5 ways to derail your interview

<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"><b><i><span style="color: red; font-family: Verdana; font-size: medium;"></span></i></b></span><br /><table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tbody><tr><td colspan="2" style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal arial, helvetica;"><table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" id="tblContent"><tbody><tr id="trContent"><td align="center" class="cb_style tcContent" id="tcContent" style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align: center;"><div class="cbArticleWrapper" style="background-color: white; text-align: left; width: 750px;"><div class="cbArticleContentWrapper" style="margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 15px; margin-right: 15px; margin-top: 15px; width: 750px;"><div class="cbArticleRight" style="width: 560px;"><div class="RXart" style="padding-right: 20px;"><div class="ArticleHeadline" style="margin-top: -30px;"><div class="cbmsnArticleImage" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" src="http://emj.cbdr.com/artieimages/48/ar5m0t6666x7vyhhbs48.gif?time=5/2/2011%203:31:43%20pm" /></div><div class="hdr_org_bld" style="color: #ff6600; font: normal normal bold 18px/normal arial, helvetica;"><h1 id="articleHeadline" style="color: #ff7700; font-size: 18px; font-weight: bold; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><br /></h1></div><b><span id="cbArticle_lblByLine">Rachel Farrell, Special to CareerBuilder</span></b> </div><br /><div class="ArticleContent"><div style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">An interview is one of the hardest things to obtain as a job seeker -- and unfortunately, it's also one of the easiest ways you can lose the job opportunity.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Interview mishaps happen to everyone, but the key to avoiding them is to relax and be yourself, says Laura Rose, a life and business coach and owner of Rose Coaching.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">"The interview is as much about getting to know the company and work environment as it is about them interviewing you. This strategy relaxes the entire interview," she says. "You can essentially direct the interview to the areas you are most comfortable talking about. Listening to the interviewer answer the questions, you can clue in on his terminology, terms and what he feels is important. Then you can highlight those same terms and skill set in your comments back to him."</div><div style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Being well-prepared for the meeting can also help you impress a potential employer.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">"It's difficult to overstress how important it is to do some research on a company you're interviewing with. Have a list of good questions to ask the person interviewing you. You want to seem like you are asking questions that require thought rather than questions seeking information that may be available on the website," says Debra Yergen, <a href="http://www.careerbuilder.com/jobs/keyword/author/" style="color: #3300cc; font-family: Arial; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none;">author</a> of "Creating Job Security Resource Guide."</div><div style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">"Start with questions about the importance the organization places on industry hot buttons and what the hiring manager sees as differences between their company and their competitors. Another great question might be something like, 'Are there any employee groups here that work together to plan team-building activities or extracurricular events that bring co-workers together either to boost morale or support the community?' These kinds of questions send a potential employer a message that you're looking for more than a job," she says.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">While asking the right kinds of question is vital, you must also be prepared to answer the tough questions, says Henry Motyka, business solutions <a href="http://www.careerbuilder.com/jobs/keyword/manager/" style="color: #3300cc; font-family: Arial; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none;">manager</a> at Norwood Consulting.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">"Of particular importance are behavioral interview questions like, 'Tell me about a situation when ... ' It is best to define those situations beforehand and memorize them," he says.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Doing your research, asking the right questions and answering tough questions are ways to avoid making an interview mistake. But, unfortunately, there are many ways to derail an interview. Here are five gaffes to steer clear of in your interview:</div><div style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><b>1. Inappropriate attire</b></div><div style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">"If you are not professionally attired, you won't get the job, even if you are the most qualified," says image consultant Sandy Dumont. "Always dress better than required for an interview. Never dress down, because it is insulting to the other person. It says, 'I don't have to impress you; I dress for my own comfort.' When you dress to impress, they get it, and you will stand out from all the other candidates."</div><div style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><b>2. Trying to lead the interview</b></div><div style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">"Many of my clients have children. [They have a] tendency to talk over their interviewers. That's how they manage to be heard at home and that's what they often do in their interviews," says Rory Cohen, a <a href="http://www.careerbuilder.com/jobs/keyword/career+counselor/" style="color: #3300cc; font-family: Arial; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none;">career counselor</a>. "When you don't listen, you don't get invited back for a second interview. Interviewers, in general, want and expect to be in the driver's seat."</div><div style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><b>3. Showing up too late or too early</b></div><div style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">"If you're more than 15 minutes early to your interview, go to the restroom and freshen up, then casually walk in about 15 minutes before your scheduled appointment," says Marie Applegate Prasad, founder of WiSo Résumés.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><b>4. Bringing your own food or drink</b></div><div style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">"Do not bring any food or drinks into the office of the interviewer. Many find eating or drinking a big distraction and some people are sensitive to smells," Prasad says. "It's best to just wait until after the interview is over."</div><div style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><b>5. Forgetting important information</b></div><div style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">"On a sheet of paper write down the following information: company, address, phone number, hiring manager, person who scheduled the interview, position you are interviewing for and job duties," Prasad says. "Study this and bring with you the day of your interview."</div><div style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><i>Rachel Farrell researches and writes about job search strategy, career management, hiring trends and workplace issues for CareerBuilder.com. Follow @CareerBuilder on Twitter.</i></div><div><i><br /></i></div></div></div></div></div></div></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table>

