Here is a video about a typical day in the life of an interior designer:

• Research - Job seekers usually forget or neglect this issue without realizing that research is very important. Do your homework on your potential employer, and you will be able to find some interesting points which may help you during your interview. Perform simple research on the company, as it will surely reveal the type of people they are looking for.

This research will also uncover the company’s ethics and working style. You can do research by simply visiting their website. If the website provides financial information, then try to understand their current position in the market.

• Communication - Job seekers usually fail to communicate and present themselves in line with professional expectations. Employers are usually dissatisfied with candidates who are unable to express themselves. They hire employees to solve problems, and if they find your communication skills lacking, then your chances of landing the job are slim to none.

• Interview - During the interview is the time to project yourself - it helps to be on your best behavior. So learn the right techniques - turn off your cell phone, don’t share too much personal information during the interview and don’t ever speak badly of your past employers.

• Dress appropriately - Understand and learn about the culture of the company. Don’t dress casually if the current employees are dressed formally. You must look appropriate to the type of company that you are interviewing with. You want the employer to focus on your skills and accomplishments more than your looks, so be conservative.

• Time - Never be late for an interview. If you can’t be on time, be sure to call the employer and explain the reason. Aim to arrive ten minutes before the interview is actually scheduled to begin.

• Salary and benefits - Don’t discuss salary and the compensation before you have been offered the job. Do not ever try to bring up the topic prematurely, because money is not everything if you consider career satisfaction to be your goal (as you have probably told the employer). Let the interviewer bring up the issue of money.

• Preparation - Prepare well and practice the answers to common interview questions. This will project you as a poised and confident person to the employer.

• Avoid Dishonesty - Never lie to get a position. You need to get the job based on your current skills, and any lies will be exposed eventually anyway.

Avoid possible common mistakes and project your confidence and demonstrate your skills with grace. Don’t hesitate to show your enthusiasm. Whatever contact address or phone number you give, make sure you have a voicemail service and be sure to give them a professional mail address.

There are lots of points to remember when you are trying to get a job. By keeping in mind these common mistakes (and their solutions), you will already have a headstart.

By Tony Jacowski

Tony Jacowski is a quality analyst for The MBA Journal. Aveta Solutions - Six Sigma Online - http://www.sixsigmaonline.org, offers online six sigma training and certification classes for six sigma professionals such as, lean six sigma, black belts, green belts, and yellow belts

It’s also a common job interview question so you’re right to want to be prepared for it.

Few people are so here’s your chance to get ahead of your competition.

We interview for a living and here’s our advice.I admit I also sometimes use these questions and others like them when I do an interview. Not that there’s any one “right” answer I’m looking for. They just help me see how a person will react, even when confronted by the obvious. You can learn a lot about a person even from seemingly simple questions.

Let us evaluate some responses that we usually get from our candidates.

Human Resources Manager: “Tell me, Susan, your strengths are all laid out very nicely on the résumé, but I wonder what you would consider to be your greatest weakness?”

The Applicant: “Well, let me think a moment. … I guess one of my weaknesses is that I work too hard. I spend too much time in the lab and need to get some balance going with other important parts of my life.”

Human Resources Manager: “Yes, many of us have that problem.” (Reading between the lines: “A lightning bolt should come down and nail this applicant for being the 10-billionth person to use that line.”)

Lets see some more examples

Marie is about to interview two candidates for the customer service manager position. Her candidates are Francine and William. As always, she plans to ask about their strengths and weaknesses.

Francine answers the question, “What are your greatest strengths and weaknesses?” with, “My strength is that I’m a hard worker. My weakness is that I get stressed when I miss a deadline because someone else dropped the ball.”

This answer is unimaginative. Most people think of themselves as hard workers.

William has difficulty with the question. “I really can’t think of a weakness,” he begins. “Maybe I could be more focused. My strength is probably my ability to deal with people. I am pretty easygoing. I usually don’t get upset easily.”

This answer leads with a negative, and then moves to vague words: maybe, probably, pretty and usually.

So what is the best way to answer this question?

