Joint Ventures
January 24, 2008
Recent changes in SBA regulations permit Beacon Group to form joint ventures and teams to bid on contracts. This enhances the ability of 8(a) firms to perform larger prime contracts and overcome the effects of contract bundling, the combining of two or more contracts together into one large contract.
Federal acquisition policies encourage Federal Agencies to award a certain percentage of their contracts to SDBs like Beacon Group. To speed up the award process, the SBA has signed Memorandums of Understanding (MOUs) with 25 Federal Agencies allowing them to contract directly with certified 8(a) firms.
We welcome the opportunity to discuss new business opportunities. Call 202-783-5411 and ask to speak with Vicki Coward Rosen.
Subcontracting
January 24, 2008
One of the goals of the SBA 8(a) program is to allow non-8(a) contractors to expand their scope of services. Therefore, Beacon Group is permitted, with approval of the SBA, to subcontract a portion of this work to other qualified firms. While subcontracting is restricted to maintain the integrity of the program as an opportunity for disadvantaged businesses, subcontracting limits can be as high as 85 percent, depending on the industry. Contractors develop valuable relationships, while the client benefits from a qualified, experienced, well-rounded team.
Opportunity 1: Sole-Source Directly to Beacon Group
Any federal agency can identify work especially suited for an 8(a) firm and can set-aside the project without advertising in FedBizOpps. This allows the Federal Agency to directly award a professional service contract to this 8(a) firm without lengthy contracting delays.
If this option is chosen, the steps typically followed are:
1. The project manager or interested party identifies a statement of work, prepares a government estimate and earmarks funds.
2. The agency chooses Beacon Group to perform the work
An authorization to negotiate is obtained from the SBA by filling out a Small Business Coordination Record form. The interested party may consult with their Small Business Program Office and/or the contracting office in order to complete the Business Coordination Record or a Procurement Request Form, depending on the agency. Federal departments have different forms; for example, the DOD and its agencies use DD Form 2579.
1. The prepared contract documents must include the following statement: “Request procurement be made pursuant to Section 8(a) of the Small Business Act 15 U.S.C. 637(a) and in accordance with FAR 19.8.”
2. Once the procurement request has been made, the Small Business Deputy or the Contract Officer prepares an offer letter or a proposed project form (FAR 19.804-2).
3. After the offering information is received and processed by the SBA, the process returns to the Contracting Officer who submits the Scope of Work and Request for Quotation to Beacon Group.
4. Beacon Group submits its proposal and the package is evaluated and negotiated (if necessary) by the agency.
5. The contract is awarded.
Opportunity 2: Sole-Source IDIQ for Beacon Group
When an agency finds an 8(a) company that they would like to utilize on a regular basis, the agency might choose to award a sole-source Security Services IDIQ (Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity) contract. Preparation of this IDIQ is very cost-effective for the agency as it minimizes the length of time involved in contracting out individual task orders and it is not as costly and time-consuming to award as a competitive IDIQ. This type of contracting mechanism can be awarded very much like the sole-source contracts described above.
Opportunity 3: BOA with Beacon Group
A BOA (Basic Order Agreement) can also be awarded on a sole-source basis under the 8(a) program. A BOA is a written instrument of understanding, negotiated between an agency, contracting activity, or contracting office and a contractor, that contains the following items:
1. Terms and clauses applying to future contracts (orders) between the parties during its term.
2. A description, as specific as practicable, of supplies or services to be provided.
3. Methods for pricing, issuing, and delivering future orders under the Basic Ordering Agreement
Streamlined Sourcing Advantages
January 24, 2008
Sole source contracts are usually approved in a matter of days. Federal Agencies with a Small Business Program will understand how to guide their contracting officers, planners and engineers through the sole source contract program.
Because the 8(a) program is a federal mandate, Federal Agencies secure double credit as an 8(a) AND Woman Owned Firm for the amount of work they issue to Beacon Group.
