| Introduction |
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1 | (6) |
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1 | (1) |
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Conventions Used in This Book |
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2 | (1) |
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2 | (1) |
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How This Book Is Organised |
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3 | (1) |
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Part I: Making Sure You Shine in an Interview |
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3 | (1) |
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Part II: Answering Tough Interview Questions |
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3 | (1) |
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Part III: Dealing with Tricky Questions and Other Situations |
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4 | (1) |
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Part IV: Securing the Job of Your Dreams |
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4 | (1) |
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4 | (1) |
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4 | (1) |
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5 | (2) |
| Part II: Making Sure You Shine in an interview |
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7 | (26) |
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Chapter 1: Understanding the Interviewing Game |
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9 | (8) |
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Recognising What Interviewers Are Looking For |
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10 | (1) |
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Finding Out about Key Skills and Qualities |
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10 | (7) |
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Communicating with people |
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11 | (1) |
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11 | (1) |
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12 | (1) |
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12 | (1) |
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Demonstrating drive and determination |
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12 | (1) |
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Teamworking with colleagues |
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13 | (1) |
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13 | (1) |
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Being flexible and adaptable |
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14 | (1) |
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14 | (1) |
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Being aware of the bigger picture |
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14 | (3) |
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Chapter 2: Doing Your Job Interview Homework |
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17 | (10) |
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17 | (2) |
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Gathering vital information |
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17 | (2) |
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Visiting shops and premises |
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19 | (1) |
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Preparing Answers to Common Questions |
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19 | (3) |
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Linking job adverts to key skills |
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19 | (3) |
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22 | (2) |
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'Getting' the default for men |
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23 | (1) |
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Understanding the guidelines for women |
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23 | (1) |
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24 | (3) |
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Chapter 3: Polishing Your Interview Performance |
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27 | (6) |
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Creating the Right Impact |
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27 | (5) |
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28 | (1) |
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29 | (1) |
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Creating warmth by smiling |
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29 | (2) |
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Using intonation and inflection |
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31 | (1) |
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32 | (1) |
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Getting Off to a Great Start |
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32 | (1) |
| Part II: Answering Tough interview Questions |
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33 | (122) |
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Chapter 4: Talking about Yourself |
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35 | (18) |
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Handling General Questions about Yourself |
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35 | (10) |
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36 | (2) |
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38 | (1) |
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What are your weaknesses? |
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39 | (1) |
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40 | (1) |
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What are you passionate about? |
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41 | (1) |
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What are your biggest achievements? |
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41 | (1) |
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What are you most proud of? |
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42 | (1) |
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What is your greatest failure? |
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43 | (1) |
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43 | (1) |
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44 | (1) |
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Talking about Basic Job Skills |
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45 | (8) |
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Would you say that you're reliable? |
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45 | (1) |
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What's your absenteeism/sickness record like? |
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45 | (1) |
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Flow would you describe your time management skills? |
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46 | (1) |
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Are you an organised person? |
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47 | (1) |
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Do you work well under pressure? |
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47 | (1) |
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Would you say that you're creative? |
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48 | (1) |
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Would you say you're good with detail? |
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49 | (1) |
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How do you respond to change? |
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50 | (1) |
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How are you with new technology? |
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50 | (1) |
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What software packages are you familiar with? |
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51 | (1) |
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How would you rate yourself as...? |
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52 | (1) |
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Chapter 5: Talking about Problems, Perceptions, and People |
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53 | (20) |
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Overcoming Interviewers' Common Worries |
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53 | (6) |
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What makes you lose your temper? |
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54 | (1) |
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How do you respond to authority? |
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54 | (1) |
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How do you deal with disappointment? |
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55 | (1) |
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How do you cope with job stress? |
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55 | (1) |
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What's your attitude to taking risks? |
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56 | (1) |
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Ours is a work hard, play hard culture - how do you feel about that? |
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57 | (1) |
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Tell me something interesting about yourself |
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57 | (1) |
