Do you have a Skype interview coming up? In a previous blog post, we went into great detail about how to prepare for a Skype interview.  Now, here is a quick video with some tips on how to look your best on interview day. Don't have time to watch the video?

Post written by Amanda Dumsch, Career Counselor at OITE. After graduate school, I applied for a job I really wanted. In preparation, I did everything I was supposed to – I extensively researched the department and I practiced interview questions at length. On the day of the interview, I was nervous; however, by the end of the day, I was relieved I hadn’t been asked any unexpected questions.

The question which often stirs the most dread in interviewees: “What is your greatest weakness?”   Interviewers may also ask it in other ways like: “Tell me about some of your areas for professional development and growth.” or “What are three weaknesses you have in relation to this job description?” or “If I were to speak to your previous supervisor, what would they say you needed to work on?”

In the United States, federal and state laws prohibit prospective employers from asking certain questions that are not related to the job for which they are hiring; however, most interviewers are not deliberately trying to discriminate against job applicants. In fact, many illegal* interview questions come out unintentionally in a conversational tone. As an example, an interviewer could start the interview with some ice breaker type questions and say, “You have such an interesting name!

It is highly likely you have or will have a Skype interview at some point in your job search.  Budget cuts are making travel arrangements for in-person interviews prohibitive, so more and more employers are conducting initial interviews via Skype or another online video service.  

Employers also feel that Skype helps them get a better feel for a candidate than a phone interview allows. Here are some tips to take your next Skype interview from awkward to awesome:

Do you need to find a job in a geographically limited area far from your current location? Maybe your significant other just found a dream job, or maybe you just always wanted to live in Seattle, WA – whatever the reason, a remote and geographically limited job search poses a distinct set of challenges that require some strategizing to overcome. Here are a few thoughts that may help from a person who recently was searching for a job in Dallas, TX, while living in Bethesda, MD.  These tips are useful in any job search, but particularly for conducting a remote search.

We had a workshop on interviewing this week, here is a wrap-up of what was said, and more information to make your interviews a success.  If you want to watch the videocast, it is archived here.  We had three speakers to highlight multiple aspects of the hiring process; a hiring manager, a human resources person, and a recruiter.  The advice here is mostly for non-faculty positions (although we have information on the faculty job hunt at www.training.nih.gov)

Post written by a guest blogger Yewon Cheon, former postdoc in the National Institute of Aging and current Program Coordinator in OITE.

“I love interviewing people!”

If you have been following our Calendar for Career Success, October is the month to prepare yourself to negotiate a job offer.  Because the preparation for negotiating an academic position versus a non-academic position is so divergent, we are going to cover them in separate blog posts.  This week, we will give a brief overview of how to prepare for negotiating academic job offerings.