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5 Different Types of Interviews and How to Ace Each One

Job interviews have gotten sophisticated in recent years, which means people looking for work must be prepared for this higher level of sophistication.

Long gone are the days of having to memorize responses to interview questions like “What is your greatest weakness?” Now, job seekers must be able to talk in major detail about their professional past in any number of interview formats.

The following list outlines each type of job interview and what you should do to prepare.

Informational

Typically held at job fairs, informational interviews are face-to-face conversations where the employer and the job seeker can learn a bit about each other. This type of interview is considered informal and almost never ends with a job offer.

It is still worth preparing for an informational interview, so you can leave a lasting impression. Preparations should include researching the company, finding out the latest industry news and writing a list of questions. Sending a thank-you note after an informational interview is a good idea. Just don’t assume it will lead to job offer.

Phone

The phone interview is a classic, but still effective, screening tool for hiring personnel looking to narrow their list of candidates.

Before a phone interview, you should research not only the company and the industry, but also the person who you expect to interview. You should also be prepared to listen and take notes. You can then use your research and notes to ask insightful questions, which have the added benefit of impressing your interviewer.

Video chat

As people rely more on software, the internet and cloud-based solutions, video interviews are becoming an attractive option for some hiring personnel. Many video-chat software programs have features that let people share media or their screen during an interview.

Because participants in a video interview are essentially face to face, you should prepare for this kind of interview as you would for an in-person interview. In addition to thorough research, you should also make sure you have a quiet, distraction-free location where you can take the video call and make sure your computer is ready to handle such a call.

Group

Hiring managers interview multiple candidates at the same time partly as a way of seeing how candidates interact with each other, which can reveal individual candidate’s team-working and communication abilities.

Having a few prepared statements before walking into a group interview can help you stand out from other candidates. You should be prepared to be vocal during the interview, but not dominate the conversation.

Panel

A panel interview is when a multiple people from the company sit in on the same interview. These interviews leverage different points of view to assess each candidate more accurately than a single interviewer might be able to do.

Researching each panel member before one of these interviews can help you prepare. For instance, you may want to prepare technical information for one interviewer and an anecdote on your team-working ability for another interviewer.

At Career Concepts, we help job seekers walk into an interview fully prepared in order to give them the best chance of success. If you’re currently looking for that kind of assistance in your job search, please contact us today.

Blog published date

Jun 06, 2018
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