16/11/2020 INTERVIEW: Dos and Don'ts | LinkedIn

Interview: Dos and Don'ts by NH.Haron

INTERVIEW: Dos and

Don'ts
Published on October 31, 2020

Nur Hidayah Haron 7 articles  Following

Piping Material Engineer

In searching a compatibility between potential employee

and potential employer, at least there will be a session of
interview. I always find it an exciting but kind of restless
process (at least for me). Exciting because they see
something in my CV that they interested to verify and
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know more about. Restless as I always do not have any

idea which one they are interested in and what to
anticipate.

During my earlier days after graduate in 2007, internet

was not broadly used yet. Hence, there were not much
guidance on how to handle an interview, what to
anticipate and only few tips shared. I failed terribly about
2 or 3 interviews as I was not ready or strategically not
prepared. It was my luck (rezeki), I was interviewed
differently in one of the oil and gas fabricator's interview
session, and I was accepted. The rest was history.

Time changed, and as the technology evolved,

information can be shared widely. There are many tips
have been given in the internet on how to rock an
interview session. Here, I will shared what I found
practically useful and I personally practiced;

DOs

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Before the interview session;

1. Reply to ensure that you received the invitation and confirm the interview session to

show your interest in the job. Make it short, simple and accurate. Like an example;

"Well received with thank you. I, hereby confirm my attendance for the interview."

2. Mark the calendar of the agreed interview event, set notification alarm so you will not

forget.

3. Find the place prior to interview session to avoid any last minute treasure hunt

journey. Plan your commute beforehand. Do not be late. First impression counts!

4. Prepare your attire earlier. Find something elegant but comfortable. Do not overdo.

Do not under dress.

5. Study your own CV, job scope offered, and the company products/ services. Find how

you can contribute towards the company with knowledge, experience and skills that

you had.

During the day of the interview;

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1. Dress appropriately with matching colour. Dark shades and deep rich colours are

preferable as this will somehow shows some charisma in you (image consultant says

this, they are the expert!)

2. Come 15-20 minutes earlier as usually there will be some forms to be filled in prior to

interview session. So you will not be rushing and affected the calm mood before

interview.

3. Have a light meal so you will not be hungry during the interview but not too full until

you will have stomachache.😆

4. Bring extra CV, copy and original certificates. Even though sometimes the company

did not asked for it, just bring along. Just in case. Just in case...

5. Turn off your phone. You did not want unwanted distraction during the interview. Yes,

the vibrates too. Turn it off!

6. Have a likeable attitude. Smile, do not slouch, cool, steady and have eye contact while

talking.

7. Remind yourself this is just a session to know each other. Somehow, it will keep you

calm and honest. You have studied your CV, they have seen it. So, the next step is just

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to see you in person and see if everything is okay and can be a perfect match.

8. Make an eye contact. Oh, already told you. But, I'll say it again as it is important.

9. Ask questions. At the end of the session, there will be "Do you have any question?"

question. Do not left it with a NO. Prepare 3 or 4 questions for the interviewer.

However, keep in mind if your questions have been answered beforehand, thus the

questions are not relevant anymore. FOCUS. You need to create a new one. Ask

about expectation of your role, which project will your role working for, ask about the

company development, ask about your interview performance, and something like

that. As much as you have prepared it beforehand, still try to make it sounds original

based on the interview session itself.

After the interview;

1. Send a Thank You email within 24 hours. In this email, other than showing your

grateful being interviewed, you could emphasize your interest on the job and

company. And you could also answer any questions that you might felt shortly

answered during the interview. Make sure the email send during office hour within

24hours.

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2. Follow up through email or phone call after 1 or 2 weeks. No respond after an email is

actually a respond you should understand. 😢 But just in case you need to hear it

yourself, call them a week after the first follow up.

DON'Ts

Before the interview session;

1. Avoid last minute preparation. Usually they will call for an interview 5-7 days after

they called asking are you available for the interview. Use wisely those days with

preparation on the documents required, attire preparation, and study your own CV, job

role, and the company itself.

2. Not sure where is the interview will took place, but never bother to ask, Google or

Waze until the day itself. Anything can go wrong on the day, PREPARED for the

worst.

3. Do not know what is the job role. You came to interview and clueless what is all

about. That would be a disaster.

4. Do not eat petai. Refer point 5 below (during the day of interview). Like, come

on...you can always eat that on any other day. But not this day! Yeah, maybe after the

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interview.

During the day of the interview;

1. Dress too casual or inappropriate. Wear t-shirts, sweaters on, cap and jeans is a NO-

NO. I have seen many took it lightly when it is online interview, but I felt it shows

how serious you take the interview.

2. Late to the scene. Do not make people wait for you. Time is GOLD. Nope. Time is

beyond gold. It cannot be replaced. Cannot be bought. Please appreciate other people's

time. Be punctual.

3. Play hard to approach. I know, I also had the resting face. It is just out face feature,

right? But only for today, work on your smiling muscle and SMILE. (Act naturally,

please. Do not scare the interviewer.)

4. Lie in the interview. Should I said more? Honesty is the best policy. When you telling

the truth, you do not need to remember anything useless.

5. Smoke or drink or even not brushing your teeth. For Malaysians, just maybe do not

eat petai the day before the day of the interview. No matter how smart and correct

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your answer is, interviewers might cut your session short as they cannot stand each

time you answering the question.

6. Lack of interest on the job scope. Of course, we work for money. But, we must also

have passion towards what we do. That is the secret of long happy & success career.

After the interview;

1. Call daily for follow up. Just don't.

These are common DOs and DON'Ts tips for handling an

interview session that I practiced myself. There are many
other tips online, but I found these are practical, standout
but not overdo. For any #jobseeker that successfully land
an interview invitation, I wish you all the best and good
luck! Hope these tips are beneficial for you to rock your
interview.

At the end of the day, if you still did not get the job, there
will be no regret as you already done everything that you
could have done. The other candidate might have better
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package (experience, economically wage, timing of

availability, etc.) than you, that is all. Move on and get
ready for another cycle of job hunting.

#pipingnewb

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