Career Development Handbook Career-Development-Handbook | Page 29

expectations for the role, and prepare pitch statements on how you would be
the best candidate for the role.
e. Last but not least, prepare a list of questions, about the potential employer,
about the role that you would like to fill, and possibly about the industry, which
you would be able to ask towards the end of the interview, when you are asked
“Do you have any questions for us”. This is an important tactical move in an
interview to take, as asking questions would demonstrate that you are
interested in the potential employer.
2. Pre-interview Assessments and Tests
a. Many local and international companies in both the private and public sector
now rely on pre-employment tests, such as aptitude (e.g. numerical and verbal
reasoning tests) and personality tests, to measure your ‘fit’, or match, for the
position you apply for, or your ‘fit’ for the company’s culture.
b. The results of these tests tell employers what they need to know, not just what
you want to share with them. The results of these test will help the employer
pre-screen the candidates before they are further short-listed for the selection
process.
c. With experience, one is able to answer the questions with deliberation, but in
most instances, these assessments will bring out the true aptitude and
personality in the candidate.
3. Different Types of Interviews
a. Phone Interviews, Screening Interviews
•
Sometimes before a potential employer invites you in for formal
interviews, they would put you through further screening exercises, such
as screening interviews over the telephone. To further assess your
behavioural, competency and cultural fit with the employer.
•
Tackling Phone interviews is quite challenging as you would not be able
to create additional impressions with your interviewer through body
language and eye contact.
•
During phone interviews, you will only have your articulation, your choice
of words, as well as your tone to influence and create impact with your
interviewers.
29