Federal acquisition policies encourage Federal Agencies to award a certain percentage of their contracts to SDBs. To speed up the award process, the SBA has signed Memorandums of Understanding (MOUs) with 25 Federal Agencies allowing them to contract directly with certified 8(a) firms.
Call 202-783-5411 or email Federalgov@beacongroupllc.com to inquire about our services and Schedule.
Employer Resources
January 23, 2008
It is our pleasure to provide you with this free collection of the best resources, carefully chosen for their usefulness in helping our clients find, hire, and retain the best employees. Other employer-related topics you’ll find here include assessment, motivation, compensation, resume database management, background checks, drug testing, and other employer-employee and staffing-related issues.
Please feel free to contact us for to learn how we can start saving you time and money. 703-684-3144
Resources for Employers:AHI’s Employment Law Resource Center — provides publications and free information covering aspects of employment law and Human Resources Law, designed to help keep managers and executives from making mistakes that could lead to fines and lawsuits.Akken – on demand staffing software. Get the one system that combines on demand staffing and recruiting software with email, CRM, accounting, human resources and much more.
Benefits Alert — a free resource for employee benefits news and information on topics ranging from 401(k) and group health plans to COBRA and FMLA administration. You’ll find useful employee benefit articles, tips, links, and reference resources.
The Brentwood Group, Inc. — providing research and recruiting to companies and executive search firms in all industries.
B2B CFO — serving mid-market companies (revenues up to $75 million) that want to increase cash, profitability, sales and company value. B2B CFO offers a network of CFOs nationwide to work on a part-time basis for clients that don’t need a full time CFO.
Beacon Group — provides high-quality corporate training on a variety of subjects, including: diversity, sexual harassment, leadership, customer service, management, safety, workplace violence, and software skills tutorials.
Building Teams — provides team-building workshops and helpful articles for corporate training, team building and leadership development.
CareerLab: Recruiting & Hiring — a good article on how to develop a well-planned hiring project.
DRoster Employee Scheduling Software from Kappix — manages employees’ shifts, rosters, availability times, including rule-based scheduling. Kappix offers a free fully functional copy of DRoster, suitable for organizations of all size, needs and industries, unlimited in time and including scheduling support.
Equal Employment Opportunity Specialist – serving companies of all sizes and industry, our experts assist you in developing a model EEO program. Beacon Group offers assistance in developing EEO plans and polices which mitigate the chance of being the subject of an EEO lawsuit, and provides expert EEO Investigations, FAD writing, and Mediation services.
Employment Background Investigations — provides pre employment background checks, national state and local jurisdication criminal checks, sexual offendor registry checks, OFAC, credit checks, driving history, workmans comp checks, and many more. Customizable solutions for all employers of every size and industry. Average delivery of information results is under 24 hours.
Hire the Best — a good article from the Denver Business Journal about interview techniques that can separate prime candidates from ‘wannabes.’
HR-Guide — provides an extensive listing of links to Websites of interest to human resources professionals and students… a portal for HR resources.
HRLady.com — a great site for all things related to human resources, including hundreds of human resource articles, on subjects from resume precautions, to hiring and retaining employees, to welcoming new employees. No cost.
HR-Software Network — a collection of links to Web-based software resources for human resource professionals and students. Categories include: applicant tracking, benefits administration, job posting, payroll, performance appraisal, training and development, and more.
Human Resource Executive Online — offering targeted news, columns and features, HR search functions and more. Topics include: human resources, labor relations, benefits, training, staffing, recruiting, leadership, motivation, and more.
Innovative Employee Solutions (IES) — a 100% woman-owned company that provides payroll and benefits administration services to companies throughout the U.S. IES assumes responsibility for paying taxes, insruance, and selected fringe benefits.
Mercer Human Resource Consulting — an HR portal for Asia, where human resource professionals can find news links, key resources, and useful links to many sites related to HR management in Asia. Free.
