How to Look Confident in an Interview

Ways to Look Confident in an Interview

After the long, exhausting journey of searching for and applying to new jobs, you’ve just been rewarded with a golden ticket—an interview.

But after a brief moment of celebration, the panic sets in: Your heart is already pounding, your palms are beginning to sweat, and you’re wondering: Are hiring managers like sharks—can they smell fear?

If the thought of sitting across from a hiring manager makes your stomach turn, you’re not alone. But don’t let your nerves get the best of you! Try one these strategies that will help you feel calm, cool, and collected—or at least make you appear that way.

1. Just Breathe

While waiting to be greeted by your interviewer, take a few moments to do some breathing. (Yes, like a pregnant woman in labor!) By doing this, you can redirect the troublesome emotion you’re experiencing (e.g., nervousness or fear) and be able to focus on something else (in this case, the amazing job that you’re hoping to land). Holistic health expert Andrew Weil, MD praises breathing exercises, saying, “Since breathing is something we can control and regulate, it is a useful tool for achieving a relaxed and clear state of mind.”

To do this most effectively, take a deep breath through your nose (really feel your stomach expand) and then slowly blow it out through your mouth. Repeat this three times, while concentrating on centering your thoughts. The best thing about this technique is that you can do it anywhere (and quite unnoticeably), so if you feel your nerves start to swell during the interview, simply take another breath.

2. Don’t Fidget

Nervous fidgeting is one of the most telltale signs that you’re nervous, so this is an incredibly important skill to master. My go-to trick is to keep my hands clasped together on the table or in my lap to avoid any subconscious table tapping, hair twirling, or otherwise noticeable squirming. I’m also a leg-shaker—but keeping my hands in my lap and applying a bit of pressure to my legs helps remind me to keep the shaking to a minimum.

If you think you don’t have any fidgety habits, you might want to think again—most people aren’t aware of their own nervous tendencies because they’re such an ingrained part of their natural behavior. To double check, try doing a few mock interviews with a friend who can call you out on any fidgeting. Once you know exactly what to avoid, you can practice controlling it.

3. Make Eye Contact

One of the best ways to fool a hiring manager into thinking you’re more confident than you feel is to keep steady, natural eye contact throughout the interview. Mary Griffin, a Human Resources Director for a national healthcare company says, “A key giveaway of a nervous Nellie is a lack of direct eye contact—looking down, looking away, and not looking the interviewer directly in the eyes. A more confident interviewee appears to be engaged with the interviewer.”

One way to remind yourself to make regular eye contact is to focus on a spot between the interviewer’s eyes. You can even imagine a colorful bulls-eye there—whatever it takes to keep your eyes from wandering too much.

On the flip side, you don’t want to stay so intensely focused on making eye contact that you end up sending out a creepy vibe! So remember to take natural breaks, like looking down at your resume every once in a while. It’s a balancing act, so just keep practicing until it feels comfortable.

4. Press Pause

Some of us (myself included!) tend to ramble when we’re nervous. This can be dangerous because once we start talking, it’s incredibly easy to veer off topic and say more than what’s needed—or worse, more than what’s appropriate.

To preempt any rambling, I try to answer each question with only one thought or idea at a time. For example, if you’re asked to describe a trait you disliked about a previous supervisor, you could say, “I found that her tendency to micromanage conflicted with my productivity.” Then stop. This will save you from unnecessary add-ons like “She was a total control freak whose inability to let me make my own decisions made me want to run down the hall screaming obscenities”—even if that may be the most honest answer.

The key to mastering this technique is to keep your tone sincere, so that even if your responses are brief, they don’t come off as curt or dismissive. It’s more about sticking to one main topic per question instead of going off a nervous tangent. And don’t worry—if the interviewer wants you to elaborate on a certain topic, she’ll ask.

5. Think Positively

Finally, calm your nerves by reminding yourself that you deserve to be there. Hey, you wouldn’t have been invited to interview if you weren’t being seriously considered as a candidate! Use this knowledge to your advantage to mentally pump yourself up before the interview. It can take the edge off enough to allow you to approach the situation with a burst of self-assurance and poise.

Most importantly, remember that while you certainly need to be calm, collected, and confident in order to score the job, an interview is not a life-or-death situation. Hiring managers are humans, too—and they’ll understand and forgive a few minor nervous blips.

So with that in mind, relax, gather your strength, and walk into that interview with a new found confidence (at least on the outside!).

Good Luck********

By Elizabeth Lowman

GIS As a Career

Why to Chose GIS as a Career

Whether you are a student considering your first career or someone already in the workplace who is considering a new career, choosing GIS can be rewarding in many ways.

The growth potential in this sector has remained high. As the use of GIS and other geospatial technologies expands, it offers opportunities for people with different work experiences and educational backgrounds. According to the Geospatial Information & Technology Association (GITA), because geospatial technology use is so widespread, "the geospatial market is growing at an annual rate of almost 35 percent."

Although these are compelling reasons to consider a career in GIS, Joseph Kerski, Esri education manager, poses some questions and offers some answers that can help you appreciate some other reasons why a career in GIS might be the right choice.

