The second best way to miss out on the job is to ask how much you will be paid in the first interview. Either wait for the final interview or until you have received a job offer. Besides, your research of the industry should already give you an indication of how much to expect.

How to ask for more…

Once you’ve been offered the job it’s now time to talk money. Depending on the job you’ve applied for and the organization there may be no room for negotiating. You simply have to take what’s being offered. The 2 choices open to you are to put up with it or find a company that is willing to pay more for your skills.

The next section only applies if you think you are worth more, or want to earn more, than what you are currently being paid.

If you were an employer and you have $40,000 allocated as a wage for a new employee, would you offer the potential employee all of your $40,000? Or would you offer them $30,000 to see if they take it, in which case you’ve just saved yourself $10,000?

Now you’re ready to proceed…

If asked how much you were earning in your last position, answer truthfully, then explain part of your reason for leaving was because you wanted a chance to earn more. That you felt your skills and contributions to the company weren’t being rewarded hence the reason for you applying to this job.

It’s important to demonstrate why you think you are worth more. Bring up case histories of saving the company X% or increasing sales or service while you were there.

“We were thinking of a salary package of $30,000. How does that sound…?” You’ll hear this when you ask them what the salary for the job is or they may simply say it up front. The 3 ways to handle this are:

1. Say NOTHING. This tactic added $50 a week to my paycheck once. OK, that’s not a lot but it’s an extra $2,500 a year and I didn’t have to ask for it. A good 2 minutes work. The reason this tactic works is because people generally don’t like silences. When you say nothing the employer can tell that their offer is less than you were expecting. By saying nothing forces the employer to offer something closer to what you had in mind.

2. Explain that you were earning more in your last position and would expect at least that. If that doesn’t apply to you, tell them the salary you want plus a few thousand dollars more. The reason for this is — if you ask for too little you can’t negotiate up, you can only get what you’ve asked for or negotiate down. You’ve got no room to move in. But, if you ask for more than you want you have room to move down. Chances are that you may get what you asked for which is more than you originally wanted.

3. Accept the offer on the condition that you meet again in 3 or 6 months for a wage review. Explain that you have skills that will really benefit the company and you are willing to work for less than you would ordinarily accept on the proviso that in X months time you meet again to renegotiate your salary package. You’re taking a little of the risk away from them.

Now here’s a lateral thought for you — you can always get paid on a results basis… Depending on the sort of position you’ve applied for, if the salary is not up to your standard then ask for a share of profits, increased sales in a certain area or a share of savings made. If the company is spending $50,000 in a certain area and you can save them $15,000 (for example) you could ask for a one-off fee of half the savings ($7,500). (After all, they’re better off by $15,000 every year because of your idea.)

The same thing could apply if you can help to increase sales or productivity. You don’t have to be a salesman to do this.

I remember a story of a secretary in the USA who worked for a sausage making company. She thought it would be neat to sell sausages by mail order so she brought the idea to her boss. The boss said OK and she now heads up a multimillion dollar mail order sausage business. Oh yes, she gets paid a lot more than when she was a secretary.

Use them as an example for you being paid more…

If the money they’re offering is less than you want or need and it doesn’t look like you’re going to get what you’re asking for, try saying something like this:

“I’ve researched your firm and I know that the widgets you sell and the services you provide aren’t the cheapest on the market. Why is that?” …..(they will go ahead and tell you about their quality and service and expertise and how it’s superior to the rest, etc… )

To which you would reply: “Well, the same thing applies in my case. I’m not saying that other people can’t do my job for less. All I’m saying is that like you, I offer (insert your skills & experience etc… here) and I’m always learning and improving those skills so that I can be of maximum value to you and your customers.”

Then say nothing and see what follows.

You can always accept what they’re offering with a review in 3 months or so if this tactic fails.

If the company is the cheapest on the market then you may be in trouble with the example above so you might have to point out that if you can work more quickly and efficiently, etc… then you’ll save the company money. They may pay you more for that.

The last resort…

If all else fails and they won’t meet your salary expectations, don’t take the job. This might get them to pay what you want or else it won’t. The fact is you have to be happy with the salary you’re being offered otherwise there is little point in working there is there.

