit.

Before starting to do something, most of us will want to make sure it is safe to do so. No doubt, there are some “crazy” people out there who have the guts to try out some dangerous activities, but I’m sure they too will take some precaution actions to minimize the risk.

The same goes with attending an interview. A jobseeker has to be prepared mentally & physically before, during & after an interview. In today’s article, I would like to share some tips on how to make an interview safe and effective for you to generate job offers.

In my previous articles about leveraging Crucial Conversation tools into interview success, I’ve share the first 2 tools which are: “Start with Heart” & “Learn to Look – Part 1 & Part 2”.  “Make it safe” is the 3^rd tool used in Crucial Conversation. The tips that I will be sharing below are leveraged from this tool.

Make it safe – Before interview

Once received an interview appointment, the first 2 important things that you must do to ensure your success are:

• Planning – plan your preparation before, during & after interview. I’ll be sharing how to get yourself prepared as listed below.
• Visualize success – leverage the power of “Law of Attraction”. In the bestseller book “The Secrets” introduced to the world about “Law of Attraction”. In short, “Law of Attraction” is actually a simple mental practise to visualize success and from there it will automatically build up the motivation to try the best to ensure whatever that was visualized as a success will become true.

Planning before an interview:

• Must know when & where is the interview appointment is. Plan how to get there and if you are not familiar with the venue, get there early. Also plan the travelling time and also get yourself ready with Plan B for a contingency backup plan.
• Do some reading about the company’s profile in the internet. Get a rough idea on what the company is currently doing. No need to go into details but as long you get surface information will be sufficient. At the same time read your resume and focus on your strength including what you can provide to your future employer. Write them down as a note for your reference during the interview. Also write down the questions that you need to ask at the end of the interview.
• Practise the common asked questions during the interview. Just search in the internet, I’m sure you will find loads of sample questions. If possible do a role play with a friend or a family member. He/She is the interviewer & you become the interviewee. Imagine that you are really in an interview session.
• Arrange all your certificates in a clear folder and in sequence. Your resume should be placed at the front and followed by your latest received certificates. Make copies of your resume & certificates. Usually during interview, the interviewer will ask to see your certificate and may request a copy for future reference when he/she is finalizing the hiring decision.
• Get yourself a make over but don’t over do it. For man, get a hair cut & a shave if you need it. Go for cloths shopping if you don’t have any decent office wear. Get yourself a formal long sleeve shirt with dark colour trousers, a formal tie and a decent pair of office shoes. For ladies, wear anything decent and never too sexy. Don’t wear too much make up, a natural look with be good enough. 
• A day before the interview, get enough rest & eat healthy food. Avoid late nights, risky activities & oily food. You must try your very best to ensure you are not sick before the interview. 

Make it safe – During an interview

• Arrive early as least ½ an hour before the scheduled interview time. Being there early will give you some time to settle down before the interview starts. Relax with some deep breath and walk toward the receptionist.
• Once arrived at the reception counter, greet politely with a warm smile to the receptionist. Introduce yourself and the purpose you are there.
• Wait patiently for the interviewer to meet up with you even though you have to wait for a long time. Once the interviewer approach you, smile with a firm handshake (ladies, in Malaysia it is okay to nod with a smile if you are not comfortable with a handshake) and thank the interviewer for having you in for an interview. Request the interviewer name or business card.
• Follow the interviewer to the interview room. While walking, the interviewer might start an informal chat by asking how do you get there & etc. Answer the questions asked briefly and at the same time it is okay for you to compliment the office area if the environment is nice. During this short chat, you will need to be friendly and cheerful.
• There are many ways to start an interview. Once you settle down in the interview room, the interviewer can start by asking to describe yourself or start by giving you some IQ test or personality test. In technical field, most likely you will be given some technical test. Just try your best to answer as many as possible, you may be given 20-30 minutes or less to answer all these questions.
• There are 8 characters to excel in an interview and also sort after by your future employers. The characters are: confident, organized, personable, conscientious, efficient, creative, goal oriented & problem solving. Hence during the interview, make sure you have these characters to increase your chance to secure the job. It is okay to refer to your notes that you have prepared before the interview.
• At the end of the interview, the interviewer will open up for you to ask questions. Take this opportunity to ask questions based on your notes or anything worth to ask that comes to your mind. In average, a typical interview will last in between ½ hour to 1 hour. If less than that, most likely your success rate is slim and usually if it last longer than 1 hr, your success rate will be higher. But take note, the duration of your interview does not 100% indicate your success rate. There are many other factors that can change your success rate even though how short or long the duration of your interview.
• End your interview by thanking your interviewer. If you don’t get the interviewer business card, request for his/her contact details (e-mail or phone #). Some interviewer may be reluctant to provide their contact details but usually they will provide the contact details of the HR representative. As long you get someone’s contact details in the company, you still have the chance to follow up on your job request status. Worst case, call up the general phone # and request for contact details of the interviewer as long you still have his/her name.