Do you want a career or just a job?

Do you want to be paid for doing something you love to do or just collect a paycheck? A career where GIS is a fundamental part of your day allows you to be immersed in a field where you can continually grow and move forward in an environment of lifelong learning.

Do you want to do something cool?

GIS is an exciting, rapidly changing, and cool technology that merges nicely with many other technologies you may be interested in, such as video, web development, and phone apps.

Do you want to do something important?

GIS is a green technology that is making a difference on our planet and to its people every day for key decisions about wildlife habitat, human health, renewable energy, climate change, water quality and availability, wilderness areas, and much more.

Do you love maps?

For thousands of years, maps have been fascinating and powerful sources of information. GIS combines the best of visualization and technology. Today's maps are not just reference sources, they are dynamic, and you can change them to suit whatever need you have or problem you are trying to solve.

Do you like to get outside?

GIS depends on data collected in the field. Your "field" could be atop a glacier, in a river, on a city street. There is no end to what needs to be mapped and analyzed.

Do you want to empower people?

The convergence of the web, GIS, and handheld devices make citizen science a reality.You can contribute to real scientific studies or build tools to enable citizens to make these contributions.

Are you curious about your world?

GIS allows you to investigate what-if scenarios, model, ask questions, and investigate possible outcomes.

Do you care about the well-being of your local community?

A career in GIS enables you to do something about issues in your own community: health, zoning, services, greenways, crime, trash, traffic, and more.

Do you want to make sense of data?

If you think that a mountain of data exists now, just wait until next year. GIS helps you make sense of all that data and to develop critical-thinking skills to help you understand what data to use and what not to use.

Do you want to blaze new trails?

Many, if not most, of the GIS-related jobs in the future have not even been invented yet, so market yourself! Propose a new position in an organization that you are interested in. Make your case that you are the one to staff that position!

For more information, visit the Esri Career Pathways page.

Source:http://www.esri.com

The Importance of the Interview

Most people who have hiring responsibilities have a pretty good idea of the levels of education and experience they’d like to see in a job applicant for a particular position.

Very often – and more often than one might think – the following personal characteristics make the difference between the person getting the job and the others who applied for the job:

Presence

The applicant’s first impression is very important. In fact, it ripples through the entire interview. Do what you can to create a positive presence through manners, wearing the appropriate clothing to the interview, making sure you’re well-groomed and having a relaxed, confident manner.

Ability to communicate

How well do you communicate to the interviewer? Can you communicate your ideas clearly at the level the position requires? Your interviewer will generally assess both content and delivery of communication.

Motivation

Do you have a positive, enthusiastic approach? Do you sound and look confident that you can handle the job?

Intelligence

Your answers to questions, your questions to the interviewer and your demonstration of creative and imaginative capabilities will all be considered by the hiring person. Although your grade levels achieved in post-secondary education are important, they are not always considered to be a reliable indicator of success on the job.

Energy levels and general alertness

These motivational forces underlie the other four traits listed here.
These traits are not as easily measured as skills, education or experience levels, but they do play an increasingly important role in how you present yourself to the interviewer.
By studying these traits you can help create a positive image of yourself in a job interview.




Note:- GIS Training is available in Bhopal. For more please contact to 8349675112 or mail me at shailendrasonekar@gmail.com.

Job interview Tips

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A job interview is a process in which a potential employee is evaluated by an employer for prospective employment in their company, organization, or firm. During this process, the employer hopes to determine whether or not the applicant is suitable for the job.

1. Role

A job interview typically precedes the hiring decision, and is used to evaluate the candidate. The interview is usually preceded by the evaluation of submitted résumés from interested candidates, then selecting a small number of candidates for interviews. Potential job interview opportunities also include networking events and career fairs. The job interview is considered one of the most useful tools for evaluating potential employees. It also demands significant resources from the employer, yet has been demonstrated to be notoriously unreliable in identifying the optimal person for the job. An interview also allows the candidate to assess the corporate culture and demands of the job.

Multiple rounds of job interviews may be used where there are many candidates or the job is particularly challenging or desirable. Earlier rounds may involve fewer staff from the employers and will typically be much shorter and less in-depth. A common initial interview form is the phone interview, a job interview conducted over the telephone. This is especially common when the candidates do not live near the employer and has the advantage of keeping costs low for both sides.

Once all candidates have been interviewed, the employer typically selects the most desirable candidate and begins the negotiation of a job offer.

2. Process

A typical job interview has a single candidate meeting with between one and three persons representing the employer; the potential supervisor of the employee is usually involved in the interview process. A larger interview panel will often have a specialized human resources worker. While the meeting can be over in as little as 15 minutes, job interviews usually last less than two hours.

The bulk of the job interview will entail the interviewers asking the candidate questions about his or her job history, personality, work style and other factors relevant to the job. For instance, a common interview question is "What are your strengths and weaknesses?" The candidate will usually be given a chance to ask any questions at the end of the interview. These questions are strongly encouraged since they allow the interviewee to acquire more information about the job and the company, but they can also demonstrate the candidate's strong interest in them.