When asked about your weaknesses remember to talk about something you’ve perceived as a ‘weakness’ but worked hard to overcome or something which you find harder than others but can still do, using some strategy or another.

And make sure it’s not something central to the role!

Good answers might be:

For a job where organisation is important, but not central:

“I’d like to be more naturally organised like my manager who remembers everything and never has to write anything down. Although my memory’s not as good as hers I am able to keep on top of things by using a to-do list and keeping a diary so I know where I am with my work all the time”.

For a job where working as part of a team is important:

“I prefer working in teams to working alone. Although I’m able to stay focussed and complete the task, I prefer the sharing of ideas and achievements which happens when you work in teams. Some of my colleagues work better alone and this is something I am working on to improve”.

Notice how, with a little forethought, you can give your ‘weakness’ a positive spin? In this answer, you’re showing that you work well in teams, which is a quality most employers look for.

The best way to handle this question is to minimize the trait and emphasize the positive. Select a trait and come up with a solution to overcome your weakness. Stay away from personal qualities and concentrate more on professional traits. Never identify emotional states or personality traits as weaknesses, only skills, experience, knowledge or preferences. Don’t ever say you get stressed, bored, demotivated, angry, upset etc.

People have said this in interviews with us. Although, as employers, we might accept shortcomings in people’s skills, experience and knowledge, few of us want to take on employees with attitude issues!

Scripting Your Answers

Write a positive statement you can say with confidence:

“My strength is my flexibility to handle change. As customer service manager at my last job, I was able to turn around a negative working environment and develop a very supportive team. As far as weaknesses, I feel that my management skills could be stronger, and I am constantly working to improve them.”

When confronted with this question, remember the interviewer is looking for a fit. She is forming a picture of you based on your answers. A single answer will probably not keep you from getting the job, unless, of course, it is something blatant. Put your energy into your strengths statement — what you have to offer. Then let the interviewer know that although you may not be perfect, you are working on any shortcomings you have.

Luckily, the greatest strength question is one where you can often hit a home run if you just prepare a bit ahead of time. Think about what your new employer would find most interesting about you. There’s no right answer. They just want to see if you know yourself and how well you express yourself.

 The main thing is to have a really good story to tell about how you used that skill to make something good happen for your former employer or - if this is your first job - at school or in a volunteer role. Choose the skill based on both what you think the employer is looking for and your strongest story. (Never hurts to artfully throw in a few extra strengths while telling the story.)

Hint: To figure out what an employer is looking for, look at the job description.

In case you’re thinking “But I don’t have a good story” - please take some time to think some more. Ask friends or co-workers. You’ll be surprised what you aren’t remembering about yourself. Everyone has something good to tell about themselves. And when it comes to job interviews, that’s a really important time to believe in yourself!

Just so you don’t sound too full of yourself, you can start your answer with a phrase like “I guess” or “I’ve been told” or “I think” or anything that helps tone down the potential boast. Now you don’t want to act all shy and “gosh darn” to fake modesty (that would only work against you), but leading off with a gentle phrase at the beginning is a great way to answer the question.

Here is more input and examples people have given for strengths:

• Your strengths should already be noted in your resume and cover letter. Go over them (i.e., the strengths) again with the interviewer.

• One of my biggest strengths is my communication skills. I work very well with all kinds of people, and understand that everyone has different perspectives about projects and work tasks — so when I work with others I realize that everyone comes to the table with different priorities and objectives. I keep this in mind when I communicate tasks that need to be accomplished with positive reinforcement and awareness of what others are working on.

• A positive attitude will not differentiate you from the crowd. A good attitude is expected of every employee. Also you should back up what you say with an example. For example, don’t just say you have good customer service skills prove it by also telling them how you won a comapny award or received positive customer comment letters for your good service.

• “My strength is my flexibility to handle change. As customer service manager at my last job, I was able to turn around a negative working environment and develop a very supportive team.

• Hard worker.

• Punctual.

• Determined.

• Able to prioritize.

• Believe in myself; self-confidence.

• I have ability to cope with failures and try to learn from my mistakes.