Organizational Culture Center — works with emerging or establishing organizations’ leaders by engaging and training them to understand workplace culture and to assume their responsibilities as the cultural leaders of their own individual subcultures.
RecruiterSeek.com — a place for employers and recruiting professionals to connect with each other online, where employers can post open contract and full-time recruiting positions, and recruiting professionals can post your resumes, profiles, and availability. Free.
Recruiting Software by BlackDog, Inc. — from BlackDog, Inc., a complete staffing software solution — including resume software and resume database for resume search and applicant tracking.
Retention Connection — providing employers (executives, managers, and human resource professionals) with a wide range of tools to control employee turnover, this site offers dozens of products and services to help you to build employee retention, workplace stability — and profits.
Salestestonline.com — provides a valuable tool for anyone charged with hiring, promoting or managing sales people: an online test that measures the personality traits, temperament and motivational fit of your sales applicants-quickly, accurately and reliably. Proven effective with clients worldwide.
Society for Human Resource Management — the organization for the human resources profession, offering education, and information services.
Verbal and Non-Verbal Behavior
January 23, 2008
How important is eye contact with the interviewer?
Extremely important!
- Don’t look up at walls and ceiling for answers.
- Don’t cast eyes downward.
- One expert, recognizing that eye contact is hard to maintain in a one-on-one situation, says to look at interviewer’s NOSE.
What other nonverbals cues are important in a job interview?
Facial Expressions
- Smile!
Posture
- Sit up straight.
- Sit on edge of seat to appear eager.
Gestures
Personal Space
What kinds of bad habits and inappropriate body language create problems in job interviews?
- Um’s and uh’s
- Speaking too softly
- Fading out at end of response
- Touching face, mouth, scratching head
- Sweating
- Smoking
- Chewing gum
- Twiddling thumbs
- Tapping a pencil or fork
- Humming
- Whistling
- Nose picking
- Stretching parts of the body
- Staring
- Cleaning finger nails
- Using slang or profanity
- Calling the interviewer by his or her first name (unless asked)
- Touching things on the interviewer’s desk
- Fidgeting
- Twirling in chair
How can you make sure your nonverbals look right at the interview?
Conduct a mock interview with a friend and have the friend critique ONLY your nonverbals.
What kinds of hand gestures are appropriate in job interviews?
- Gestures should be subdued, but make sure you have some gestures.
- Smaller than for a presentation and not distracting.
- If you can’t keep from talking with your hands and using big, distracting gestures, keep hands in lap or hold pen.
What to Ask at the Interview…
January 23, 2008
Why is it important to ASK questions in an interview?
Failure to ask questions is a major interview flaw.
Your success in obtaining a job offer depends significantly on the quality of your questions and how you ask them.
Toward the end of most job interviews, the interviewer will give you the opportunity to ask questions. You must ask a least one question; to do otherwise often signals the interviewer that you don’t really have any interest in the job or the company. On the other hand, do not ask questions where the answer is obvious or readily available — or when the topic has already been thoroughly discussed in the interview. And never ask about salary and beneift issues until those subjects are raised by the employer.
Questions you might ask at a job interview:
- Can you describe a typical day for someone in this position?
- What is the top priority of the person who accepts this job?
- What are the day-to-day expectations and responsibilities of this job?
- How will my leadership responsibilities and performance be measured? And by whom? How often?
- Can you describe the company’s management style?
- Can you discuss your take on the company’s corporate culture?
- What are the company’s values?
- How would you characterize the management philosophy of this organization? Of your department?
- What is the organization’s policy on transfers to other divisions or other offices?
- Are lateral or rotational job moves available?
- Does the organization support ongoing training and education for employees to stay current in their fields?
- What do you think is the greatest opportunity facing the organization in the near future? The biggest threat?
- Why did you come to work here? What keeps you here?
- How is this department perceived within the organization?
- Is there a formal process for advancement within the organization?
- What are the traits and skills of people who are the most successful within the organization?
