Fearless InterviewingI’m afraid I’ll sound like I’m bragging. Many of us learned
in childhood or later that “blowing your own horn” is a
sign of being on an ego trip. But providing information
about the nature of work you have done is not doing
that. In Chapter 3, you’ll see the difference between
bragging and simply stating the facts.
Do I have to say I was fired from my last job? Can they find
out? There are laws that protect you from potential
employers’ prying into your past in ways that are inap-
propriate. We’ll discuss those laws as well as how best
to deal with questions that pertain to past employment
situations.
Everyone says I am under/overqualified. What should I do?
Usually the employer who says he or she is worried
about either of these issues actually has a hidden agen-
da. We’ll find out exactly how to address and defuse that
agenda in Chapter 5 when we talk about “questions
behind questions.”
Do I have to submit to drug testing, credit checks, or personality
tests? Drug testing, credit checks, and personality tests
are a reality of today’s workplace and hard to avoid. You
may simply decide you don’t want to work at a place
with such restrictive entrance procedures.
What should I do if an interviewer asks me an intrusive or ille-
gal question? Some topics, such as disabilities, marital sta-
tus, or sexual orientation, are off-limits during an inter-
view. We’ll talk about how to avoid these incriminating
and illegal questions.
I don’t know what to do with my hands during an interview.
This is a very common worry. Once you know the one
most potent secret of nonverbal behavior in an inter-
view, you’ll find your hands will just fall into place, and
you won’t even have to think about them!
I fear I will just “freeze up” in the interview. You’ll learn the
technique of “stalling and accessing,” which is a convinc-
ing and comfortable way out of this one. It will seem
very natural, once you learn it.