• I like to work in team and have been an active participant and organizer at several places.

• One of my greatest strengths which I’ve acquired during my education is good analytical and planning skills. This has always benefited me to set goals and try to achieve them. But at the same time I’m driven by the thoughts of success.

• Full commitment to my work.

• Highly energetic.

• Love to learn new things.

• Having good interpersonal skills.

• Well organized and like to be neat with all of my work.

• A good helper towards those who need it.

• I am a team player and work well with others.

• I have great communication skills

• I am a quick learner. I have great problem-solving skills and am willing to learn new things to get the job done.

Here are notes and examples of weaknesses:

• You should answer with things you “are improving upon”. Example: I believe I should always be improving upon myself, good or bad. You are answering the dreaded question without looking like an egotistical maniac, and showing the interviewer that you see yourself as a work in progress, trying to better all of your qualities.

• For your weakness, just pick one that is not going to disqualify you from the job, and then follow up with — this what really matters — the examples of what you are doing (or have done) to fix your weakness. The most important point here is to show that you learn from your mistakes and your weakness, and you are taking the corrective action to fix the situation — and stress that! For example, if the job does not require public speaking, you can say that your weakness is you are afraid of speaking in front of the public. Then tell the interviewers that you have joined a Toastmaster club or public speech course to overcome the problem. Remind them that when you identify a problem, you actively take actions to correct it, and that is how you do things.

• Don’t try to use a cliche or try to present a strength as a weakness by saying your weakness is that you are a workaholic. No one will believe that answer. Being too emotional will make the recruiter wonder if your interpersonal skills are lacking. Give a true weakness but one of modest size. Shows that you have taken steps to correct the weakness. For example you want to improve your MS Excel skills so you are taking a course on that now.

• I used to have trouble with procrastinating, now I have learned to write down a list of things that I need to do, and keep a calender to keep track of deadlines, I have found that this not only helps me to finish things on time, but it has also helped me to be more organized.

• A weakness of mine would be the fact that I get nervous when speaking in front of groups. I haven’t had a lot of experience with this over the past several years. Although I did join Toastmasters International to help overcome this anxiety — and feel much more confident today when I need to speak in front of groups and give presentations.

• I’m little egoistic when it comes to winning things and get a little ruthless too.

• Lose patience sometimes when I am not in a position to complete the assigned job in time.

• I have to work on having more patience and giving myself a break because I always want everything done at once.

• Tend to go to any limits while helping my friends.

• I am too focused on my work and I need to find more time to relax.

• I’m too focused on work and need to develop some after hours hobbies.

And examples of combination strength-weakness answers:

• I’m a workaholic person and love to dedicate myself to the work I’m doing. But at the same time I forget to keep a balance between other things which I’m trying to improve on.

• Take whatever is your best quality and also describe it as your worst. It often is, as we are all made up like two sides of a coin. Try it out with different qualities and accomplishments and see how it works. For example … The best thing about me is that I am able to see the big picture in a situation. The worst thing about me is that I can see the big picture in a situation. This is the best thing because I can remove myself from the emotion of a decision that needs to be made and act accordingly. It is a bad thing because I often can see the conclusion quicker than the other participants in a project and that can cause frustration sometimes amongst them.

If you are sending your CV to a perspective employer by post or fax it is essential that you send with it a covering letter. You need to use the CV covering letter to create a good impression so that the employer or recruiter will want to read your CV. It will have more impact if it is individually written in response to a particular role or advertisement.

In the case of email applications it is acceptable to write a brief paragraph of a few sentences explaining where you heard about the role and why your qualifications and experience are a perfect fit for the job. You should ensure the tone of the text is formal as would be the case with a paper CV cover letter. It is a mistake to be too informal as this can be seen as unprofessional.

When making any sort of job application either Speculative, where you are sending your CV to an employer/agency with no specific vacancy in mind or, specific, where you are sending your CV in response to an advertisement for a particular role, the overall CV cover letter format is the same.

Here are the top ten tips to remember when writing a CV Covering letter
The CV covering letter should consist of 1 page on plain white A4 paper.

