5.1.6 Find a mobility online
5.1.6.2 Your way to a successful interview
Exercises
- Which of the above questions would you
consider inappropriate?
- Categorize the valid questions as one of the following types:
- Questions about your motivation
- Questions about your ability and willingness to perform
- Questions about you as a person
- Trick questions
3. Prepare a self-presentation
- It should be about two minutes long (no longer than three)
- Include only relevant information, e.g. work experiences and skills that fit the job opening/internship
- Use examples, e.g. instead of just pointing out that you had some insight into accounting, elaborate on it: “I was fortunate to be involved in creating the annual report and learned how to work with accounting software X”
4. Think
of 3-5 of your strengths that are relevant for the job/internship
(explain them by using examples.)
5. Think
of 2 of your weaknesses & consider ways to overcome them.
(Note: Exercises 4 and 5 are a great preparation for the
inevitable question
about your strengths and weaknesses)
6. Go
through your CV and look for gaps.
=> Think of good/positive ways to explain them.
7. Gather information about the companies that you want to apply to:
- Visit their homepage
- Look for them on social media
- Check the newspapers for interesting reports
- Knowing about recent important events usually leaves a good impression
8. Think of min. 3 questions that you want to ask at the end
- Don’t just ask about “facts” (e.g. number of employees)
- Think of questions that show you are motivated and eager to become part of the company (e.g. “I want to have a good start. Is there something i can do to prepare myself for internship/job?”)
9. Simulate an interview with a friend/teacher
- Let them ask you some of the most common questions and try to answer like you would in a real interview
- Ask your conversation partner to check your body language as well