What kinds of questions should you NOT ask in interviews?
- Me first: What you can do for me instead do what I can do for you.
- Questions that reveal insecurities, such as questions phrased in terms of job security.
- Questions that reveal weaknesses. (Will I have to meet a lot of deadlines?)
- Questions asked in a confrontational tone.
- Questions demonstrating you failed to listen to earlier information.
We hope you found this article helpful. When you are ready to take the next step in your career, start a new career, or are simply looking to supplement your income, we can help. Take the first step and register with us today.Â
Frequently Asked Interview Questions
January 23, 2008
Handling frequently asked interview questions
Tell Me About Yourself
- Don’t give the story of your life.
- Give a very brief rundown including education, previous job titles targeted very specifically toward how your experience and/or education will be useful in the position for which you’re applying.
What are Your Strengths?
Talk about strengths that are very specific to the job you’re interviewing for.
What are Your Weaknesses?
Choices for responding to weakness question:
Give a negative that’s really a positive:
- “I am sometimes impatient, which drives me to work excessively.”
- “If I start on a project, I sometimes forget to go to lunch.”
- “Since I’m such a perfectionist, I sometimes find it hard to delegate because I’m concerned others won’t do the job as well as I can.”
Caution: The perfectionist response is overused.
Give a negative that is really inconsequential and has little to do with how well you would perform the job:
- “I am not a good speller, so I keep a dictionary handy.”
More choices for responding to weakness question:
- Simply reassure the interviewer that you know of no weaknesses that would stand in the way of your performing this job.
- Reveal a trait that once was a weakness, but explain how you overcame it and learned from it.
Where do you want to be in 5 (or 10 or 15) years?
What do you want to do with your life?
Strike a delicate balance when responding to this kind of question: Honesty/Ambition/Your desire to be working at this company.
· Avoid responses like starting your own business, running for Congress.
· Not totally inappropriate to mention the personal (marriage, family), but focus should be on professional goals.
Response could be: “I’m here to let you know that I am the best person for the job. If in the future you feel I would be a candidate for a higher level position, I know I wouldn’t be passed up.”
OR: “I hope to stay at the company and expect that in five years, I’ll make a significant advance in the organization.”
OR: “I would like to become the very best ______________ your company has.”
Have you ever had a conflict with a boss or professor?
Employer may want to see whether you will trash a professor or former employer.
Don’t fall into the trap.
And if you truly have NOT had a conflict, tell how you would handle it if you did.
Why should we hire you?
The unspoken part of the question is: . . . above all other candidates?
Tell what sets you apart — your unique selling proposition, among other things. Be specific about how your qualities match the employer’s needs.
There’s an advertising term that you should think about when you are composing the body of your cover letter: the Unique Selling Proposition, or USP. When companies are trying to determine how to market a product, they focus on the Unique Selling Proposition, the one thing that makes that product different than any other. It’s the one reason they think consumers will buy the product even though it may seem no different from many others just like it. It may be that the product has a lower price or more convenient packaging, or it may taste or smell better, or last longer.
When preparing to write a cover letter, you may find it helpful to think about your Unique Selling Proposition. What is the one thing that makes you unique? What makes you better than other candidates applying for a similar position with this company? What can you offer that no other applicant can? What is the one reason the employer should want to hire you above all other candidates? If you can determine your Unique Selling Proposition and build it into a dynamic paragraph, you will have a real advantage in creating a dynamic cover letter.
How would you describe your ideal job?
Your description of your ideal job should sound like the job you’re interviewing for.
Would your rather work with information or with people?
Ideally, both, but tailor response to job and describe strengths in each area.
Don’t make yourself sound weak in either area.
What qualities do you feel a successful manager should have?
The question has a two-fold purpose:
- How you will get along with management.
- How you see yourself as a manager.
How has your education prepared you for your career?
Describe your educational preparation as very specific to the job. Provide concrete examples, when possible.
How much training do you think you’ll need to become a productive employee?