If you can show the employer why you’re worth the money and they can see that there is no way you’ll do it for less, refusing the job may be what it takes for them to meet your demands. It shows them that you are serious about what you can do and the money you think you’re worth.

If they think you are being unrealistic they’ll let you go. Maybe one of their competitors will appreciate your skills and pay you the money you want.

But remember this: You don’t get what you deserve. You get what you negotiate.

SHAMELESS PLUG: Job Secrets Revealed comes with a special ‘interview secrets’ report that will give you – more secrets of the experts including sections on “behavioral interviewing”, an expanded section on understanding the mind of the employer and the Top 10 list of the “Things Interviewers Fear,” as well as the complete list of the toughest interview questions you’ll ever get, including advice on how to side-step the ones you won’t want to answer. Plus, we give you powerful techniques to let you take control of the interview.

Let’s face it. Rejection is an unfortunate part of the job-hunting journey everyone gets, so don’t take it personally. You don’t lose anything by follow-up but you have a lot to gain even if you get rejection in return. If the answer is no, forget it and move on. By all means, you used this opportunity to practice you communication skills, which would benefit you in the long run.

How to follow up, then?

Right after interview, send thank-you letters or cards to every interviewer to think them for interviewing you. You should ask for business cards at the interview so you get their names and titles correctly.

Call the one who is in charge after couple of days. You should have known who is the decision maker from the interview. Ask if decision has been made. If they are still considering, remind them that your skills and experience can be a big help to them. If they have pick up one who is not you, you should thank them and express your willingness to be considered for other positions and future openings. In either situation, you should speak with confidence and enthusiasm.

A few days later, write to the hiring manager to state your availability and ability for this position if you know from the follow-up call that decision is not make yet. Or write to thank them again for interviewing you, and ask for been considered for later opportunities. Write with positive attitude and leave a last impression.

That’s it. It’s easy and wouldn’t take a lot of your time. So, do it.

It’s sometimes very tempting to “alter” the truth a bit during a job interview. For instance, say you quit instead of being fired. That might be OK, because how you had been let go is a blurred area. But by all means you cannot say you get M.S. degree in Computer Science from Stanford if you never had, that’s a very obvious lie. thus the risk of being discovered as a liar far outweighs the potential benefit of hiding the truth.

If you are thinking about telling a lie during the interview, ask yourself these questions (this technique has helped me make many major decisions): “What is the best thing that could happen? What is the worst thing that could happen? Is the best thing worth risking the worst thing?” In this instance, the best thing would be getting the job. The worst thing would be getting discovered as a liar, which could lead to getting fired, which could lead to unemployment, which could lead to more job searching, which could lead to another interview, which could lead to the stress of deciding whether to lie about just getting fired, and so on… a cycle that can go on indefinitely. Is all that worth getting the one job, perhaps on a temporary basis?

Always consider the consequences of your actions.

This website provides lists of popular IT job interview questions, and more importantly, the winning answers. Knowing the types of questions to expect can be very useful. But knowing how to answer those questions can mean the difference between getting the job and getting the “reject letter.”

Here’s the recommended strategy to help you win the job interview:

1. List your best selling points for the position. What qualifications, skills, experience, knowledge, background, personality traits do you possess that would apply to this job? Write them down and look for opportunities to work them into your answers.

2. List probable questions for this position. You should develop your own list of probable questions based specifically on the job for which you are applying. Put yourself in the hiring manager’s shoes… what kinds of questions would you ask to find the best person for this job?

3. Prepare your answers to likely questions. Review and edit them until you feel they are “just right.” Read them over and over until you are comfortable that you know them fairly well. Don’t try to memorize them; don’t worry about remembering every word. Practice saying them out loud. If possible, have a friend help you rehearse for the interview.

4. Prepare key phrases for the interview. If you’ve got a copy of the job announcement for the position you’ll be interviewing for, study that carefully. Note the phrases they use when describing the desired qualifications. You’ll want to target these as much as possible when developing your answers and during the interview conversation. For example, if the announcement says they want someone with “strong database administration skills,” make sure you include “strong database administration skills” in at least one of your answers. Prepare a sentence like “I have strong DBA skills and in have administratered large scale database server for both Oracle and DB2.”

