How to prepare for a learnership interview

Preparing for a learnership interview is much like any other working interview you might experience in your lifetime, with the only difference being the difficulty in questions. The more experienced you are, the more complex the questions become. But either way, it’s a process that requires plenty of research.

It’s important to prepare yourself and do the researchIt’s important to prepare yourself and do the research because the opportunity might result in a permanent position. While it’s extremely beneficial for the employer to recruit people for learnerships in Cape Town, candidates can also be rejected if they’re not the right fit for the company. Not to mention, you will probably be up against a variety of other like-minded individuals so you’ll need to show your worth.

Put simply, a learnership is an alternative way to provide people with work experience as well as qualifications. The duration of the learnership is determined by the company, but candidates will be required to complete assignments, projects and practical demonstrations.

The exciting thing about applying for jobs is finding something that resonates with you. You can find learnerships in Cape Town on job listing sites, where there are a variety of different categories to choose from and new learnerships available now. Once you’ve found something you like, start researching. Make sure that you are confident in your application and carry yourself professionally.

Here are a few tips on how to prepare yourself for that career-changing interview.

Dress for success

Many people have lost the idea of dressing appropriately for their interview. Well, newsflash, what you say is not going to make up for your torn jeans. Be it a creative company or a corporate company, go the extra mile with your outfit and dress for the job you want. You’ll never know how casual things can be until you land the job, but before that, rather dress up. If this learnership process is one of the few interviews you’ve been to, make a good impression on how you look and with what you say. You’ll be surprised how far first impressions go, simply from showing up in the correct attire before your designated time.

Do your research

Whether you’re meeting with the recruiter or the employer themselves, make sure you have a clear understanding of what the company does. Particularly the department you’re applying to. Do some research on generic interview questions in case the interviewer asks you. Take the City of Cape Town Municipality learnerships as an example. Some general questions that you can expect to be asked are: “Why do you think you are the best candidate?” or “Why do you want to work for our company?” They also tend to ask questions about yourself, so make sure your responses are professional and have substance. Much like you, there will be others who have the exact same amount of experience, so you’ll need to sell yourself in a way that will differentiate you from the other candidates.

Be honest and open about yourself

If this is your first professional opportunity, you are going to need to speak up about your goals and expectations. After all, you’ve been called in for an interview for a reason, so your application or CV document is clearly a hit. The thing about an interview is that it’s an opportunity to sell yourself. If you haven’t got practical working experience in a particular area, be honest about it. The interview process is the time where you professionally speak about your skills, talents or experience. And depending on your background, those previous posts will either support you or work against you. Either way, landing an interview is a good sign. Now, all you need to do is show the recruiter or employer who you are and why you would be a valuable asset to the company.

Interview your interviewer

On the back of your research, you’ll naturally develop a few questions that you would want to ask. While the interviewer sits there and asks you questions about yourself, it’s also important for you to take the opportunity to ‘interview’ them and see whether or not you feel you might be the best fit for the company. Nowadays, companies put a massive focus on culture, so it’s important for you to also take the time to see if you like the energy the company gives off. The questions you ask should be respectful in every way, as they will also be able to judge you on that. If they appreciate your interest, they will also be able to gauge how insightful and determined you are as an employee. It might even sway their decision.

Interviews are never easy. In fact, they’re stressful, humiliating at times and awful too. Everyone gets nervous during their first few interviews, and if you haven’t been to one in a while, you’ll quickly remember how daunting it can be. However, by doing your research and staying ahead of your game, your confidence levels will increase and you’ll start to get the hang of it. If anything, it’s an opportunity to learn.
Always be polite and friendly in your interview. Make the most of the experience and remember that as much as you need to fit into the company, the company also needs to be the right fit for you.

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Filed Under: Interview on Monday, 25 November 2019 No Comments

How to prepare for a learnership interview

Preparing for a learnership interview is much like any other working interview you might experience in your lifetime, with the only difference being the difficulty in questions. The more experienced you are, the more complex the questions become. But either way, it’s a process that requires plenty of research.