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What would you say your Unique Selling Point is? |
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58 | (1) |
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Seeing Yourself As Others See You |
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59 | (5) |
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What would your boss say about you? |
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59 | (1) |
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In your last appraisal, what was said about your performance? |
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60 | (1) |
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How do you think you can improve on your performance? |
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61 | (1) |
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What would your colleagues say about you? |
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61 | (1) |
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How would your team describe you? |
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62 | (1) |
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How do you think your friends would describe you? |
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62 | (1) |
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Everyone has some kind of fault - what would other people say your faults are? |
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63 | (1) |
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Discussing Your People Skills |
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64 | (9) |
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Do you prefer to work on your own or in a team? |
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64 | (2) |
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We all have a team role - what would you say your role tends to be? |
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66 | (1) |
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Do you have good presentation skills? |
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67 | (1) |
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How would you rate your customer service skills? |
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68 | (1) |
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How are you at handling conflict? |
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69 | (1) |
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We need someone who is tactful and diplomatic - how does that profile fit you? |
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70 | (1) |
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How do you take personal criticism? |
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70 | (3) |
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Chapter 6: Getting to Grips with Questions about Your Work |
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73 | (16) |
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Responding to Questions about Your Work |
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73 | (9) |
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What does your day-to-day job involve? |
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74 | (1) |
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How did you get your last job? |
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75 | (1) |
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What do you like about your current job? |
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76 | (1) |
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What do you dislike about your work? |
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76 | (1) |
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How is your performance measured? |
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77 | (1) |
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What have you learned in each of your previous jobs? |
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78 | (1) |
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Why did you leave each previous employer? |
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79 | (2) |
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81 | (1) |
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Sidestepping Questions about Your Current Company |
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82 | (7) |
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How would you describe your current company? |
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83 | (1) |
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How would you rate your current boss? |
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84 | (1) |
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What's your boss's biggest failing? |
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84 | (1) |
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Why do you want to leave your current company? |
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85 | (1) |
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What is your current notice period? |
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86 | (1) |
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May we approach your referees? |
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86 | (3) |
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Chapter 7: Talking about Why You Want a New Job |
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89 | (22) |
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Answering Questions about the Employer |
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89 | (7) |
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What do you know about our company? |
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90 | (1) |
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How much do you know about this position? |
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91 | (1) |
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How would you rate our products/services/Web site? |
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92 | (1) |
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What is it that attracts you to our company? |
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93 | (1) |
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How would you rate us against our competitors? |
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94 | (1) |
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What do you think our unique selling point is? |
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94 | (1) |
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Do you have any concerns about our organisation? |
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95 | (1) |
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Answering Questions about What You're Looking For |
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96 | (6) |
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Why are you looking to leave your current company? |
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96 | (1) |
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If your current job isn't challenging you, what could you do to change it? |
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97 | (1) |
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Why do you want to work in this industry? |
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98 | (1) |
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Who else are you applying to? |
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98 | (1) |
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How does this job compare with others you're looking at? |
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99 | (1) |
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Have you received any job offers so far? |
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100 | (1) |
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How would you describe your dream job? |
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100 | (1) |
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Who would your ideal employer be? |
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101 | (1) |
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Evaluating Your Fit With the Organisation |
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102 | (4) |
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What do you think you can bring to the team? |
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102 | (1) |
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We are a diverse company - how will you cope with that? |
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103 | (1) |
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What kind of manager would you like to work for? |
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103 | (1) |
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How long do you plan to stay in this job? |
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104 | (1) |
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105 | (1) |
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Where do you see yourself in five years' time? |
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105 | (1) |
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When would you be available to start? |
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106 | (1) |
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Deflecting Questions about Money |
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106 | (5) |
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How much are you earning at the moment? |
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106 | (1) |
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How important is money to you? |
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107 | (1) |