Key word is productive.
You can be productive immediately. Make sure you express confidence in your ability to make an impact immediately.
Why is your GPA not higher?
Don’t whine or make excuses. Response should enhance your value as employee.
- You were very involved with sports, extracurriculars that may have hurt your grades, but made you more well-rounded.
- You held a job while in school, which hurt your grades but gave you great experience.
- You made some mistakes early on, but you’ve worked hard to improve and have learned from the experience.
YES or NO Questions:
- Are you a team player?
- Are you a goal-oriented person?
- Do you handle conflict well?
- Do you handle pressure well?
Never respond with just “yes” or “no.”
- Always elaborate and be prepared to give specific examples.
- Use fairly current examples. Examples from high school and before are probably too old.
- Use a variety of examples. Not all from sports, or being an RA, or fraternity/sorority.
Questions that require knowledge of the company:
- What do you think it takes to be successful in this career?
- Do you enjoy doing independent research?
- Do you have any plans for further education?
- Why do you want to work in the _____________ industry?
- What do you know about our company?
- Why are you interested in our company?
If you’ve researched the company… you’ll have no trouble with this kind of question.
“Thought” questions:
- What goals do you have in your career?
- What motivates you?
- What changes would you make at your college?
- What were your favorite classes? Why?
- Who were your favorite professors? Why?
These questions require:
- Thoughtful responses
- Responses that are not self-serving
- Responses that are specific to the job, if possible
Money questions:
- Is money important to you?
- How much money do you need to make to be happy?
- What kind of salary are you looking for?
Answering money questions:
- Strike a balance. Money’s important, but so are other things, such as job satisfaction and the total compensation package.
- Don’t talk about needs such as student loans. They are not the employer’s problem, and you should be paid based on what you’re worth, not what you need.
- Delay salary talk as long as possible and try not to give specifics until after an offer is made.
- If you do talk specifics, be sure you know what you’re talking about. Know your competitive market value.
Questions that target your decision-making skills:
- Why did you choose this career?
- How do you plan to achieve your goals?
Be sure your responses demonstrate sound decision-making processes.
Answering “off-the-wall” questions:
Example: If you had to live your life over again, what would you change?
Example: If you were a color, what color would you be — and why?
Example: If they were making a movie of your life, who should be hired to play you in it?
“Off-the-wall” questions — also referred to as Wild Card questions — are asked by interviewers to see how well you think on your feet, whether you will get flustered.
The trick is to keep your cool and your sense of humor.
Generally speaking, there are no wrong answers.
An important question that most college students answer inadequately:
Why did you choose to attend this college?
- Tell what makes your college experience worthwhile from the employer’s point of view? How will the employer benefit from your specific education at your college?
- Show thoughtful decision-making skills.
Do you have any actual work experience — in this field?
Discuss the key skills you have gained from your work experiences — and how these skills will help the employer.
This question also gives a good opportunity to talk about your transferable skills if you have minimal experience. What are transferable skills? Simply put, they are skills you have acquired during any activity in your life —- jobs, classes, projects, parenting, hobbies, sports, virtually anything -— that are transferable and applicable to what you want to do in your next job.
In resumes, cover letters, and during interviews, you should always portray your skills as applicable to the job you seek. If you have good experience and you’re seeking in a job in the same field you’ve pursued in the past, portraying your skills as transferable is relatively easy. But if you are changing careers and seeking to do something entirely different from what you’ve done in the past, or you are a college student or other entry-level jobseeker without much experience, you have a much more difficult task ahead of you.
How should you respond if you are asked about technical expertise that you lack?
“With my experience and background, I feel certain I’ll have no problems getting up to speed.”
We hope you found this article helpful. When you are ready to take the next step in your career, start a new career, or are simply looking to supplement your income, we can help. Take the first step and register with us today.Â
Dress for Success!
January 23, 2008
How should you dress for an interview?
Much has been written about “Dressing for Success.”