You should use a font that offers a clean and clear appearance. My advice is to use Arial.

Aim for a maximum of three paragraphs. Remember simple is best.

Use upbeat and positive language and avoid exaggerated statements.

Ensure there are no spelling, grammar, or punctuation mistakes.

Always use black ink.

Express yourself with confidence.

Where possible, write to a named individual.

Your CV or Resume cover letter should be tailored specifically for each application.

Be concise and to the point. Try to avoid repeating what’s in your CV.

CV or Resume cover letter format

Your contact details
This should include your name, address, telephone number and email address if you have one. Remember make it easy for the employer to contact you.

Employer/agency details
This should include whom the letter is going to, company name and full address. If you know the name of the person e.g. if it is mentioned in the advertisement then use it. If no particular name was mentioned use a department title e.g. Personnel manager or Managing director

Date
You should use long date format in full e.g. 27th April 2006 and not 27/4/06

Salutation & Opening
If you know the name use it e.g. Dear Mr Smith. If you don’t know, use Dear Sir/Madam. It is preferable to use a name. The company’s web site is often a good place to search for the appropriate individual.

Letter title
Centre and bold the text. This will enable the addressee to know immediately that this is an application

Paragraph 1 – Why you are writing
You want to try & get the interest of the Employer. You should start the letter with the reason for writing and indicate the position that you are applying for along with how you heard of the vacancy. This is also a good place to tell then why you are interested in the position and convey a genuine interest in the company. The company website will be a good source of background information.

Paragraph 2 – What you can offer them
Here you describe briefly why you think you should be considered for the role. You should summarise relevant qualifications for the position along with your experience and skills. Also give a brief example of one or two jobs you have worked in that relate to the position. Try to make sure that it is not just a list of what is in your CV but is individualised to the job application.

Paragraph 3 – Summary and next step
Refer to your enclosed CV and also ask for the interview. You may at this point suggest that you will be making a follow up call. It is also important that you thank the reader for their time and consideration and tell them that you look forward to hearing from them.

Closing
Use “Yours sincerely” if you are sending the letter to a named person, otherwise use “Yours faithfully”. Add a few blank lines and finish with your name. The space between is used for your signature once printed.

Finally you may want to add your telephone number and email address beneath your name. Remember you want to make it easy for them to contact you.

In addition, well designed resumes have these characteristics in common:

1. Visual appeal, easy to read layout, and high quality reproduction;
2. Highlights strengths and links them to employer’s needs; minimizes or

excludes irrelevant experience;
3. Presents the most important information first;
4. Entirely free from any errors: spelling, typographical, punctuation, or grammatical;
5. Succinct and organized; does not exceed two pages.

point out that the categories of information you include on your resume should provide answers to these questions:

1. Contact section: Who are you and how can you be reached?
2. Objective statement: What do you want to do?
3. Education section: What have you learned?
4. Experience/Employment section: What can you do? What have you done?
5. Professional activities and accomplishments: How have you been recognized?
6. Miscellaneous: What else do they want to know about you?

Sequence the categories according to what is most important to the employer and your career objective. A recent college graduate with limited experience should usually put the education section first since it is the most significant qualification. Education should also be listed first when, as in the case of teaching, law, medicine, or engineering, education is a qualifying requirement. In a situation where an applicant wants to
emphasize significant work or extracurricular experience or when an employer seeks to fill jobs in fields such as sales, public relations, or merchandising, the experience or work history category may be listed first.

1. Contact Information

Begin your resume with your name by capitalizing or using bold type. Include street address, city, state, and zip code. Include phone number(s) where you can be reached weekdays, 9am-5pm. Designate your home phone with an “H,” and work number with “W,” or a “Messages” number.

2. Career/Job Objective

This is recommended only for recent graduates or entry level personnel. Experience and professional job seekers rarely include it. This component of the resume can be very challenging to write. The purpose of the objective statement is to inform the reader of your career goals and qualifications. The statement should be written specifically enough to let the reader know that you have a focus to your job search. If you are considering a variety of objectives, you may want to relay the relevant objective in an accompanying cover letter.