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How much do you think you are worth in a job? |
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108 | (1) |
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What would you consider adequate remuneration for this role? |
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108 | (1) |
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I'm afraid you're a bit expensive for us |
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109 | (1) |
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What would you like to be earning in two years' time? |
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110 | (1) |
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Chapter 8: Thriving Under the Pressure Interview |
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111 | (22) |
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Maintaining Your Composure |
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112 | (1) |
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Responding To Leading Questions |
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113 | (5) |
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All of us have personality defects - what is yours? |
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113 | (1) |
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Why did you not achieve more in your last job? |
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114 | (1) |
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How would you respond if I said that you're not the best candidate we've seen today? |
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115 | (1) |
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How would you rate me as an interviewer? |
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116 | (1) |
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What keeps you up at night? |
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116 | (1) |
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Why do you think you are better than the other candidates? |
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117 | (1) |
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Responding to Closed Questions |
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118 | (6) |
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Do you like regular hours and routine working patterns? |
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118 | (1) |
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119 | (1) |
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Have you ever broken the rules to get a job done? |
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120 | (1) |
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Do you take work home with you at weekends? |
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121 | (1) |
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Do you have any doubts about your ability to do the job? |
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121 | (1) |
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Don't you think you are overqualified for this job? |
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122 | (1) |
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Would you have any problems relocating? |
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123 | (1) |
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123 | (1) |
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Fending Off Weird and Wonderful Questions |
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124 | (6) |
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See this pencil I'm holding? Sell it to me |
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124 | (1) |
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Who was your favourite teacher? |
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125 | (1) |
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If you were an animal, what would you be? |
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126 | (1) |
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If you were a cartoon character, who would you be? |
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127 | (1) |
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127 | (1) |
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Who do you most admire and why? |
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128 | (1) |
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If you could meet anyone living or dead, who would it be and why? |
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128 | (1) |
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What is your greatest fear? |
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129 | (1) |
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Saying Something Is Better Than Saying Nothing |
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130 | (3) |
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130 | (1) |
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Making a last ditch effort |
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131 | (2) |
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Chapter 9: Succeeding at Competency-Based Interviewing |
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133 | (22) |
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Discovering the Rules of the Game |
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134 | (4) |
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Spotting competency-based questions |
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134 | (1) |
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Dealing with skilled competency-based interviewers |
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135 | (2) |
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Dealing with unskilled competency-based interviewers |
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137 | (1) |
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Identifying Likely Questions |
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138 | (2) |
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Questions about Your Thinking and Planning Skills |
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140 | (4) |
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Tell me about a significant project that you managed |
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141 | (1) |
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Now give me an example of a project that went wrong |
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141 | (1) |
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Give me an example of a difficult decision that you have made |
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142 | (1) |
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Talk to me about a mistake you made and what you did to rectify it |
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143 | (1) |
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Questions about Leading and Managing |
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144 | (2) |
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Tell me about a time you inspired a team |
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144 | (1) |
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Talk me through how you coached or developed a team member |
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145 | (1) |
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Tell me about an occasion when you had to deal with a difficult team member |
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146 | (1) |
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Questions about Your People and Customer Skills |
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146 | (5) |
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Tell me about a time that you persuaded someone to change their mind |
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147 | (1) |
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Talk to me about a difficult colleague you've worked with |
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147 | (1) |
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Have you ever had to give someone negative feedback at work? How did it go? |
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148 | (1) |
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Tell me about a time you used your personal network to business advantage |
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149 | (1) |
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Tell me about a time you sold something to a customer |
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149 | (1) |
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Give me an example of a time you exceeded a customer's expectations |
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150 | (1) |
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Questions about Your Personal Effectiveness |
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151 | (6) |
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Tell me about a time that you failed to achieve your goals |
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151 | (1) |
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How did you respond to the last piece of criticism you received? |
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152 | (1) |
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Give me an example of how you have developed yourself |
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153 | (2) |
| Part III: Dealing with Tricky Questions and Other Situations |
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155 | (80) |
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Chapter 10: Responding to Questions for Graduates and School Leavers |
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157 | (16) |