It’s important to prepare yourself and do the researchIt’s important to prepare yourself and do the research because the opportunity might result in a permanent position. While it’s extremely beneficial for the employer to recruit people for learnerships in Cape Town, candidates can also be rejected if they’re not the right fit for the company. Not to mention, you will probably be up against a variety of other like-minded individuals so you’ll need to show your worth.

Put simply, a learnership is an alternative way to provide people with work experience as well as qualifications. The duration of the learnership is determined by the company, but candidates will be required to complete assignments, projects and practical demonstrations.

The exciting thing about applying for jobs is finding something that resonates with you. You can find learnerships in Cape Town on job listing sites, where there are a variety of different categories to choose from and new learnerships available now. Once you’ve found something you like, start researching. Make sure that you are confident in your application and carry yourself professionally.

Here are a few tips on how to prepare yourself for that career-changing interview.

Dress for success

Many people have lost the idea of dressing appropriately for their interview. Well, newsflash, what you say is not going to make up for your torn jeans. Be it a creative company or a corporate company, go the extra mile with your outfit and dress for the job you want. You’ll never know how casual things can be until you land the job, but before that, rather dress up. If this learnership process is one of the few interviews you’ve been to, make a good impression on how you look and with what you say. You’ll be surprised how far first impressions go, simply from showing up in the correct attire before your designated time.

Do your research

Whether you’re meeting with the recruiter or the employer themselves, make sure you have a clear understanding of what the company does. Particularly the department you’re applying to. Do some research on generic interview questions in case the interviewer asks you. Take the City of Cape Town Municipality learnerships as an example. Some general questions that you can expect to be asked are: “Why do you think you are the best candidate?” or “Why do you want to work for our company?” They also tend to ask questions about yourself, so make sure your responses are professional and have substance. Much like you, there will be others who have the exact same amount of experience, so you’ll need to sell yourself in a way that will differentiate you from the other candidates.

Be honest and open about yourself

If this is your first professional opportunity, you are going to need to speak up about your goals and expectations. After all, you’ve been called in for an interview for a reason, so your application or CV document is clearly a hit. The thing about an interview is that it’s an opportunity to sell yourself. If you haven’t got practical working experience in a particular area, be honest about it. The interview process is the time where you professionally speak about your skills, talents or experience. And depending on your background, those previous posts will either support you or work against you. Either way, landing an interview is a good sign. Now, all you need to do is show the recruiter or employer who you are and why you would be a valuable asset to the company.

Interview your interviewer

On the back of your research, you’ll naturally develop a few questions that you would want to ask. While the interviewer sits there and asks you questions about yourself, it’s also important for you to take the opportunity to ‘interview’ them and see whether or not you feel you might be the best fit for the company. Nowadays, companies put a massive focus on culture, so it’s important for you to also take the time to see if you like the energy the company gives off. The questions you ask should be respectful in every way, as they will also be able to judge you on that. If they appreciate your interest, they will also be able to gauge how insightful and determined you are as an employee. It might even sway their decision.

Interviews are never easy. In fact, they’re stressful, humiliating at times and awful too. Everyone gets nervous during their first few interviews, and if you haven’t been to one in a while, you’ll quickly remember how daunting it can be. However, by doing your research and staying ahead of your game, your confidence levels will increase and you’ll start to get the hang of it. If anything, it’s an opportunity to learn.
Always be polite and friendly in your interview. Make the most of the experience and remember that as much as you need to fit into the company, the company also needs to be the right fit for you.

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5 Tips on How to Prepare Yourself for an Interview May 9, 2019

Imagine you have interviewed for three positions. Positions that you really liked. However, you didn’t land any of the jobs. You are stressed out as you are called for another interview. The stress of an interview doesn’t just face mid-level career professionals but also those who start out. It might be your first interview and you don’t know what to do. Here are some tips on how to prepare yourself ahead of the interview.

1. Research about the company

It is important to know more about the company ahead of the interview. Expect the question “So what do you know about us?” to be thrown your way. Go online and find out more by looking at its profile, product and services, organization structure if available, milestones, etc. Don’t stop there. Read news articles, online and in print, related to the company so you can find questions to ask during the interview. Ask those you trust in your network about the company and if it happens that you know someone working there, you can use them as your source for information. Remember, if you can’t show that you know the company, no one will hire you.