How do you find out what is the proper dress for a given job/company/industry? You can call the Human Resources office where you are interviewing and simply ask. Or, you could visit the company’s office to retrieve an application or other company information and observe the attire current employees are wearing — though make sure you are not there on a “casual day” and misinterpret the dress code.
Finally, do you need to run out and spend a lot of money on clothes for interviewing? No, but you should make sure you have at least two professional sets of attire. You’ll need more than that, but depending on your current financial condition, two is enough to get started and you can buy more once you have the job or have more financial resources.
Hints for Dress for Success for Men and Women
Attention to details is crucial, so here are some tips for both men and women. Make sure you have:
- clean and polished conservative dress shoes
- well-groomed hairstyle
- cleaned and trimmed fingernails
- minimal cologne or perfume
- no visible body piercing beyond conservative ear piercings for women
- well-brushed teeth and fresh breath
- no gum, candy, or other objects in your mouth
- minimal jewelry
- no body odor
Finally, check your attire in the rest room just before your interview for a final check of your appearance — to make sure your tie is straight, your hair is combed, etc.
Dress for Success for Women specific tips for women.
The standard job interviewing attire for women is a conservative dark navy or gray skirted wool blend suit. Job experts and employers seem split on the notion of pants suits, so a skirted suit is a safer choice.
Other conservative colors — such as beige or brown — are also acceptable. Red is a power color. A blazer with blouse and skirt is a possible second choice to a suit. You should always wear a jacket.
Skirt length should be a little below the knee and never shorter than above the knee — no night club attire here. Avoid wearing a dress (unless accented with a jacket). Blouses should be cotton or silk and should be white, or some other light color. Shoes should be low-heeled.
Make-up should be minimal, with lipstick and nail polish conservative tones. Pantyhose should be flawless (no runs) and conservative in color. Do not have excessive body odor or cologne.
You should opt for a briefcase rather than a purse.
Dress for Success specific tips for men.
The standard job interviewing attire for men is a conservative dark navy or gray two-piece business suit (of natural fibers, such as wool, if possible), a white long-sleeved button-down dress shirt, a conservative silk tie (that matches the colors in your suit), and nicely polished dress shoes.
If you do not own a suit, or the company is a bit more informal, then you should wear a conservative sports coat (no plaids or wild patterns and preferably a dark color), nicely pressed dress slacks, a white long-sleeved button-down shirt, a conservative silk tie, and nicely polished dress shoes.
Your belt should always match your shoes.
If you have a beard or mustache, your facial hair should be neatly trimmed. If you have any visible body parts pierced, most experts recommend removing all jewelry, including earrings. Do not have excessive body odor or cologne.
Note these quick tips:
Risky for both:
- Visible body piercings/tattoos
- Body odor; too much perfume/colgne
Risky for men:
- Nonmatching suit
- Long hair/ponytail
- Facial hair
Risky for women:
- Pantsuits
- Hair in eyes; wear hair up or back
- Too much make-up
Other Dress for Success Resources
- Web Sites:
- SYMS Dress to Achieve — a career site created to help college students and recent grads about the basics of proper job interview attire, as well as other helpful career tips to present yourself in the best possible light during job interviews. For both men and women. No cost to job-seekers.
- Donations:
- CareerGear — a non-profit organization dedicated to helping low-income men and men struggling to get off public assistance to obtain and keep jobs by providing men with interview clothing, motivation and follow-up support that helps them get and keep jobs. Donations of suits (and more) accepted.
- Dress for Success — a non-profit organization established in 1996 that provides programs that help economically disadvantaged women acquire jobs, retain their new positions, and succeed in the mainstream workplace. Donations of suits, time, and financial support are all accepted!
We hope you found this article helpful. When you are ready to take the next step in your career, start a new career, or are simply looking to supplement your income, we can help. Take the first step and register with us today.Â
Critical Success Factors
January 23, 2008
What are the most Critical Success Factors employers are looking for, and how can they be incorporated into an interview?
