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Interview workshop.

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An interview is a conversation where questions

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are asked and answers are given.

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It's that simple.

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The word interview refers to a one on one conversation

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with one person acting in the role of interviewer

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and the other in the role of interviewee.

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Now this is the definition straight out of

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Wikipedia and everybody I'm sure knows how the

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interview is conducted between two people.

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The interview tips are the tips that I have put

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together for you guys and those I personally think are

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very important for you to keep in mind.

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Number one is research the company

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and understand the job description,

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before you actually pick up the phone and have

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an interview or actually go on site and have

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an interview. Then make sure you are focused on

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the question that they will ask you about.

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Tell me about yourself.

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This is a favorite question of every hiring manager.

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So make sure you know how, that

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you are going to answer this question.

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Regardless of what type of job you go

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to, they will always ask you this question.

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This is their favorite question.

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Now you also must have proper attire.

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Of course for guys you should have suit and tie.

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For ladies, a nice attire, business looking attire.

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Back up your resume by giving real life example.

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Now we are not talking about backing up

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like a system backup or file backup.

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We are talking about whatever you

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have written in your resume,

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make sure you back those up

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by giving real life examples.

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So if you have mentioned that you have done system

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management of 1000 servers, put in an example like where

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those thousand servers where, where are they located, what are

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the different types of those servers were?

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Look in the eye of hiring manager when you are sitting

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in front of the hiring manager. If you're not on the

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phone, make sure when you are talking to him or her

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when you answer, you should look that person's in the eye

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but not stare at them but back and forth.

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You should have an eye contact.

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Then of course the last but not

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the least is sell, sell, sell.

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You are there to sell yourself.

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Think that in your head you are selling, just like as

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if you are selling some aluminum siding or selling a car,

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you are there to sell yourself.

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So whichever way that you have to put it

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in, you have to consider yourself as a product.

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Now I'm going to go into more

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details about interview workshop after this slide.

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Usually the interview lasts for an hour.

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You will get a call from the hiring manager

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or you will be on site meeting with him.

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Well, let's call the hiring manager in our scenario,

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let's call him Russell.

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Introduce yourself to everyone.

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If there are more than one people, of course tell

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them my name is Imran Afzal and thank you so

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much for your time today for this interview.

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The hiring manager Russell will

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introduce himself or others

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if there are more people on the interview panel.

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Well the first five to ten minutes will be

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utilized to give you the company overview.

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Like what does the company do, how long

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they've been in the market, what they have

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done or what they have achieved.

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Make sure to research the company

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before you go for the interview.

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This will tell that you are

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interested and have done your homework.

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Now the next thing Russell will

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tell you about the job itself.

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He will go over the quick description of the job,

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what they're looking for, why they are looking for, the

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number of people in their team and things like what

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they will expect from the new person.

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Or you, make sure you write this

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part because this information will help you

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answer according to the requirement.

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For example, let's say if Russell mentioned that we

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are looking for someone who's like a team player

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or someone who could improve their documentation etc.

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Then later you could say that you have

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worked as a team or have done a lot

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of system documentation and stuff like that.

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So you can add that to your conversation.

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If you are in person during the in person

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interview then make like a mental note about this.

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Before Russell start talking or start asking you questions,

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he will mention about the interview process.

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He will lay out how the interview will be conducted,

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how much time will it be spent on the technical

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questions, how much time will be spent on the behavior

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questions, and then in the end there will be some

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time for you to ask questions.

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So explaining this interview structure is what I would say

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a great hiring manager do to stay on track.

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Okay, so all said, all done.

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Now one of the most favorite question every hiring

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manager asks and that is tell me about yourself.

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You should take anywhere from let's say five

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to ten minutes to answer this question.

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Now this is the opportunity to sell yourself.

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You should break down your answer in five categories.

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Category one start by introducing yourself again by saying

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again my name is Imran Afzal, and I'm Assistant

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Engineer by profession or whatever your profession is.

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My expertise are like Linux VMware,

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Windows, technical training, project management,

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so basically just a quick summary of your skills.

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In category two of tell me about yourself,

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you'll say, I have been working with the company,

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let's call it Art Vandelay Industries for the last

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so and so years as Assistant Administrator or whichever

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your title was or have been the title. Okay.

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So if you're not in IT then again really

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quickly go over your day to day task.

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But don't spend more than like 20 to 30

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seconds on it because they don't want to know

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a lot about what they are not looking for.

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Focus more on the technical side.

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For example, if you are in sales

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and you're probably working on POS system.

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So say POS system or sometimes you

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troubleshoot technical issues related to It.

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If you don't do any technical work, then

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don't lie about it, don't make up things.

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Move on to mention about your lab, how you started

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and how many hours you have spent to learn, how

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many hours you have spent each week to manage it.

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You break it, you troubleshoot it at different issues.

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Next, mention your previous job, if you had one.

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Once again, go over a quick

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summary of your daily tasks.