5. Don’t use canned answers. It is very important that you customize your interview question answers as much as possible even though you can find many well crafted answers from this website. Interviewers can spot “canned” answers a mile away, and if they suspect you are regurgitating answers that are not your own, you can kiss that job goodbye. You must apply your own experiences, personality and style to answer the questions in your own way. This is crucial, and it will give you a big advantage over candidates who simply recite answers they’ve read in a book or website.

In general, if you prepare well, you have much better chance to win the job. However, you should be aware of the important facts out of your control: There is no way to predict every question you will be asked during a job interview. In other words, expect unexpected questions–they’ll come up no matter how much preparation you do.

Are you afraid of interview? Don’t! Job interview questions are not things to fear, they are opportunities to excel. They allow you to show why you are the best person for the job, so
instead of dreading them, look forward to them! The key is to give better answers than anyone else, and win the job offer.

In fact, a job interview is nothing but a market where you can sell yourself.  By practicing this tip in responding to interview questions, you should always expand on your answer and offer specific examples wherever possible.  When preparing interview, you need to craft the answers with a short story that gives specific examples of your experiences.  However, your story must be short because you don’t want to ramble or take up too much time, so that your story should be brief but still make your point.

For instance, an interviewer asked, “Have you ever dealt with database crush?” You may answer, “Yes, our database crushes a lot, I know how to deal with it”.   That might be a correct answer, but not a good one.  You really should take this opportunity to sell your database backup/recovery skills.  A better answer could be:

“Yes, as the DBA I deal with database issues on daily bases.  I’ve developed a robust Oracle backup and recovery plan and procedure for dealing with unexpected database problems.  In fact our database crushed last Monday due to network infrastructure upgrade, but I was able to recover all the data from redo logs within an hour.  I have the skills and experience to recover database crush with minimum business interruption.”

In today’s IT job market, often dozens of highly qualified candidates fight for each opening.  What should you do?  You must try whatever make you stand out and be remembered.  One way is to tell a short, impressive, and accountable story, that should greatly increase your odds of getting the job offer.

“How old are you?”
“Are you married?”
“Do you have children?”
“Do you have a stable personal life?”

These questions are not related to the job for which you are applying, but they do have a purpose to ask, they want to figure out something on you. So that it’s up to you to figure out and address their true concern.

For example, when an interviewer asks “Do you have a stable personal life?”, he or she is trying to protect the company from a bad situation that they’ve had to deal with in the past, such as an former employee’s personal problems interfered with the person’s ability to do the job. In this case the interviewer really wants to know is, will you be a reliable employee who can be counted upon to show up and do your job effectively, regardless of any personal problems you may have.

You have several choices to address odd interview questions:

You can simply say, “You can’t ask me that! It’s an inappropriate question!” then You have little chance to get job. So don’t this.

A smart choice to answer the question. Even if it’s wrong to ask, there’s nothing wrong with answering it. You should realize that answering personal questions may harm your chance of getting the job if what you are giving is not what they want to answer, but that is not worse than not answering the question.

For questions about your personal life, you can just give the positive aspects no matter what happened before. For instance, to answer “Do you have a stable personal life?”, say something like:

“Yes, I have a very stable personal life and I don’t foresee any changes in that regard. My career is important to me and my family is very supportive. There won’t be any
distractions affecting my work performance.”

An alternative to this type of questions is to ask a question back, ask for clarifying their concerns:

“How would my answer to that question directly relate to my ability to perform in this position?”

“Could you please rephrase or elaborate on your question? I want to make sure I address your concern.”

Notice how this question is subtly different to “can you handle stress?” Reply with: “I break my work down into smaller steps and work through those steps rather than get worked up over the bigger picture.”

Or: “I tend to see problems arising before they become too large to handle and I make contingencies to cover them.”

Q. How long have you been looking for work/another position?

If you’ve been unemployed for a while obviously the employer is going to think… “Why didn’t anyone want them in all that time. If they were any good they’d already have found a job by now.”

An important point: businesses are fuelled by innovation and solving customer’s needs and problems. They’re not fuelled by the amount of hours their employees work.