Make it safe – After interview

• Nearly 99% of jobseekers do not send a thank you note after an interview. If you send a thank you note after the interview, you have the advantage of being different in the competition. Recommended to send the thank note 2-3 days after your interview. It usually will take in between 1-3 weeks after an interview before a hiring decision can be made. Hence, during this time frame, it is wise to follow up via e-mail or phone call. If after 3 weeks you have not received any reply, then most likely your application is either rejected or kept in view (KIV).

The tips above is just a brief sharing on how to “Make it safe” during an interview. From time to time, I’ll share more tips for you to win in an interview.

Hopefully this sharing will make your interview safe.

Good luck!

If you have your own experience to share, feel free to drop them in the comment below.

Regards

Yusoff

There is no age limit in attending interviews. Many people have been going through job interviews at some points of their lives whether in their past or recently and/or may be going for another one soon. Even retirees may one day consider getting out of their retirement to attend interviews because they are bored with not doing anything.

Many new comers enter into the job market everyday. They are either school leavers of fresh graduates who for the first time going for job interviews face an entirely new experience altogether. The common remarks are they do not know how to speak, they have no confidence, they are totally lost and can not carry themselves well.

In the same vein, there are also many working people who have not attended any job interview for ages. I had one expatriate-client, who had not attended a job interview for 20 years and wanted me to coach him on how to handle job interviews. He wanted to be prepared for the kinds of questions that could be asked and how he could answer them impressively to increase his success rate.

Since the 80s, job interviews have taken a new meaning and significance. It was once used to be a one-sided affair with job seekers selling themselves to prospective employers; now it is a high stake affair when it is equally important for the employers to sell themselves to the job seekers. The onus now is for both parties to ensure their interview success through evaluating each other’s value and benefits to find a commit fit for them to enter into an employer-employee partnership.

The demand for good people has never been greater now than in the past. With organizations on the look out for talents to sharpen their competitive edge and increase their organizational capabilities, good people are increasing becoming a non-negotiable asset for organization success. It is therefore worthwhile to pay important attention to interviews to increase your chances of success against your competitors, be it another fellow candidate or your trade competitor next door.

Now with this definition and perspective cleared, we move on to the understand the “mechanics” of a modern day job interview.

Typically, whenever you are called for an interview, you are likely to have been short-listed or highly recommended by someone based on your background or your resume. Here are some guidelines on how to win at your interview:

            Look Good: First impressions count. Make an impression even before you respond to any question. Ensure that your appearance is smart with appropriate attire, pay careful attention to finer body points like your hair, nails and shoes and avoid extreme colour or pattern in clothes.

            Prepare Yourself Positively For Success: You are on a race with other competitors and you must have the mindset you are going to win. Tell yourself: “I know I can make a difference on others”. At the same time, learn to relax mentally and physically before and during the interview so you do not draw blanks under stress.

            Behave Rightly During Interview: There are certain important things to take note such as: arriving at least ½ hour before schedule, smile and use good eye contact when meeting the interviewers, sit upright and lean slightly forward to convey an impression of interest, confidence and alertness, refrain from fidgeting with your hands or crossing and uncrossing your legs.

            Answer Questions Properly: Remember you are also interviewing the employer as well. When replying to their questions you should keep to the point, structure your answers so it is logical and easily understood, speak out with confidence and ensure you can be heard clearly, be prepared and have appropriate information to hand out, show interest in the organization and job, be proud (but do not exaggerate) of your achievements while being honest with your limitations.

            Prepare Your Own Questions: At the end of the interview, you may be asked if you have any questions. Prepare some smart ones in advance, especially those relating to the job and organization. Keep money matter to the end.

            Deal Positively With The Closing Moments Of The Interview: Last impressions are important too. Thank the interviewers for their time, reaffirm your interest in the position and state that you look forward to hearing from them in the near future.

The bottom line is job interviews cannot be taken lightly and special skills are needed for success. For the job seekers, they could be missing out a great opportunity to work for a great employer. For the employer, you could be losing a “gem” of a highly qualified and competent person who can make an impact on your organization. So, we need the “how to” of interviews to win BIG!

First of all, let us recap what we have learnt about Crucial Conversation (CC) in an interview. In my previous article, I’ve shared about Start with Heart which is the 1st tool we have learnt on how to adapt CC skills into an interview. In today’s article, I would like to share the 2nd tool which is Learn to Look.

So what is actually we need to do in Learn to Look?

There are 3 main elements that we need to do in Learn to Look:

1. Learn to Look for when a Conversation becomes Crucial

2. Learn to Look for Silence and Violence

3. Learn to Look for Your own Style under Stress

1. Learn to Look for when a Conversation becomes Crucial

A conversation will become crucial when (1) stakes are high, (2) opinion varies and (3) emotions run strong. These 3 criterias are commonly happening in an interview. Click here to learn more.