3. Educational Highlights

This section is most effective when you have experiences from your education that are impressive and/or directly relate to your objective. Adding this section is useful when you have developed skills and specific knowledge through your education rather than work experience. This section can be used to highlight coursework, research, or special knowledge that complements your objective. This information is useful in a resume of entry level candidates and recent graduates.

An alternative to highlighting courses is to list the skills and knowledge acquired through important courses and research.

Examples: Developed model investment portfolio for Fortune 500 company. Analyzed revenue and expense history using state-of-the-art computer simulation programs. Designed promotional campaign for new service a targeted market.

Summary information about your undergraduate and graduate education should be included in your resume. List the name and location of the school, time period or date of degree, the degree received, and academic honors, e.g. Phi Beta Kappa, significant scholarships or fellowships. You may also list any continuing education and significant professional training but do not list every course or seminar you have attended. In general, the more recently you have attended college, the more education related information you may want to provide as you will most likely have relatively less work experience.

Start with your most recent degree or the program in which you are currently enrolled. List other degrees or relevant education in reverse chronological order.

Highlight your degree by using bold type, capital letters or underlining.

If the degree is relevant to your job objective, begin with degree and emphasis, followed by university, location of university, and date of graduation or anticipated date of graduation. Example: M.P.A., Masters of Public Administration, Annamalai University, Annamalai nagar, TN, India, May 1995.

If degree/program is not directly related to current job objective, begin with the university, followed by the location, degree and emphasis, and graduation date.

If you are within two semesters of graduation, do not use “expected” or “anticipated” with month/year of graduation.

If you are an entry level candidate or recent graduate and have a high GPA, include it on your resume. You may want to highlight your GPA on a new line, or in an educational highlights section. Note: Some employers believe no GPA on a resume indicates an poor GPA. Employers hiring experienced professionals generally care only that you have the degree.

If your education relates to your objective and is within the past three years, it should be the first section. If not, education should follow the work experience section of your resume.

4. Employment and or Experience Summary

A brief summary of qualifications can condense an extensive background by emphasizing experiences and accomplishments in brief phrases. The qualifications summary is accomplishment-oriented and provides an overview of your work experience. A summary is most appropriated for someone with substantial experience, for someone who is changing careers and wants to demonstrate transferable skills, or for someone with an eclectic background.

In general, you should list, in successive order for each position you have held, your employer, position title, dates (year to year), a brief description of your position, and accomplishments. You need to devote little space to explain commonly known responsibilities for positions such as city manager, police chief or public works director. You will probably devote more space for positions such as assistant city manager, city engineer, and similar jobs. You should also indicate the size of the budget and number of employees for whom you were responsible. Give brief, illustrative examples of your responsibilities and accomplishments. This is where you have the opportunity to tailor (while being accurate and truthful) your resume to what the employer is seeking. At least for your current position, indicate your base salary, not the top of your range.

Begin with your current/most recent position and work backward, chronologically. Devote more space to recent employment.

If your job titles relate to your current job objective, start each position description with job titles. If not, begin with the organization.

Follow job title and organizational information with the organization’s city and state.

Use the first and last month and year to describe dates of employment.

Describe the last three to five positions in detail. Summarize earlier positions unless relevant to your objective.

Do not show every position change with each employer. Only list the most recent and describe promotions.

Do not repeat skills that are common to several positions.

Within each listed position, stress the major accomplishments and responsibilities that demonstrate your competency. It is not necessary to include all responsibilities, as they will be assumed by employers.

Tailor your position descriptions to future job/career objectives.

One-page resumes are preferred for entry-level positions.

Two-Three page resumes are preferred for experienced persons.

5.Professional Activities and Accomplishments

This part of your resume offers you the opportunity to provide insight into your career development. You should be selective and complete, listing such items as memberships in professional associations and offices held, professional registrations, honors received, and major articles or publications you have written. Do not list every article or every speech you may have given or every conference you have attended. Emphasize quality - this section of the resume should help you to demonstrate you are current and active in your profession.