You’re not there to work 40 hours a week. You are there to reach and attain certain goals. So, your best answer to the question is along the lines of… “I don’t want just any old job. I’ve been using my days researching companies I’d most like to work for and where I feel I could grow and develop my skills and be a key member in the company’s success. I’ve also been studying and reading to give myself more skills to add more value to my chosen career.”

You could go on to explain that you knew this would go against you because of the length of time you were out of work, but you realized that your whole future relied on what you did now and you were willing to take that risk.

Q. Have you ever been fired?

Try to answer “NO.”

If you have been and are asked about it, explain why, and what you learned from the experience. If other people were fired with you or resigned because of a change in management, then explain that as well.

Q. In your last position what duties did you perform?

This question is to see whether you are goal or task oriented.

Tell them what you did and what it meant to the company: “Part of my job involved typing letters to customers to nurture them. This involved establishing an intimate knowledge of our customers needs. It also took up a lot of time but I got around this by establishing a clever database for merging that sped up the process significantly.”

This shows you are goal oriented… that you believe in getting the job done and not just in being busy. Task oriented people believe in simply being busy. Employers want goal-oriented people.

Q. Can we check your references?

This question is often asked to put you off guard. This is especially true if you come across as being too perfect, or too smooth.

If you already have a job and are considering changing tell the interviewer they can check your references if you receive a firm job offer as you want to keep matters confidential at the moment.

If they want to check your present employer for a reference, make sure they give you a written job offer first. The last thing you want is to miss out on this job and arrive back at work and have your present employer find ways to dismiss you for lack of loyalty.

Q. Tell me about yourself?

Make sure you answer this question in a way that benefits the employer. They are looking for honesty, integrity, being a team player, punctuality and goal orientated people. If you are going to talk about anything don’t ramble on and on – talk about one of the subjects I’ve just shown you.

You can always ask: “What area of my background are you most interested in?” Their response allows you to tell them what they want to hear.

Q. Why do you feel you are a better ……………… than the other applicants?

This is not the time to put down other people nor is it the time to brag about how great you are.

You have a few options. The first is to say something along the lines like “to many people, being a ………………… is just a job. To me it’s something I’ve always wanted to be. Being a ……………. is more than a job to me – it’s a passion and that passion comes through in my work.”

The other option is to say you never worried about being better than the rest. You’ve only considered being the best you can be. Go on to tell them you think these skills are the most valuable for the position and then show them how you use these skills to be incredibly productive and a great team member.

by Acland Brierty

SHAMELESS PLUG: Job Secrets Revealed comes with a special ‘interview secrets’ report that will give you – more secrets of the experts including sections on “behavioral interviewing”, an expanded section on understanding the mind of the employer and the Top 10 list of the “Things Interviewers Fear,” as well as the complete list of the toughest interview questions you’ll ever get, including advice on how to side-step the ones you won’t want to answer. Plus, we give you powerful techniques to let you take control of the interview.

While many questions asked during job interviews appear to focus on your past accomplishments, here’s an important tip: they may be asking about what you did, but what they really want to know is what you can do now, for them.

Think of the disclaimer that accompanies every advertisement for a mutual fund or investment brokerage: “Past performance is not an indicator or guarantee of future returns.” Or imagine Janet Jackson asking, “What have you done for me lately?” That’s the interviewer’s perspective.

The key is to talk about your past accomplishments in a way that shows how they are relevant to the specific job for which you are interviewing. Doing advance research about the company will be extremely helpful.

For example, when the interviewer asked, “What’s your greatest accomplishment?” You might answer, “I won an Olympic Gold Medal.” Indeed that’s great accomplishment which you should be very proud of, but remember the interviewer’s perspective. Your interviewer would be impressed, but he’s thinking “What’s in it for me? What an Olympic Gold Medal can do with helping me to increase business productivity?”

A better answer could be, “I developed and implemented a web-based inventory control system to automate inventory management in our company. My system helped our company increasing productivity in our warehouse by 40%. I was named Employee of the Year because of this accomplishment.” This answer is much less spectacular, but it’s relevant to the position and indicates that you have what it takes to be successful in this particular job. It tells the interviewer, “I have what you’re looking for; I can help you with your specific needs.” Looks like you have a new job!