2. Familiarize yourself with common interview questions

For those who have gone through interviews, they can recall common questions that they were asked. However, you can also find online. Questions like “Tell me about yourself” or “Tell us when you showed leadership quality” should be easy for you to answer. Find ways of answering tricky questions like “What is your weaknesses” in a way that doesn’t show you are a liability. Practice answering these questions in front of a mirror or with a friend or someone you trust. Ask them to give you pointers on what you can improve on. A practice session goes a long way when it comes to acing your interview.

3. The big question “Why should we hire you?”

At the end of the day, the big question that you want to answer is this. You want to show your interviewer that you are the right candidate for this position and hiring you will be the best thing that will happen to them.  Prepare a list of your achievements. It could be the sales target you had surpassed in your previous position. It could be the marketing campaign you championed that increased brand awareness. Or it could be the social media campaigns that increased followers on Instagram.

If it is about leadership, talk about how you grew and motivated your team. If it is about strategy, show how you formulated and implemented a certain strategy in your previous position. Declaring that you are good at something is different from showing that you are actually good at it with results. So when you are in employment, remember to keep a list of all your achievements. It is easy to forget amazing achievements from two years back.

4. Work on how you will present yourself.

Presentation matters. If someone tells you differently, they are wrong. Dressing inappropriately might cost you the job. Always ask yourself what is appropriate for the position you are interviewing for, and for the company in question. Someone who is interviewing for a mechanical engineering position might get away with being dressed in a long-sleeved shirt tucked in a pair of neat blue jeans with some safety boots, compared to someone interviewing for a corporate banker’s position. Don’t limit it to clothing. Remember your face, your hair, nails, etc. And remember, never go to an interview under the influence of drugs or alcohol.

5. Carry all Relevant Documentation

Sometimes, you might be asked to bring certain documents like university certificates, bank slips, etc. Put everything in a folder that is easy to carry and hard to misplace. There are many people who go for interviews without the job description of the position that they are interviewing for. Some don’t even carry their own CVs. Don’t be one of those. Carry the position’s job description so you can answer the interview with ease. You will also be able to refer to the different areas of the job description in formulating your questions. Don’t wait for the interviewer to print out your CV. In fact, have more than one CV that you can distribute to the interviewing panel. This shows attention to detail and proactiveness.

There are many ways you can prepare for an interview. Read online and ask friends on tips that can help you. Others meditate or pray to stay focused and shake off the nerves. Find out what works for you and how you can use it to win the interview. Sleep properly the day before the interview so you can wake up refreshed and energetic. Remember to use your faith to support you during the interview.

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Filed Under: Interview on Friday, 22 November 2019 No Comments

How to Answer Tell Me About Yourself in the Interview May 16, 2019

If you have gone through interviews, you would know that this is one of the hardest questions to answer. It is always in the beginning of the interview, serving as an icebreaker of sort. It is a difficult question to respond to because “tell me about yourself” can receive a very long-winded and incoherent answer.

Do you talk about your career path? Do you talk about your hobbies to show the interviewer that you have a life outside work? Or do you say you are married with three children? Do you say you are more of a cat person?

The best way to gauge how to respond correctly is to ask yourself what the interviewer is trying to achieve with this question. The best guess is that they want to see if you are a perfect fit for their organization.

In order to prevent answering this question in an awkward way that will jeopardize your chances of advancing in your interview process, incorporate the following tips into your response.

1. Talk About Your Career Path/ Work Experience

Take them through your professional journey, highlighting major changing points. Briefly explain the key decisions in your career path and why you took them. Show them that you have the breadth that would be important to them. Touch on the training programs you have taken that will be good for this position.

In the case of fresh graduates, emphasize why you chose the program that you did and what skills you have learned that would become useful in this new position. Talk about your extracurricular activities and show them the type of skills you have nurtured like working with teams, multi-tasking, coordination, etc.

2. Talk About Your Achievements

Your career path or experience is nothing if it is not sprinkled with strong achievements. Jot down all of the achievements in your previous positions. Use numbers, percentages, ratios, etc., to validate your marketability. E.g. I was able to grow revenue by 20 per cent in a year or I was able to provide three quarterly training as Learning and Development Manager. Numbers are sexy so try to convert your achievements into them, if possible. As you talk about your achievements, remember to show how you were able to achieve them. Perhaps you worked with a team or you were good at multitasking.

