This lecture focuses on preparing for a job interview, emphasizing the importance of reviewing the job description, researching the company, and planning logistics. Key strategies include dressing professionally, preparing for common interview questions, and following up with the employer. Additionally, recommended reading materials are provided to enhance communication skills for engineers.

1. (ENGL-1119)
COMMUNICATION
SKILLS
Lecture 14
How to Prepare for a Job
Interview?
Course Instructor: Engr. Asim Ali
Department of Chemical Engineering
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2. Contents
• Introduction
• Read and Review the Job Description
• Research the Company
• What to Wear to a Job Interview?
• Plan your Journey to the Job Interview
• Preparing for Questions
• How to Act in an Interview?
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3. Contents
• How to follow up an interview?
• Recommended Books
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4. Introduction
• The job interview is the most important step
in the job search journey
• It’s the best chance to show the hiring
manager that the interviewing candidate is
the best person for their job
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5. Introduction
Knowing how to prepare for a job interview
begins with the following:
• Reviewing the job description
• Thoroughly researching the company
• Thinking about what you will wear
• Planning your journey to the interview
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6. Introduction
• Preparing for questions you will be asked
• Preparing your own questions for the
employer
• Following up with the employer
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7. Read and Review the Job
Description
• You’ve received a call for the dream job, so
how do you prepare for the interview?
• The first step in the preparation process
should be to go back and review the job
description
• Most job descriptions follow a similar
pattern and are usually categorized by the
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8. Read and Review the Job
Description
1) Job title/Department
• The job title and department will provide an
understanding of the major purpose of the
position and where the role fits into the
organization
• This will help in discovering the potential
departmental manager
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9. Read and Review the Job
Description
2) Duties and Tasks
3) Skills Required
• Read and review the job description very
thoroughly and be sure to align the
competencies with the skills required for
the job
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10. Read and Review the Job
Description
• Ready yourself for the questions around
your previous experiences, performing
similar duties in the other organizations
• For entry level positions, experiences at the
university must be aligned with the duties,
tasks, and skills required by the employer
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11. Research the company
• Organizations look to hire people with
similar values to those of the company’s
culture
• Researching the company before an
interview provides an insight into the
organization's future goals and plans
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12. Research the company
• Ability to discuss these points will make the
interviewee seem like a long-term
investment to the future employer
• The following interview preparation tips
should be used as a guide that which aspects
of the company should be researched:
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13. Research the company
1) Company Financials:
• Check the company website
• Doing a Google search can also uncover the
current state of the company
• Have they gone through a merger? - or have
they expanded recently?
• LinkedIn is also a good source of
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14. Research the company
2) Culture:
• Look at LinkedIn and Facebook
• Check Google reviews for comments by
current or former employees
3) Executive Team:
• Look through the company website to
research the company hierarchy and find
out who the executives are?
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15. Research the company
4) Competitors:
• Find out who the company’s main
competitors are?
• Look into the websites of organizations in
the same industry
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16. What to Wear to a Job Interview?
• Everyone wonders how to dress for an
interview?
• Wearing the right clothes to the interview
won’t get you the job, but wearing the
wrong clothes will sink any chances of
impressing the interviewer
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17. What to Wear to a Job Interview?
• There is one rule that stands above all:
Dress professionally
• Wear business attire appropriate for the
role, while still making sure you feel
comfortable
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18. Plan your Journey to the Job
Interview
• When preparing for a job interview one of
the most important things to consider is
how you are going to get there?
• A failure to plan is a plan to fail
• If you are planning on driving to the
interview, make sure you fill your car with
fuel the night before
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19. Plan your Journey to the Job
Interview
• You don’t want to be filling up on the way
dressed in your suit
• Make sure you arrive on time, or better yet,
at least 15 minutes early
• Ensure this by knowing the address and if
you can, have a trial run a couple of days
before
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20. Plan your Journey to the Job
Interview
• The morning of the interview, check the
traffic reports (for Motorway) and have a
backup route planned just in case
• If you are travelling by train or bus, make
sure you check the weather report the night
before and keep an eye on the public
transport websites for any delays
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21. Plan your Journey to the Job
Interview
• Look out for track works or traffic
conditions that can potentially delay your
train or bus trip
• Go to bed early the night before and wake
up early to give yourself plenty of time
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22. Preparing for Questions
• The most important part of preparing for an
interview is practicing how to answer
interview questions you might be asked on
the day
• Knowing the most common types of job
interview questions is an advantage - that
way, you can craft your answers well in
advance, and feel confident in your
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23. How to Act in an Interview?
• Once you've completed your interview
preparation, the next step is to ace the job
interview itself
• Whether you get offered the job depends
largely on how you perform during the
interview, so its imperative to make a great
first impression on your hiring manager
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24. How to Act in an Interview?
• It's not just what you do, it's also what
you say, and how you say it
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25. How to Follow Up an Interview?
• Congratulations! You have made it through
the initial interview process
• Don't stop there
• The next part of the process is just as
important, if not more so
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26. How to Follow Up an Interview?
• In today's competitive job market it is
necessary to follow up the initial job
interview with a thank-you email to reiterate
interest in the role
• Brush up on the second interview skills
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27. Recommended Books
1. Mishra, Sunita, and C. Muralikrishan.
Communication Skills for Engineers. 2nd
ed., Pearson, 2011.
2. Whitcomb Clifford A., and Leslie E.
Whitcomb. Effective Interpersonal and Team
Communication Skills for Engineers. Wiley,
2013.
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28. Recommended Books
3. Sharma, S. D. A Textbook of Professional
Communication Skills and ESP for Engineers
and Professionals. 3rd ed., New Delhi,
Sarup and Sons, 2006.
4. Campbell, G. Michael. Communication Skills
for Project Managers. New York, AMACOM
books, 2009.
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