Why Follow Up A Job Application?

Why Follow Up?

As an applicant, you want to make yourself unique from other qualified candidates. This is where a follow up letter comes in. During the process of applying itself, you may have chances to show your individuality to the employer. However, when the application process is over and done with, you might want to remind them of your individuality through a follow up letter. Some fail to do this because once they have done the interview, they automatically assume that the ball is in the employer’s court.

Basically, a follow up letter is to remind your employers about your willingness to take the job and the various talents and skills you possess that makes you the best candidate for the position. However, you don’t go through these information automatically. You will have to go through a number of steps before eventually getting to the part that you want the employer to read.

First, you would have to thank the interviewer for giving you the opportunity to learn more about the open position. After that, go over your interest in the position and your capabilities that would suit the organization’s needs.

You can e-mail or mail the letter depending on your choice. Basically, it would depend on how fast the decision will be made regarding the position. If you expect a decision for a few days, then it might be best to send an e-mail for fast delivery. However, if it would take a few months, you might want to try regular mail since it’s basically guaranteed to reach the employers desk.

Try to search around the internet for various types of follow up letters that you can incorporate. Remember, a follow up letter can be a decision maker for some interviewers so never underestimate the move. Good luck!

What You Shouldn’t Do at Interviews

Your job interview might be the most important part of looking for a job. Regardless of how good your resume and test results are, if you fail the all-important interview, you won’t get hired. So how do you gain leverage during the interview? As employers get more and more creative at conducting interviews, hopeful employees are starting to learn the “right” ways to behave while continuously adapting to the interview changes. Here are some of the things you must not do during interviews that will gain you leverage.

Too Much Talking Nonsense

The interview is about the job, not about your favorite Hollywood star. Unless the interviewer opens that up, you might want to stay away from that topic. Your main goal in a job interview is to talk about the company and your most likely contributions to it in the event that you get hired, period. Here, you must show how eager you to be part of their roster of employees by showing that you have done your homework and mostly knows about the basic workings of the particular business.

Don’t show that you’re nervous

Smiling is okay. In fact, smiling is great! But smiling throughout the interview nonstop would be job interview suicide. Too much smiling translates to nervousness, the same way wringing your hands or stomping on the feet transcends that you are not feeling comfortable with what you do. Granted, this might be quite hard, but you can always practice before the interview. If you just can’t control the nervousness, then you might want to translate it into something not automatically seen.

No Jokes

Jokes are ice-breakers, true. But the thing is, not all people relate to the same types of jokes. What might be funny to you might only make the interviewer frown. Might as well skip the jokes and go straight to job mode.

Acing the Competency Interview

Interviewers nowadays are no longer just concerned about your social status, what you did on your last job or how long you plan to stay at the company. Now, with competition getting steeper and steeper, businesses are concentrating on finding quality workers that would help them in making the company successful. This is why they have devised different interview styles and questions to have an in depth assessment of possible candidates. One of these is competency interviews. If you are not yet sure about how well you will fare at this type of interview, then read on to ace this step to employment!

First of all, a competency interview is a style wherein your prospective employer tries to learn how you have fared in difficult situations in the past. From the name itself, the interview assesses how competent you are when faced with particularly hard situations as this would predict how competent you will be in the future – hopefully while working for them.

The right and wrong answers are usually dependent on the person asking the questions. Before a competency interview, interviewers usually study you resume, assess the skills you have written there, decide whether those skills are vital for the position you are applying for and start to form a draft of possible questions. Regardless of the job you are applying for, the usual scenario goes like this. They will first ask about:

The most difficult part in your previous job.

The most difficult situation you have encountered during your previous job.

What you have done to fix the situation.

What was the result of what you have done.

These are the major questions asked so better start preparing for it. Since its you who provides sets the stage by supplying your previously most difficult situation, then start thinking answers up right now. Good luck!

Hiring Styles You Might Not Know About

he job market is getting tougher and tougher for job seekers because of the high standards demanded by top employers. So if you really, really want that position, everything you have must scream “employable”. And I mean everything, as employers no longer just look at your clothes and curriculum vitae, nope; their inspection extends to other things as well. Here are the few “secret hiring styles” unrevealed.

Waiting Style

Are you the impatient type? That could mean disapproval on your job application as some employers deliberately put you on time out. The purpose is basically to see your reaction when they make you wait. The pass and fail grades are not based on whether you walk out or not but on how you pass the time. More specifically, if you’re just listening to your iPod instead of reviewing your job application, chances are you’re scratched off the employable roster even before the interview.

Lunch Interview Style

Well, this isn’t really a secret anymore as the lunch cum interview setting has been quite used to evaluate applicants. The real question is about the proper behavior when dealing with these somewhat awkward situations. A lunch interview basically works on the same etiquette as a simple lunch. Don’t talk when your mouth is full. When asked a question while eating: maintain eye contact, chew and sw before answering. Don’t order too pricey meals or stay within the price range your interviewer has ordered.

Social Sites Style

Is your Friendster or Facebook or MySpace or any other social site safe? Not really. Some employers are so resourceful that they even check out your profiles so that they could assess your personality. So while job hunting, it might be best to “private” some of your photos.