For fresh graduates, centre your achievements with results from internships and university-related positions. If you were the Student Union President, what were you able to achieve? If you had an internship with a newspaper, what can you say was your achievement?

3. Connect Your Skillset to the Job Description

Don’t just talk about your work experience and previous experience. Connect what you have achieved with the ew position. This requires picking up elements from the job description and connecting the dots. E.g. I have taken a Google Analytics Course and I believe it will help me to navigate through the online marketing aspect of this position.  Show them that you all you have done has prepared you to take on this new responsibility. If they are looking for someone with leadership experience, briefly show them how your previous positions have helped you gain necessary skills into this.

For fresh graduates, position yourself as someone ready for this role based on what you have accomplished in your internship, extracurricular activities and studies.

4. Why Are You Here?

Why do you want this position? Remember to use plausible and strong reasons. Talk about how this new position will help you grow because you will be managing a bigger team. Talk about how the challenges of the new position are what you are looking for after working for a certain number of years in the current position. You are advised not to use reasons related to pay, bad working relationship with your boss, bored with the current position, etc.

For fresh graduates, you can highlight how this position will help you grow in the field of your dreams. Talk about your passion and how you are ready to learn, contribute and grow in this position.

5. Make it Concise and Short

This question can make someone ramble with no end. This is not what the interviewer wants. Make sure you keep your answer to less than 2 minutes. However, be cognizant of the body language of the interviewer to know when your answer has to come to a close.

This is not a question that you are going to wing it. Prepare and practice your answer before the interview so you can time your delivery and make sure you are able to squeeze in all the juicy points you want the interviewer to hear. Ask a friend to listen and give you critique if need be.

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6 Things You Should Do After Job Interview

Imagine, you have gone for an interview. You have given it your best. You have come out confident that you made a good impression with the interviewer/recruiter. But what do you do after the interview? Is that the end? Do you keep quiet? Do you make a phone call to the recruiter? It is important to take certain actions after the interview is done in order to appear professional and increase your chances of landing the job or being considered for future opportunities. They say what is done after the interview is as important as the interview itself.

Most recruiters like candidates who show a level of interest after the interview. However, candidates must learn how to maintain the right balance between so they don’t appear too desperate or too uninterested. If you would like to make a good impression on the recruiter after the interview, take the following tips below.

1. A Thank You Note

A thoughtful thank you email is a professional norm. This will remind the recruiter about you as they continue with the selection process. A good email should start off with a note of gratitude for being called for an interview. Talk about what you enjoyed learning during the interview or and reiterate your motivation for this position. Finish off with something along the lines of “I will be looking forward to hearing from you soon.” If you hadn’t asked when you would hear from them, you can ask in the email. Make this short and sweet. This is not an essay competition.

2. Review What Worked or Didn’t Work

There is no better time to review your interview performance like immediately after the interview. Don’t be biased. Don’t be defensive. Evaluate what went well and what didn’t. Were there any questions that you couldn’t answer? Why? Where there questions that you were comfortable with and managed to answer them with clarity? Try to recall the body language of the recruiter since it has a lot to say about how the interview might have gone. Remember, one interview is the preparation for the next. Each interview comes with its own set of challenging questions.  Learn from the mistakes and improve on.

3. Notify Your References

For most positions, the recruiter would let you when they are about to contact your referees. However, be proactive and notify your referees that they might be contacted in regard to this position you had applied to. It is important to prepare them because it always give a negative impression when a referee struggles to recall who you are after being called by the recruiter. Make sure you provide your referee with as much information as possible about the role you have interviewed so they can give in a good word for you.

4. Follow up After the Deadline Passes

It is important to follow up in case the deadline has passed and you haven’t heard from the recruiter. This shows proactiveness and interest for the position. However, make sure you that you don’t bother the recruiter with too many phone calls. This reeks of desperation and recruiters don’t like it. It is advised that at the end of the interview the candidate should ask when they would hear from the recruiter. Knowing when the recruiter will get back to you will enable you to plan your calendar of other professional and personal matters.

