MASTERCLASS
SUCCESSFUL JOB INTERVIEWS r Sessi
on
obe
Oct
Pre Session Material
1. Watch this video and follow the guideline to discuss in class.
Link to video
a. What position is the candidate applying for?
b. How far do you agree with the following statements?
The interview begins the moment you walk into the building.
Greet everyone in a way that is authentic to you.
It is good to have some topics in mind for the small talk before the
interview.
To show you are honest in your answers, pause and take a second to
think about your answers.
c. Why shouldn´t you talk negatively about previous places you´ve worked?
d. Are there RIGHT or WRONG ways to answer questions in an interview?
e. Why is it advisable to have some questions to ask the interviewer?
f. Which of the questions suggested in the video would you use in your next
job interview?
MASTERCLASS
SUCCESSFUL JOB INTERVIEWS r Sessi
on
obe
Oct
Pre Session Material
2. WORD BANK: Revise these terms related to Job Interviews,
which will be used in class.
CV: Curriculum Vitae or Resume. Your work skills, experience, interests that are best
put into a 2-4 pages word or Google docs. Think of this as an awesome document to
be proud of to really highlight what you can do and why you’re a great candidate.
Candidate: A person applying for or being nominated for a role. A Job applicant.
Think of this as an opportunity to find your nirvana workplace with great people,
technology and market pay rate
Interview: A meeting between the candidates and hiring employer / company. This
is a two-way process for you to find out about the role, projects, people & culture and
for them to learn about your skills & experience. Make each opportunity a way to
meet new people even if you’re not successful this time around. A good way to think
of this is that you both want the same thing - for you to get the job.
Internship / Work experience: A few days, weeks or months work in a company to
get some experience of a type of job or industry. Often students will do a 3 month
paid internship which gives you experience for when you graduate and the
company might even hire you full-time.
Vacancy: A job opening at a company or organisation that they’re looking to hire
into. Your opportunity to fill this gap.
Permanent Job: Just that a permanent job you might be there for a good number of
years so find a good one. Think of it as a career so what are your short, medium &
long term goals and see if this opportunity lines up with these.
Temp / Freelance / Contractor / Interim: A short-term contract assignment normally
paid on an hourly or daily rate which are often extended and are a more flexible
arrangement. A great way to work on a specific project, fill a gap in your work career
and also find out about an organisation before you commit long-term.
Basic Salary: The money you get paid before tax is deducted and not including
benefits. Cold hard cash baby.
Benefits/ Fringe benefits/ Perks: Other things that come with the salary these might
include medical insurance, a car park, bonus, flexible working, training etc and some
industry specific discounts.
Remuneration: Often mistakenly misspelt & mispronounced this is total package
including salary & benefits. Best to ask what the basic salary is and the benefits on
top.
Notice period: The amount of time you (or your employer) have to give when you
finish your job. ‘Handing in your notice’. Usually 4 weeks or a month for permanent
jobs but can be less (for contract usually 1-2 weeks) and longer for C level executives.
OE: overseas experience - go travelling after your degree or once you’ve worked for a
year or two - highly recommended because employers like hiring people with life
experience.
Degree / Qualification: A certificate of what you have formally studied.
Job description: Just that a description of what the job entails. Work out the key
requirements then write down how your skills & experience match these.
Job board: An online place to search for jobs ie Seek, TradeMe, LinkedIn, SJS etc. Set
up a profile so relevant jobs are sent to you on a daily basis. Make applications (CV &
Cover Letter) and follow up with a phone call for best results.
Panel interview: A group interview situation in which you might have 3-5 people
interviewing you at one time. Tends to be universities or government organisations
that use this method.
Psychometric testing: Personality & ability tests. No right or wrong answers here. A
chance to look deeper into your personality & preferences. Often scarily accurate but
in a good way. From a recruitment stand point we take these ‘with a pinch of salt’ as
just one part of the whole hiring process.
Reference: A work reference or personal reference to confirm you are who you say
you are and that you worked at a particular company and a chance to shine. Make
sure you pick people you can trust to give you a positive reference as this is the
expectation.
Preferred Candidate: A candidate who is the front runner in the hiring process and is
likely to be offered the role.
Counter-offer: When a candidate hands in their notice and your current company tries
to tempt you to stay usually by offering you more money, a promotion or another
position. Be careful as desperation to hold onto candidates, especially in technology
can lead to false promises and the data says 80% of candidates decide to leave anyway
after 6-12 months of accepting a counter-offer as they were unhappy for other reasons.
Offer Rescinded: When a company withdraws an offer. Very uncool but can be due to
different reasons.
Ghosting: When you follow up on a job application and get no feedback, not even a no.
Mentor: A person senior to you in the business (or external) who can show you the
ropes on how to improve your skills & experience & progress your career to become a
guru.
Voluntary work: give back to the community locally often arranged by you, your
company, family or friends.
Job hopper: Someone who doesn’t stay in permanent jobs very long and ‘job hops’
from company to company. Potential employers like to see some solid, stable work
history. if you have left jobs after short period have a clear, honest explanation.
Side gig: You might have some personal projects or other interests that earn you
money. These can be work related or a different interest like brewing beer or ski
guiding in the Himalayas.
IT Specific
NDA: Non disclosure agreement. This is a confidentiality document to protect the
clients IP - Intellectual Property. Common in tech. You might even have to sign one at
the job interview so you can have an open discussion, or usually when you start your
new job.
Technical exercise / coding test: A written test or technical session for you to solve
problems to test your technical abilities - they can be a lot of fun.
Dev: - Developer, coder or programmer. Someone who writes software to create
systems that the world is now run on.