2. Learn to Look for Silence and Violence

Adapted from CC Toolkit, a typical outcome from a crucial conversation is either Violence or Silence.

Violence- any action taken to aggressively react to others against your point of view. There are 3 forms of violence:

controlling – cutting others off in a conversation, overstating our opinions, forcefully changing the subject & etc

labeling – accusing with calling names, stereotype or in a category of people

attacking – physical or emotional abusive attack

Silence – action taken to withhold information and telling the truth. Also consists of 3 forms of silence:

masking - sugarcoating, couching, react but not showing the truth

avoiding – stay completely away from talking sensitive issues

withdrawing – stop talking and pulling out from a conservation

3. Learn to Look for Your own Style Under Stress

Do you aware your style under stress? Below is a survey that you can take to identify your style. Answer True or False.

1) (Withdrawing): Sometimes I avoid situations that might bring me in contact with people I’m having problem with.

2) (Avoid): Sometimes I will try to change subject or prevent from dealing with awkward and stressful subject.

3) (Masking): Rather than telling people exactly what I think, sometimes I will rely on jokes or offer weak or insincere compliments

4) (Controlling): Sometimes I will exaggerate my opinion or cut people off and change the subject in a conversation

5) (Labeling): When others make points that seems to be stupid to me, I sometimes let them know directly or make sarcastic remarks

6) (Attacking): In an heated argument, sometimes I will say things that might hurt them personally

If you answer True to the 1st 3 questions, than you tend to be Silence at stress and if you answer True to the last 3 questions, you are Violence at stress. If you answer True to more than 3 questions, you tend to have multiple styles (silence & violence) at stress.

By understanding your style at stress, you are able to manage the interview effectively to your advantage. The main point that you will need to remember is that each of the above style will not help you to be effective in an interview, avoid each of these styles and always think win-win.

John’s mistakes

1. Learn to Look for when a Conversation becomes Crucial

A simple saying tells it all” If you know, you will be aware, if you don’t know, then you will not know”. So obviously John is not aware that interview is actually a Crucial Conversation and there are some skills to be effective in it.

2. Learn to Look for Silence and Violence

This is the most difficult part for many of us to master even for myself. John didn’t realize that Linda & the senior manager are actually at silence. Linda who was smiling to John when he ignored her attempt to start a conversation was actually masking her dislike feeling of John. The senior manager who started to get bored with John’s continuously boasting on his achievements, maskingly brought him out for a factory tour and introduced to some of his staff. Pity John who thought Linda’s & the senior manager’s reaction to him is so positive than gave him a false hope. Furthermore, when the senior manager asked Linda’s opinion about John, only negative remarks were given.

In the book “Games Companies Play -The Job Hunter’s Guide to Playing Smart & Winning Big in the High-Stakes Hiring Game” by Dr. Pierre Mornell, he mentioned that it’s not uncommon for a candidate to be evaluated in an informal way before the interview officially begins. The strategy suggested in this book that you must realize that the “interview” is already started as soon as you walk through the door. Pay close attention to the receptionists, secretaries and assistants. Their inputs about you may be taken into consideration.

In an interview, even though you are expected to talk but talk with caution. DO NOT over emphasize or under emphasize a point that you would like to impress your interviewer. You will need to understand the interviewer questions and only address the interviewer’s expectation in your answer. John failed to do so.

3. Learn to Look for Your own Style Under Stress

John tends to be silence & then violence at stress. He will avoid a conversation if he thinks it is not important or when he started to get nervous as what he has done to Linda. During the interview with the senior manager, he is controlling the conversation which made the senior manager to get bored and felt uneasy.

If John knows his style at stress, we will be able to manage the interview better.

If you have your own experience to share in handling an interview, please feel free to leave your comments below.

Till then,

Take care

Regards

Yusoff

Note: The HOT Jobs for experience professional are still open. If interested to apply, please drop your resume to career_advisor@resumeweassist.com

I’ll be uploading the photos taken during the talk including the student’s feedback into this blog next week.

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Interview is a meeting with a mutual purpose to be successful. This is my definition of an interview. Obviously, an interview is a meeting of two parties (interviewer & interviewee) with the same purpose to be successful. The interviewee wants to be successful in securing the job and the interviewer also wants to be successful in getting the best candidate or employee.

I’ve mentioned about interview is a crucial conversation in one of my articles in late May and moving forward in my future articles about interview will focus on the tools adapted from crucial conversation skill. So in today’s article, I’ll focus on the first tool which is Start with Heart.

Start with Heart

To be successful in an interview, you will need to create a flow of dialogue to convince the interviewer that you are the best candidate for the job. Literally it sounds simple but practically, it is not but possible to happen. This is because you have the ability to control the situation for success if you start with heart. It is like playing jigsaw puzzle, matching the the right pieces together.