A: Well this friend got the interview… he rang me the day before and told me that the interviewers were really looking forward to meeting him… that they were impressed with the application and had never seen anything like it before. So obviously we had to work out how to handle the interview… that is the next part of the equation and Job Secrets Revealed covers that too.

M: So your techniques can be used in interviews too? Is that what you’re saying?

A: Absolutely… and I can give you a really simple analogy that ties all this together and graphically demonstrates where I’m coming from… would that be helpful?

M: Ahuh.

A: OK… this analogy is a bit worn out but it sets everything up perfectly… When a customer goes to a hardware store to buy a drill, what does he really want?

M: Yes. I’ve heard this one. what he really wants is the hole…. the end result, as it were.

A: RIGHT… but most people would say they want a QUALITY drill… or one with a lot of features or the best value for money… the fact is the customer wants a HOLE… all we have to do is find out about the HOLE and we can then give him the perfect drill for the job… and it might be the cheapest nastiest drill will do the job. Taking it further, the more you can find out what he is going to do with the drill the more a hardware salesman can sell him other products, for example picture hooks or framing wire or putty to cover the mistakes… and here’s the key, those extras become really beneficial to the buyer.

Take this analogy over to the job market and to a whole new way of looking at things. So basically my book shows people how they have been looking down the wrong end of the telescope when it comes to applying for work.

M: Wrong end of the telescope?

A: Sure… they have the RIGHT tools but they’re using them the wrong way. Instead of seeing the BIG PICTURE, they look down the wrong end of the telescope and see a hopelessly small picture. They see an employer looking for an employee and that is the smallest picture I could imagine.

M: Hmmm… I’m on the verge of understanding how this applies to me and my search for a new job.. but I’m not quite there yet…

A: What’s missing?

M: Well the drill metaphor kind of makes sense – talk about this a bit more as to how it applies to job applications.

A: OK… what is an employer REALLY looking for? An employee?

M: Ok, I’m not falling for that… NO… so they want a benefit or a result right? But the benefits or results must vary from business to business.

A: Right, and they do vary – but all businesses have one thing in common… they want to make money. And they attempt to do this by using one or all of these things… more customers, higher unit of sale, more repeat customers, lower overheads and costs or some other competitive advantage. Probably the last thing they want is an employee. The employee is simply the DRILL that does the job… and you know where most applicants drop the ball?

M: Tell me.

A: They think the employer wants an employee so their applications talk about the applicant. You know, they say things like “I did this”, “I have that”, “I am this.” Most applicants are hopeless when it comes to telling an employer what they will do for THEM.

An employer is only interested in what you can do for THEM… the more clearly you can articulate that and the more you can overcome their fears and apprehensions about you the faster you will get the job and become the answer to the employers prayers… so to speak

M: OK I’m starting to see the big picture now… going back to your drill metaphor for just a second – you’re saying that the more an applicant can talk about what the employer wants (the hole) instead of talking about themselves (the drill) – the more likely they’ll get the job!

by Acland Brierty

Acland’s book, Job Secrets Revealed includes many before and after examples of applications and cover letters showing how readers have taken their me-too applications and made them instantly more exciting. You’ll be able to copy from them and use their phrasing when you have the book!

So, spend enough time to prepare the interview, and learn as much as you can about the company and the industry in general. Your research on the company should mainly cover the following aspects:

What products the company make and/or what services it offers.

Who are its customers.

Is the company a major player in the industry.

Who are the company’s competitors.

How many employees the company has.

Is the company expanding or downsizing.

What new products, services, and technologies it is initializing.

How many branches and locations worldwide.

What is the company’s reputation and public value.

What is the company’s corporate culture.

Names and background of the company’s executive officers.

The management structure of the company.

All the research can be done online. In addition to checking the company’s website, you can use the following resources to evaluate a targeting company and get detailed information:

Hovers

http://www.hoovers.com/

Hovers has the most complete business information and reference directory.

Wet Feet

http://www.wetfeet.com/

company profiles and industry profiles.

PR News Wire

http://www.prnewswire.com/

Search for news about a company and industry.

Thomas Register

http://www.thomasregister.com/

Products and services, and their providers.

You can search the company by its name in
www.about.com
www.google.com
www.yahoo.com