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Contents 1 Interview preparation 2 Interview attire 3 The interview itself 4 Phone interview 5 Interview follow up 6 Other job hunting articles

[edit] Interview preparation

• Think about issues that you are likely to be asked about in the interview.
• Why do you want the job? How did you become interested in the field? Why did you apply to that particular company? If you were to get this job, how do you see it fitting into your long term plans?
• What can you bring to the table? How might you add value to the organization? What are the challenges that you have overcome, the lessons that you have learned, the accomplishments that you've achieved that equip you to contribute to this company? The more research you've done about the company, the better. The more you know about it, the more you'll be able to draw attention to the similarities between the company's needs and the attributes that you can contribute.
• What do you want to know from the interviewer? Consider the things you want to find out about the position for which you're applying and the company. Even if you have done as much research as possible, there still will be many things that you do not know about the organization, the department, and the job. If the interviewer asks, "Is there anything you want to know about us?" you will look interested, confident and proactive if you are able to ask questions.
• Get your interview clothes ready. See Interview attire, below.
• Print spare copies of your resume and your list of references.
• Figure out how you will get to the interview. Look up the address on a physical map or an Internet map such as Google Maps. If you need to catch transit to the location, look up transit timetables.

[edit] Interview attire

Dress according to the job, as a rule of thumb one or two steps up from what you would expect to wear for work if you were hired. If you are not sure and get the chance, visit the workplace before the interview and check out how their employees are dressed.

• For a junior office/retail job smart casual is often acceptable; for a management/senior position suit and tie would be more appropriate.
• In a professional office more formal attire would be expected. This means a suit and tie for a man.
• In the case of a construction worker, truck driver or tradesman, formal dress would look out of place; smart slacks and a plain golf shirt would do (without printing on). Avoid jeans and printed T-shirts.
• If you are meeting someone in a cafe for an informational interview, which is an informal chat, you can wear smart casual attire. For a man this would be cotton trousers and a golf shirt.
• For any professional recruiter, wear a professional business suit - remember, first impressions count and you want to be introduced to their best clients, right?
• If you are attending a formal job interview for a professional or office job in Calgary during the annual Stampede, when the entire city is dressed in denim, you must still wear formal business attire (e.g., suit and tie) to your interview.

[edit] The interview itself

• Be punctual. Arrive a little early.
• Turn off your cell phone.
• Do not chew gum.
• Be polite. The need for politeness starts before you meet your interviewer. Be cordial towards the receptionist. Sometimes feedback about the way in which you treat the receptionist is shared with the interviewer.
• Be ready to shake hands. When you are called into the interview, carry your briefcase in your left hand. This leaves you with the freedom to smile and shake hands with the interviewer. Sometimes your grooming, your smile, your eye contact and your confident handshake decide whether or not you are worth further investigation even before you've said a word.
• Answer questions. If you have prepared for the interview, you should be able to answer questions that indicate how you can contribute to the company's performance. If you don't understand a question, ask the interviewer for clarification.
• Never criticize current or previous employers. If you are in the process of moving from the UK to Canada, you are in an ideal position from the point of view that your change of jobs does not have to indicate dissatisfaction with your previous employer. If you already are in Canada and are dissatisfied with your current employment situation, NEVER say anything bad about your present employers, no matter how dreadful they are. A way you can get around this is by saying that you want to progress in your field or take your career in a new direction, but the opportunities for doing so in your current company are limited. For example, you may be working for a small company, and you may want to do something that is possible only in a big company. Stating that enables you to indicate a desire for change without being personal about it.
• Take notes. First of all, it shows you're interested. Secondly, it helps you to recall pertinent information after the meeting.
• Ask questions. Towards the end of the interview, the interviewer probably will ask you if there is anything more you would like to know. Depending on what the interviewer already has told you, ask questions that indicate your interest in the company's direction, how different parts of the company interact with each other, the requirements of the job and the person to whom that position reports.
• Salary expectations. If you are asked about the salary you expect, do everything you can to wriggle out of answering the question during a first interview. Hopefully your prior research (via informational interviews, etc.) will have given you a range that you can state if you are really pushed to do so. However, it would be better to say that salary is only one part of the total package, and at this stage you are still focusing on the job in its entirety.
• Don't overstay your welcome. Read the interviewer's body language and be aware when he/she feels ready to terminate the interview.
• Ask about next steps. Ask where they are in the hiring process, when they think they'll be ready to make a decision, and how they will advise candidates.
• Say thank you. Smile and shake hands as you did at the beginning of the interview, and say "Thank you."
• Say goodbye to the receptionist. As you did on the way in, greet the receptionist, and again say "Thank you."

[edit] Phone interview

If you still are in the UK, a potential employer may ask you to participate in a phone interview.

You will be at a disadvantage, in that you won't be able to see the interviewer's face. Therefore you won't be able to gauge his/her reactions to you.

But, by the same token, the interviewer will not be able to see how many notes you look at during the interview.

Here are some pointers for participating in a phone interview:

• Prepare as you would for a personal interview. Do your research, anticipate the kinds of questions you will be asked, and think about how you will answer them. You may be asked how you have handled a given situation in the past. Have a variety of scenarios ready -- an example of helping your employer to exceed customer expectation, one of dealing with a difficult colleague, etc. Arrange them under headings on a sheet, e.g., customer service, managing others etc. Also keep in front of you copies of your resume, covering letter and research that you have done about the company that is interviewing you.
• Arrange to have the use of a room with a door that can close, so that no one can barge in and disturb you during the interview. Better still, make arrangements for your children to be out of the house for the duration of the interview.
• Maintain a businesslike posture. Don't sit on a couch. Sit at a table or desk on which you can have your papers organized in front of you.
• Smile when you pick up the phone. The interviewer(s) won't be able to see you of course. But it's amazing how much your smile influences your mood and your voice.
• Expect silences during the phone call. In addition to the fact that there is a slight delay in the phone transmission lines across the Atlantic, your interviewer(s) may be taking notes. Do not feel obliged to break the tension by speaking. Wait till the other party speaks.
• Be aware that you may be interviewed by more than one person, and they may be using a speaker phone at the other end.

[edit] Interview follow up

• Write a thank you letter. As soon as possible after the interview, write a brief thank you letter. Take the opportunity to compliment the company. State that you are impressed by something they are doing well. Bring to their attention a point about yourself that makes you a good fit. The Job Bank website has an example of a thank you letter.
• After completing a long distance phone interview, it probably would be more feasible for you to type a thank you e-mail than to mail a thank you letter.
• Phone follow up. If you have not heard back within two weeks, call the interviewer. Say that you're curious about how they're coming along in their hiring for Such-And-Such position. If the interviewer says that they are still looking and have not made a decision yet, state your continued interest in the job. If the interviewer says that they have hired someone, ask the interviewer if you can ask a couple of questions that would help you in your job search. Ask what the deciding factors in their hiring decision were. (The answer should tell you the key characteristics that the successful candidate had.) Ask if the interviewer can think of any improvements that will increase your chances of getting a job. (The answer may tell you about a current limitation that you can overcome, by taking a course, for example.)
• Even if you do not get the job, be cordial towards the employer. You never know what may happen in the future. The candidate whom they chose for the job may not work out for some reason. It just could happen that they'll phone you after a while and ask if you're still interested in the position. But of course they won't do that if you expressed annoyance towards them and burned your bridges.

[edit] Other job hunting articles

• This is only one of a series of BE Wiki articles about job hunting in Canada.
• To find links to the other articles in the series, please go to Job Hunting in Canada.