So what is actually start with heart means and why it is so powerful?

Let me explain it in the context of crucial conversation and later I’ll share on how we can adapt it to be successful in an interview.

“The first thing that degrades during a crucial conversation is not our behaviour (that comes second), but our motive.”

“If you don’t first change your heart, any efforts to change your actions are likely to be insincere, shallow and doomed to failure.”

These two statements above were adapted from the Crucial Conversation toolkit which in summary clearly defined that start with heart is actually about you. Yes, it is about you who must be aware about your objective or motive in having a conversation regardless if it is a crucial or just a chit chat.

As a human, we can communicate by using words or just by our action (body language). When we communicate, we are actually transferring information to another person or to a group of people with an objective to achieve something. That is why, it is very important for us to communicate in such a way that is able to deliver the message clearly to the second party for the next action. In simple words, when you are talking or doing something, make sure whatever you are doing does makes sense. Failure to do so will only leads to misunderstanding which may end up for the other party or for you to react inhumanly.

This is why, it is very crucial for all of us to remember that before we start a conversation, make sure that you have a clear purpose in mind and control the conversation to achieve the purpose collectively for both parties and focus for a win-win situation.

Start with Heart in an interview

Similarly in an interview which is a meeting with a crucial conversation, you will need to clearly understand the purpose that you will like to achieve. Every interviewee will need at the beginning of their job search to visualize that they will be successful in getting the job after the interview. Having that in mind, the action that you will be taking before, during & after the interview will lead you to success. That is why start with heart is so powerful.

If you are still sceptical, find something that you would like to do next week (get an objective) and visualize that you are doing it now. Take appropriate action that will bring you to achieve it and with god willing, you will achieve it next week. Give it a try and share your experience by leaving your comments below.

In her best seller book “The Secret” Rhonda Byrne reveals about the Law of Attraction which has helped thousand to millions of people changed their life by visualizing they will be successful in whatever they are doing. By doing so and take appropriate follow up action will lead them to success.

In summary, for you to be successful in an interview, just visualize your success and with appropriate action taken, success with come to you.

Just Start with Heart

Good luck.

All the best.

Regards

Yusoff

Yes it is. Let me explain using the crucial conversation criteria.

1) Different opinion in a conversation

Job seeker thinks the job is his/her’s while future employer will give in if convinced. Different opinion between them.

2) Strong emotions in a conversation

For those who have attended a job interview will believe me it is a stressful experience and difficult to control your anxiousness if asked with difficult questions. The future employer will also react positively or sluggishly depending on the job seeker’s reaction. Indeed, there are strong emotions in an interview.

3) High stake in a conversation

The job seeker’s career is in stake during the interview. Failure in an interview will lead to the expected problem i.e. loss of income which will lead to lifestyle degradation and worst to mental & social pressure. For the future employer, failing to get the best employee will definitely impact productivity and eventually loss of profit and growth opportunities. So, the stakes are high.

Hence, an interview is a Crucial Conversation.

But….to recap Farrah’s comment that an interview may not be a crucial conversation if the job seeker plays safe. Playing safe in the interview is definitely recommended where the job seeker needs to remain calm but show confidence by answering the questions clearly as what the future employer expected. So, regardless how safe the jobseeker is playing as long there are different opinions, strong emotions or stake is high, the interview will be a crucial conversation.

However, there are job interviews which are not crucial conversation (just a chit chat ). This happens when the future employer confirmed the job seeker is his/her best candidate, no strong emotions and high stakes are involved.

The good news now, if an interview is a crucial conversation, then we can start to use some of the tools I’ve learnt such as:

- start with Heart

- learn to Look

- make it Safe

- master my Story

- state my Path

- explore other’s Path

- move to Action

I’ll be writing my future posts on interview based on these tools.

Keep your comments coming in and it will also be good if you could share some of your experience during an interview (good or bad) for our knowledge sharing.

Till next week,

Take care

Best regards

Yusoff

This week I’ve attended training on Crucial Conversation conducted by a US based company, VitalSmarts. During the training, I was taught on how to use some tools for talking when stakes are high. Surprisingly, VitalSmarts introduced a very simple concept but practically not so easy to practise but once mastered, it will definitely help anyone to achieve whatever they want.

In CMS, interview is actually a conversation between a job seeker with their potential employer. By VitalSmarts definition, a conversation will become crucial when the topic of conversation involved different opinions, strong emotions and the stake or impact is high. If any of these are missing then it is just a normal conversation or a chit chat.

So based on this definition, is an interview a crucial conversation?

I’ll stop here for your comments. Tomorrow I’ll be sharing my thoughts.

Looking forward for your comments.

Regards

Yusoff

Interview is a Crucial Conversation