5. Add the Hiring Manager on LinkedIn

This can be something you can do: it is not a must. Remember, even if you won’t land the position, you will have increased your professional network with the right people. It is these connections with recruiters that can open up future doors of opportunities since nowadays recruiters are reaching out to candidates through LinkedIn profiles. Remember to complete your LinkedIn profile so you stand out.

6. Continue The Search

A luta continua! Even though the interview went well don’t rest on your laurels. If there are other interviews, go in like someone who doesn’t have a job yet. Give it your best. If there are positions that you are yet to apply for but you were planning to, go ahead and apply for them. The truth of the matter is you might not land the job even if you felt the interview went well. This is simply because you don’t have visibility of the performance of the other shortlisted candidates

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Tips on Surviving Job Interview Rejection and Bouncing

Missing out a job after the interview can be a devastating experience. Most of the people reading this have experienced being rejected after a job interview. They say you won’t land all the jobs you will interview for. So what do you do if you are rejected, especially from an interview of a position that you really wanted? How do you learn to get up, dust yourself off and continue with the journey of building your life and career. How do you not fall into the trap of feeling that you are useless and you will never land a job in your life? Here are some tips that you can use when you have been rejected after a job interview.

1. Stay Positive & Don’t Take it Personal

It is important to remember that you didn’t get the job not because you were a terrible person. You are a worthy human being just like everyone else and you are here because you have a purpose to fulfill. Remember not to blame yourself and focus your energy to reflect on your strengths. In order to stay positive you can do a number of things

• Take a walk in a quiet place where you can let go of your negative thoughts. Being enveloped by nature around you is the best way to inject some happiness into your life.
• Meditate, exercise or pray. There are people who enjoy connecting with the Higher Power through things like meditation or prayers. There are others who will take it out on a punching bag in the gym or a run around the block or park. It helps to focus on something else apart from rejection.
• Speak to a loved one and tell them how you feel so they can assist you during this difficult time. Don’t be alone because you will feel even more miserable.
• Cry if you have to. They say crying is the antidote to life’s troubles. Let the pain out. Don’t bottle it in. This will help you to let go of the pain and frustration.
• Write down how you feel and throw away the paper in the fire as a sign of letting go of the pain.
• Listen to uplifting songs. Binge on Emeli Sandé Extraordinary Being during the process and see how you will feel afterwards.  

2. Ask for Feedback

Job interview is an achievement that not everyone gets it. Take consolation in that fact. So after a rejection it is advised to ask for feedback. Listen with an open mind and don’t be defensive. Try not to take it personal if they say something that hurts your pride. With a pen and paper and jot down the points for future reflection. Some candidates might feel the impulse of sending a nasty email. The strength of character is shown during the time of adversity. Don’t let your anger control your actions.

3. Tackle the Issue That Got You Rejected

After you have received feedback, come up with a plan and timeline to address the different items. Perhaps, you were told that you lacked expertise in the technical aspects of the job. Maybe, you were not a strong candidate because of your communication skills. At this juncture, include questions that you can remember which you had trouble answering them during the interview. Create a plan of action to solve them so when you go for a similar interview in the future you can come on top. Some of the action points will require a longer period to be addressed and others can be rectified quickly. Put them into the two different boxes and come up with different strategies for each. Remember, one interview rejection is the preparation for another job offer.

4. Continue With the Search

After rejection, get up quickly and continue with the job hunt. The tip for this is to make sure that you don’t put all your expectations in one job. Have other irons in the fire. Ensure that your online professional profiles are up to date and that you are reaching out to the right people in for opportunities. Create an Excel sheet with jobs that you are applying to, according to their deadlines so you can prepare all relevant documentation beforehand.

5. Never Burn Bridges

You might be rejected today and hired next year by the same company. The HR Manager might be working for a company that you will be applying to six months later. For this, never burn bridges. Unprofessional emails and bad impressions after the rejection can last a long time. Be courteous in regard to your communication and always indicate that you will be happy to hear from them in the future about a similar position.

It is imperative that you handle job interview rejection like a champ so you can maintain a positive attitude. It will help you continue with the job search seamlessly. Remember to see what works for you during this difficult and always remember that your silver lining is not far.

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