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In category three of your tell me about yourself,

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I would say after the experience,

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tell Russell about your education background.

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You should be proud of what you

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have achieved in academics, which college you

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went to, and what was your major.

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If you majored in accounting or any other concentration

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aside from computers, then now is the time to

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tell why you decided to move to It.

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Now in category four of tell me about yourself,

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bring up your interest. Like on your spare time,

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you like to play soccer, watch movies, help

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around the house, and tell him what you

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really enjoy doing in your spare time.

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Next, and of course the last category that I

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have defined in tell me about yourself is tell

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Russell why you want to leave your current job

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to apply for this job. Perhaps your contract with

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the existing company is coming to an end.

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Or you are looking for a career advancement where

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you can apply for your technical skills or simply

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want to start your career in It.

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Mention about your documentation skills because

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remember, he brought this point during

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the initial conversation, right?

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Ask yourself what is that one quality you

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have that your competitor does not have,

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and tell that to Russell.

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Next one we have is why do you want to leave,

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or what are you looking for in your next job?

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Now we have covered this question in the

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last one of our last category, but many

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times hiring manager would include this question again

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so you could rephrase what you have said.

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Then the part start off behavioral questions.

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These type of questions are one of the ways

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for Russell to find out your personality, whether you

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are the right fit for this environment or not.

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It can take anywhere from like 15

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to 20 minutes to answer them.

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He will ask you questions like how

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do you handle a difficult situation?

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How do you meet your goal if you face an obstacle?

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How do you handle difference of opinion.

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These are the type of

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questions that shows your behavior.

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Now remember, you don't have to be in a corporate environment

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or to have an IT job to answer these questions.

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We face these type of challenges almost every day

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with our family, with our friends, or even during

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a situation which is like unrelated to any relationship.

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For example, let's take an example.

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Yeah, you are at the airport, right?

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And you are given two options either wait for, actually you

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missed the flight and so you have an option to either

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wait for a second flight which will leave in 8 hours

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from now, and I'll get you from point A to point

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B, of course, in 2 hours, let's say.

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Or you could rent a car and drive for 6 hours.

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So which one option is better for you?

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And why pick one on the other?

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So think of a situation like

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these and answer these questions accordingly.

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I'm sure in your life you have faced

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these three questions in your entire life.

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I'm sure about it.

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Okay, now becomes the technical part.

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Now let the fun begin.

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You will be asked technical questions back

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and forth from 20 to 25 minutes.

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Sometimes technical questions are made

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up of a situation.

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For example, what if you have to run a script

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at night but you are not available at night?

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How would you manage that?

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See it's a situational question.

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But if you answer by saying,

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of course, you schedule the job. Okay.

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So now once Russell and the team

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done asking all the technical questions, now

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it's your turn to return the favor.

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Ask them questions like what is a

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typical day looks like for this position?

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Or if it is a contract position,

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ask if there's a possibility to become permanent.

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This will show that you are committed and how will you

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measure the success of a person that they will hire.

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Right? These are the type of questions that you should ask.

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Now, of course, you don't have

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to ask exactly what I said.

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You could come up with your own

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questions, of course, depending on your situation.

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Now, before you say your goodbyes and shake

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hands, you should say a closing statement.

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So this is all about the

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interview that I wanted to cover.

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But at the end, before you leave, remember this

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anything you should say that will stay with Russell

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and will keep him reminding of you when he

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is actually going through interviews with other candidates.

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Now, you must be thinking, what could I say,

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or what could that be?

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Well, of course, it all depends on

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you and what you are good at.

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As an example, I've given you a few

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examples so you will relate to them.

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A few of the examples like,

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before I leave, I want to say one thing

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Russell, if you ask me something and I don't know

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the answer, then I'll tell you I don't know.

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But I promise you that I will work

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on it and I'll get you the answer.

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So this is like an example of what you could say.

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Or another example that I have is, before

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I leave, I want to say one thing.

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I might not be the smartest or most technical

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person, but one day I will make you proud

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of your decision for hiring me. Right,

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so this is the thing that I'll stay with them, right.

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Okay. And I can give you another example.

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Before I leave, I want to say one thing Russell.

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I might not meet all the requirements for this

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job, but I definitely being loyal to you and

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will be there whenever you need me.

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So even if you want to pick

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out of these three, that's okay.

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But make sure whatever you say stays with him.

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Let me tell you a little secret about my career.

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A long time ago, when I went for my

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first job interview, the hiring manager met me, and

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he actually hired me without asking any technical questions.

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Now, keep in mind, I did not have any experience.

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So anyway, I was hired.

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So a few weeks later, I started my job.

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I asked my manager a few days later,

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why didn't you ask me any technical questions?

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He's like when? I was like, when I came for the interview, okay.

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So he stepped back and he looked at me and he

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said, because of your attitude, I knew you were hungry

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to learn and willing to do whatever it takes.

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So what I learned that day, guys, that it's

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not what you say, it's how you say it. So good luck.

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