An interview is the final hurdle for employment. (http://www.lgblog.co.kr/recruit/49846)

As the second semester begins the fourth years are preparing to get jobs. Of course, the most important part of getting a job is the interview. Interviews are generally open recruitment methods where applicants are asked to evaluate their personality, knowledge, and growth potential by meeting their interviewer in person. Usually, the applicant’s basic qualifications can be evaluated through written tests or document screening, but since these methods can not reveal the applicant’s personality, the interviewer meets the applicant face-to-face to assess their potential. Recently, more companies have spent time and effort into selecting talented people. This trend has become even more important as hiring shifts from large-scale recruitment to an era where only a handful people are hired.

The human resource director checks the applicant’s basic details through document screening and the remaining comprehensive evaluations are conducted directly through interviews. Interviews are largely divided into one-on-one interviews, panel interviews, and group interviews. Therefore, prior to the interview, you should find out what type of interview your company will do and prepare for it. If you are going to be in a one-on-one interview, it is good to have the mentality of talking to the interviewer as if they were a close senior or an elderly person. Panel interviews are the most intense interviewing method for an applicant. A number of interviewers present questions covering a wide range of disciplines. In this interview, you have to interact with all the interviewers respectfully and try to answer all of them. Group interviews are centered around the applicants. Applicants are advised to keep a close eye on discussion programs through internet and to to get familiar with current societal views and issues.

Obviously, it is important to make a good impression and maintain a good attitude in an interview. Try to keep smiling. Smiling is a special medicine that calms our minds and makes us feel better. So let’s smile when we open the door to have an interview. Let’s straighten our shoulders and back. If you bend your back, you look weak and unmotivated. Straightening your back, shoulders, and neck to get familiar with current societal views and issues shows confidence to interviewers. Don’t touch your nose or face. A person touches their nose or ears when lying or acting unnatural. An interviewer who sees this may feel uncomfortable. Don’t talk too quickly. Speaking quickly makes your pronunciation unclear and the meaning of your words may not be understood. Let’s keep our voices loud. When you are nervous and lose your confidence, your voice becomes quieter. A small voice makes people feel like they can’t trust you. Even if you give the wrong answer to a question, you need to speak with confidence.

Koh Jung-wook, head of the HR division at CareerNet said, “The harder it is to get a job, the more the basics are important”. He gives five tips to job seekers. First, it is better to discuss the important aspects of your job-related experience first. HR managers do not review all resumes carefully. Secondly, we should instead focus on personal motivation. It’s better to express why you applied for the job, and who you are. Thirdly, it is important to study the company where you applied for the job to prepare for the interview. However, applicants who memorize the answers and parrot them back will not get good interview scores. Koh Jung-wook said, “prepare for the interview, but don’t memorize the best answers”. Last, the hiring process is not a process of finding outstanding applicants, but a process of eliminating applicants. From the moment that you submit your resume, the personnel manager looks for a reason to drop you, not for a reason to hire you. Thus, it can be a good strategy for applicants to hide their shortcomings rather than highlighting their strengths.

박준호  micheen12@naver.com

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