Career experts don’t always agree, but here’s one expert’s list:
- Positive attitude toward work
- Proficiency in field of study
- Communication skills (written & oral)
- Interpersonal skills
- Confidence
- Critical thinking and problem-solving skills
- Flexibility
- Self-motivation
- Leadership
- Teamwork
Remember that a job interview is a chance to sell yourself to the employer; it’s up to you to showcase all your great qualities. (Learn more about marketing yourself here:
Career and Personal Branding Books:
- Career Branding, Personal Branding, and Career Storytelling Books for Job-Seekers and Entrepreneurs. The Quintessential Careers team has personally selected the best career branding books to help propel your career.
Career and Personal Branding Websites:
- The Advantage of Personal Branding. Tips for creating a personal brand, by Jane Tabachnick on Webgrrls International..
- The Brand Called You. An article by business guru Tom Peters, published on FastCompany.com.
- Brandego.com. A personal branding and career protfolio site for for executives, senior managers and solopreneurs.
- Me Incorporated: Your Own Magnetic Brand. A nice overview of personal branding by Randall Frost on BrandChannel.com.
- Reach Communications Consultancy. A personal branding and performance coaching site that includes an innovative assessment, the 360°Reach Assessment, which helps you get the real story about how you are perceived by those around you.
We hope you found this article helpful. When you are ready to take the next step in your career, start a new career, or are simply looking to supplement your income, we can help. Take the first step and register with us today.Â
Preparing for the Interview
January 23, 2008
How can you prepare for the interview BEFORE you go in to meet the employer?
- Figure out as much as possible about the employer’s needs.
- Find out more than the average interviewee about the company and the hiring manager’s concerns.
- Compose answers to frequently asked interview questions.
- Rehearse answers to those questions.
- If you have an opportunity to do practice interview, such a mock interview, do it.
- If you have opportunity to be videotaped, do it.
- DO NOT rehearse canned answers out of books. Interviewers have heard them all.
- Transferable Skills: Be sure to point out your transferable skills with examples that are not always evident from your work experience or education.
If you are prepping for a job interview, you’ll find all the practice interview questions you could possibly ever want!
One of the best ways to prepare for a job interview is to review lists of typically asked interview questions. You can mentally prepare your answers, and you may even find it helpful to write down your responses, a process that helps you to thoughtfully organize them and compose them in an articulate fashion. Just don’t hung up trying to remember your answers word-for-word during the interview.
Many collections are available on the Web.
The biggest, most comprehensive interview question site we’ve found:
- Interview Network’s Interview Question Bank Subject and Keyword Index. Because this one is broken down by subject, you can find interview questions appropriate to your field.
Question collections with special features:
- The University of Virginia’s Career Services office offers a pdf booklet on Case Interviewing, which has some great information and insights for this particular type of interview.
- AARP offers a special collection of questions for mid-career and older workers, Handling Difficult Interview Questions , that includes those sticky, borderline illegal, age-related questions that are sometimes directed at older workers, as well as other interview resources.
Question collections geared to specific fields. Although some questions in these collections are specific to their fields, the sites also offer more general interview questions:
- Library Science. The University of South Carolina’s Library Science site offers Frequently Asked Interview Questions as Reported by Library Students.
Behavior-based questions. Sample questions for the increasingly popular behavior-based style of interviewing:
Other interviewing questions collections:
- The University of Virginia’s career center has a list of Questions to Ask and Questions You May Be Asked.
- This site has Questions to Expect During Your Interview, which includes 58 questions, some very odd and borderline illegal.
- The list of 58 Frequently Asked Interview Questions at the Fox Valley Technical College site is part of Interviewing Tips online booklet.
- Brain Bank offers Job Interview Questions.
We hope you found this article helpful. When you are ready to take the next step in your career, start a new career, or are simply looking to supplement your income, we can help. Take the first step and register with us today.Â