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157 | (11) |
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Why did you choose to go to the university you went to? |
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158 | (1) |
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Your university results aren't very good - why is that? |
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159 | (1) |
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Why did you choose your degree subject? |
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160 | (1) |
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What have you learnt from being at university? |
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160 | (2) |
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Why did you choose to go to university as a mature student? |
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162 | (1) |
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How difficult did you find university as a mature student? |
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163 | (1) |
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How do you think your degree is relevant to this job? |
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163 | (1) |
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I don't see why someone with your degree would want to work in our field |
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164 | (1) |
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What sorts of part-time jobs have you had? |
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165 | (1) |
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What did you learn from your part-time jobs? |
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165 | (1) |
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What did you most enjoy about your time at university? |
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166 | (1) |
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What did you find the most difficult about your course? |
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166 | (1) |
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What did you do outside of your studies? |
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167 | (1) |
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Why have you left applying for jobs until after finishing your course? |
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168 | (1) |
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Why did you choose to study part time rather than full time? |
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168 | (1) |
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Questions for School Leavers |
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168 | (5) |
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What subjects did you enjoy most? |
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169 | (1) |
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What subjects were you good at? |
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169 | (1) |
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What subjects were you not so good at? |
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169 | (1) |
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Why didn't you stay on at school? |
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170 | (1) |
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Do you regret not staying on at school? |
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170 | (1) |
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Why didn't you go to university? |
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171 | (1) |
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In retrospect, do you think you should have gone to university? |
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171 | (1) |
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What further education do you think you will need for this job? |
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172 | (1) |
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Chapter 11: Handling Questions Aimed at Experienced Candidates |
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173 | (20) |
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Questions for Older Candidates |
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173 | (5) |
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How would you rate your progress so far? |
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174 | (1) |
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Do you feel that you should have achieved more in your current job? |
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174 | (1) |
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I'm concerned because you've been with one employer for a very long time - why is that? |
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175 | (1) |
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This is a challenging role - are you sure you want to take it on at this stage of your career? |
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176 | (1) |
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How have you changed in the last ten years? |
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177 | (1) |
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When do you plan to retire? |
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177 | (1) |
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Talking about Changes of Direction in Your CV |
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178 | (8) |
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Why have you changed jobs so many times? |
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178 | (2) |
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Given your background, why have you decided to change career? |
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180 | (1) |
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Do you want to change career because you are disillusioned with your current one? |
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181 | (1) |
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To what extent are your personal circumstances impacting upon your desire to change career? |
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182 | (1) |
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How do we know that you'll stick with this change of direction? |
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183 | (1) |
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How do you feel about starting at the bottom again? |
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184 | (1) |
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How will you cope working with peers who are ten years younger than you? |
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185 | (1) |
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How will you cope with the drop in salary that changing career necessitates? |
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185 | (1) |
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What would you do if you were unable to secure a job in this profession? |
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186 | (1) |
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186 | (7) |
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You have a gap in your CV - what did you do in that time? |
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187 | (1) |
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Are you concerned that your time away from the workforce may put you at a disadvantage? |
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187 | (1) |
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Why did your last employer select you for redundancy? |
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188 | (1) |
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Have you ever been fired? |
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189 | (1) |
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Why have you been out of work for so long? |
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189 | (1) |
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If you hadn't been made redundant, would you have considered work in this field? |
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190 | (1) |
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You've been working for yourself for some time now. Why do you want to work for someone else again? |
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191 | (2) |
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Chapter 12: Handling Hypothetical and Analytical Questions |
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193 | (14) |
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Responding to Hypothetical Questions |
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194 | (6) |
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What would you do if your boss asked you to do something that went against your principles? |
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194 | (1) |
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What would you do if you disagreed with a decision taken by your manager? |
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195 | (1) |
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What would you do if your child were suddenly taken ill? |
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196 | (1) |
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Would you rather be a big fish in a small pond or a small fish in a big pond? |
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197 | (1) |
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If you spotted a colleague doing something unethical, what would you do? |
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197 | (1) |