Candidates for lower paid and lower skilled positions tend to have much simpler job interviews than do candidates for more prestigious positions. For instance, a lawyer's job interview will be much more demanding than that of a retail cashier. Most job interviews are formal; the larger the firm, the more formal and structured the interview will tend to be. Candidates generally dress slightly better than they would for work, with a suit (called an interview suit) being appropriate for a white-collar job interview.

Additionally, some professions have specific types of job interviews; for performing artists, this is an audition in which the emphasis is placed on the performance ability of the candidate.

In many companies, Assessment Days are increasingly being used, particularly for graduate positions, which may include analysis tasks, group activities, presentation exercises, and Psychometric testing.

3. Types

3.1 Behavioral

A common type of job interview in the modern workplace is the behavioral interview or behavioral event interview, also called a competency-based interview. This type of interview is based on the notion that a job candidate's previous behaviors are the best indicators of future performance. In behavioral interviews, the interviewer asks candidates to recall specific instances where they were faced with a set of circumstances, and how they reacted. Typical behavioral interview questions:

• "Tell me about a project you worked on where the requirements changed midstream. What did you do?"
• "Tell me about a time when you took the lead on a project. What did you do?"
• "Describe the worst project you worked on."
• "Describe a time you had to work with someone you didn't like."
• "Tell me about a time when you had to stick by a decision you had made, even though it made you very unpopular."
• "Give us an example of something particularly innovative that you have done that made a difference in the workplace."
• "What happened the last time you were late with a project?"
• "Have you ever witnessed a person doing something that you felt was against company policy. What did you do and why?"

A bad hiring decision nowadays can be immensely expensive for an organization – cost of the hire, training costs, severance pay, loss of productivity, impact on morale, cost of re-hiring, etc. (Gallup international places the cost of a bad hire as being 3.2 times the individual's salary).

3.2 Stress

Stress interviews are still in common use. One type of stress interview is where the employer uses a succession of interviewers (one at a time or en masse) whose mission is to intimidate the candidate and keep him/her off-balance. The ostensible purpose of this interview: to find out how the candidate handles stress. Stress interviews might involve testing an applicant's behavior in a busy environment. Questions about handling work overload, dealing with multiple projects, and handling conflict are typical.

Another type of stress interview may involve only a single interviewer who behaves in an uninterested or hostile manner. For example, the interviewer may not make eye contact, may roll his eyes or sigh at the candidate's answers, interrupt, turn his back, take phone calls during the interview, or ask questions in a demeaning or challenging style. The goal is to assess how the interviewee handles pressure or to purposely evoke emotional responses. This technique was also used in research protocols studying Stress and Type A (coronary-prone) Behavior because it would evoke hostility and even changes in blood pressure and heart rate in study subjects. The key to success for the candidate is to de-personalize the process. The interviewer is acting a role, deliberately and calculatedly trying to "rattle the cage." Once the candidate realizes that there is nothing personal behind the interviewer's approach, it is easier to handle the questions with aplomb.

Example stress interview questions:

• Sticky situation: "If you caught a colleague cheating on his expenses, what would you do?"
• Putting you on the spot: "How do you feel this interview is going?"
• Popping the balloon: "(deep sigh) Well, if that's the best answer you can give ... (shakes head) Okay, what about this one ...?"
• Oddball question: "What would you change about the design of the hockey stick?"
• Doubting your veracity: "I don't feel like we're getting to the heart of the matter here. Start again - tell me what really makes you tick."

Candidates may also be asked to deliver a presentation as part of the selection process. The "Platform Test" method involves having the candidate make a presentation to both the selection panel and other candidates for the same job. This is obviously highly stressful and is therefore useful as a predictor of how the candidate will perform under similar circumstances on the job. Selection processes in academic, training, airline, legal and teaching circles frequently involve presentations of this sort.

3.3 Technical

This kind of interview focuses on problem solving and creativity. The questions aim at your problem-solving skills and likely show your ability and creativity. Sometimes these interviews will be on a computer module with multiple-choice questions.

3.4 Telephone

Telephone Interviews take place if a recruiter wishes to dwindle down the number of prospective candidates before deciding on a shortlist for face-to-face interviews. They also take place if a job applicant is a significant distance away from the premises of the hiring company such as abroad or in another state.^[4]

4. Controversies

In many countries, employment equity laws forbid discrimination based on a number of classes, such as race, gender, age sexual orientation, and marital status. Asking questions about these protected areas in a job interview is generally considered discriminatory, and constitutes an illegal hiring practice. However, many employers ask questions that touch on these areas.

5. Validity and predictive power

There is extant data which puts into question the value of job interviews as a tool for selecting employees. Where the aim of a job interview is ostensibly to choose a candidate who will perform well in the job role, other methods of selection provide greater predictive power and often lower costs. Furthermore, given the unstructured approach of most interviews they often have almost no useful predictive power of employee success.

Honesty and integrity are attributes that can be very hard to determine using a formal job interview process: the competitive environment of the job interview may in fact promote dishonesty. Some experts on job interviews express a degree of cynicism towards the process.

Note:- GIS Training is available in Bhopal. For more please contact to 8349675112 or mail me at shailendrasonekar@gmail.com.