I have got an interview on this Tuesday coming (22nd May 2007) and i was thinking has anybody on here got any interview techniques i could use to make my interview pass more smoothly.
I have the Aspergers Diagnosis.
Thanks and any help would be appreciated.
If you can, try and treat it more like a conversation between the interviewer(s) and yourself. Try to ask alot of questions to establish what exactly you will be doing, what responsibilities you will have, etc. The more you ask the more you will learn about the job but also about the willingness of the employer to be open and truthful. If they have invited you to an interview that means they potentially want to employ you. Use the time to sell yourself and your skills, experience and knowledge. Most people are nervous at interviews so keep this in mind also there is no need to talk about your personal life at an interview, they only need to know that employing you will be positive for them. It is not always a good idea to 'be yourself' literally at an interview. To a certain extent it is more like a performance to impress people but try to be honest and sincere.
What I find helpful is to look at lists of common interview questions (there's hundreds available by searching on Google.
Here I've done a search for you.)
Then I write down what answers I would give to these questions, and practise answering them over and over again in my mind. I know some careers advisers say it's bad to learn answers off by heart, but I find it makes me feel better prepared, thus reducing my nervousness.
Of course, it's nigh on impossible to pre-empt every single question you could possibly be asked, but if you look at the lists you will find that many of the questions are fairly similar to each other but are worded slightly differently. So even if the questions you get in your interview aren't exactly the same, you could still be able to use relevant parts of answers you've memorised.
Before you go in, it is important to convince yourself that you really do want the job. They will probably ask you why you want the job. You have to sound enthusiastic about wanting the job. Towards the end of an interview I had recently, I asked the interviewers to tell me more about the job ("what would a typical day involve, if there is such a thing as a typical day?"). When they answered me, I replied, "That sounds like the job that would really interest me, as I enjoy [
list a couple of the things they said job involves]."
In other words, I told them outright that I really did want the job. That was important for me, because it is sometimes hard for other people to detect my emotions (including enthusiasm) by listening to me speak. I did actually get that job (it was an internal vacancy at the company where I have worked for 2 years) and I like it so far.
Also, talk about specific examples of when you have done things which the job involves, if you have any previous experience. Even if you don't have specific experience, you should consider whether you have transferable skills from any previous jobs you've held.
Good luck with your interview; let us know how you get on!