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What would you do if a colleague came to you in tears? |
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198 | (1) |
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How would you react if your boss said that you needed to come into the office for the entire weekend? |
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199 | (1) |
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What would you say if I were to offer you this job right now? |
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199 | (1) |
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200 | (2) |
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How would you define team work? |
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200 | (1) |
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What makes for a good working environment? |
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201 | (1) |
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How would you define leadership? |
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201 | (1) |
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Dealing Effectively with Numerical Challenges |
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202 | (5) |
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How many bottles of carbonated water are consumed daily in California? |
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202 | (1) |
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How many cars does Pakistan have? |
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203 | (1) |
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I have a dinosaur on an island - how many sheep would I need on the island to feed it in perpetuity? |
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204 | (1) |
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I'd like you to multiply 8 by 9 and then take 13 away from the result |
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205 | (2) |
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Chapter 13: Coping with Illegal and Personal Questions |
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207 | (20) |
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Countering Illegal Questions |
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207 | (10) |
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208 | (2) |
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210 | (1) |
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210 | (1) |
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What are your childcare arrangements? |
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211 | (1) |
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When do you plan to have children? |
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211 | (1) |
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Are you pregnant at the moment? |
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212 | (1) |
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Does your partner mind you being away from home? |
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212 | (1) |
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What is your sexual orientation? |
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213 | (1) |
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What are your religious beliefs? |
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214 | (1) |
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Is English your mother tongue? |
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215 | (1) |
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215 | (1) |
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Have you ever been arrested? |
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216 | (1) |
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Talking about Life Outside of Work |
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217 | (5) |
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What do you do with your leisure time? |
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218 | (1) |
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Your leisure interests seem very solitary - does this affect your team skills? |
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218 | (1) |
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219 | (1) |
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219 | (1) |
|
What was the last book you read' |
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220 | (1) |
|
What was the last film you saw? |
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220 | (1) |
|
Do you keep up with current affairs? |
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221 | (1) |
|
What newspaper do you read? |
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221 | (1) |
|
What news story has grabbed your attention recently? |
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222 | (1) |
|
Talking About Your Health |
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222 | (5) |
|
You mention that you took a lot of time off last year - why is that? |
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223 | (1) |
|
How many days did you take off sick last year? |
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223 | (1) |
|
Do you have any medical conditions that you should tell us about? |
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224 | (501) |
|
How do you cope with your disability? |
|
|
725 | |
|
Chapter 14: Taking Control in Unusual Situations |
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227 | (8) |
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Dealing with Panel Interviews |
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227 | (1) |
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Handling Hi-Tech Interviews |
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228 | (1) |
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228 | (1) |
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Handling video conferencing and Webcams with finesse |
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229 | (1) |
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Getting Ready for Psychometric Tests |
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229 | (2) |
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229 | (1) |
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Completing personality questionnaires |
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230 | (1) |
|
Succeeding at Assessment Centres |
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231 | (6) |
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231 | (1) |
|
Giving great presentations |
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232 | (1) |
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Excelling at group exercises |
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233 | (1) |
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Being a star in role play simulations |
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|
234 | (1) |
| Part IV: Securing the job of Your Dreams |
|
235 | (20) |
|
Chapter 15: Asking Great Questions |
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|
237 | (8) |
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Preparing the Right Questions for the Right Interview |
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|
237 | (6) |
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Showing enthusiasm for the job |
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|
240 | (1) |
|
Checking out future prospects |
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241 | (1) |
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Enquiring about the culture |
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242 | (1) |
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Turning Your Questions into a Discussion |
|
|
243 | (2) |
|
Chapter 16: Dotting Ts and Crossing -I's |
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|
245 | (10) |
|
Wrapping Up the Interview |
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|
245 | (2) |
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|
|
245 | (1) |
|
Making a great final impression |
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|
246 | (1) |
|
Taking Notes after the Interview |
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|
247 | (1) |
|
Sending Follow-Up Letters |
|
|
248 | (2) |
|
Ensuring Your References Are Positive |
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|
250 | (1) |
|
Evaluating the Experience |
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|
250 | (7) |
|
Rating your own performance |
|
|
250 | (2) |
|
Finding out what went wrong |
|
|
252 | (3) |
| Part V: The Part of Tens |
|
255 | (16) |
|
Chapter 17: Ten Cardinal Sins of Interviewing |
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|
257 | (6) |
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|
|
257 | (1) |
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Getting the Dress Code Wrong |
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|
258 | (1) |
|
Being Rude to Receptionists |
|
|
258 | (1) |
|
Getting Off to a Shaky Start |
|
|
259 | (1) |
|
|
|
260 | (1) |
|
Answering in Monosyllables |
|
|
260 | (1) |
|
Failing the Luton Airport Test |
|
|
261 | (1) |
|
Usurping the Balance of Power |
|
|
261 | (1) |
|
Discussing Money Too Soon |
|
|
261 | (1) |
|
Having No Questions to Ask |
|
|
262 | (1) |
|
Chapter 18: Ten Tips to Creating the Perfect Career |
|
|
263 | (8) |
|
Knowing What You Want in a Job |
|
|
263 | (1) |
|
|
|
264 | (1) |
|
Working on Your Weaknesses |
|
|
264 | (1) |
|
|
|
265 | (1) |
|
Asking to See Offers in Writing |
|
|
266 | (1) |
|
Evaluating the Job Thoroughly |
|
|
266 | (1) |
|
Considering Culture Carefully |
|
|
267 | (1) |
|
Negotiating a Good Deal for Yourself |
|
|
268 | (2) |
|
|
|
270 | (1) |
|
Looking for Opportunities to Grow |
|
|
270 | (1) |
| Index |
|
271 | |
Biežāk uzdotie jautājumi par e-grāmatām