5 ways to derail your interview

Rachel Farrell, Special to CareerBuilder An interview is one of the hardest things to obtain as a job seeker -- and unfortunately, it's also one of the easiest ways you can lose the job opportunity.Interview mishaps happen to everyone, but the key to…

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Three SchoolNet trainers featured in Intel’s ‘10 million teachers – Opening Doors of Opportunity’ site

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">  <br />Intel@ Teach recently celebrated training 10 million teachers! (SchoolNet offers their marvelous courses free of charge to educators in South Africa). Intel called this celebration ‘10 million teachers – Opening Doors of Opportunity’ and they asked teachers around the world to submit their teacher stories   Three of our South African teachers (all ‘Schoolnetters’) have their stories featured on their site - <a href="http://10millionteachers.intel.com/" title="http://10millionteachers.intel.com/">http://10millionteachers.intel.com/</a><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><strong>1. Brenda Hallowes</strong></span> <br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiRuSEMC5Y6zVXN1qN3HxjsoagCE1nlLaFE4OY5Th5pRE_Zj_JTRrg9ZX4nU07FLSQ6FdP1XeLHAsq9U24932V-BVFm8A7ZT-KfXdCpHsCeoVBhtYcZgsaIvGgUuikfTtYVQDwOsUHh6M/s1600-h/image%25255B2%25255D.png"><img alt="image" border="0" height="244" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnftJat3Aa5wzTsl-76NOp-rRp4J0D0O8AKHspWSst_TjmZStXYUikCYmmT7TqvtJ6gczuKBl5DywkN7wLRkKbp-WBbef7eBxKY4nQ6jTzHxd1gaXf2c77tftqnLopG1w2GJ77CXuD5-0/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border: 0px currentColor; display: inline; margin: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="image" width="202" /></a><br /><br /><u></u><u>School Name</u>: Cotswold Preparatory School<br /><br /><u>Subjects</u>: I Am Presently The Computer Teacher At My School <br /><br />“I completed the Intel Teach to the Future course in September 2003. At the time I was the media teacher at a school in Durban and I was so excited about implementing project-based learning and ICT integration. Unfortunately, a few months later my husband and I re-located to a rural area of Kwa Zulu Natal. I taught in the village school, which didn’t have computers, but I used my personal laptop in my classroom to introduce my Grade 6 class to using technology when we did a project on water. This was a great success and the children couldn’t wait to do more. The project work was also a new approach for the other teachers on the staff and I shared some ideas with them – especially in the area of questioning. Read more…<a href="http://10millionteachers.intel.com/teachers/47/brenda-hallowes">http://10millionteachers.intel.com/teachers/47/brenda-hallowes</a> "<br /><br /><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><strong>2. Dezlin Jacobs</strong></span><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5n22pbKHM2V8EDEm0awD_snT-GFhxEq_Ellep9ngbb4OTb-2MCxBzzpdDdrNPv0wBtAfzmpmM5K1Ae6fIcF_IqEE24dfsy811oIYY64dLGTNGuNKgMoA8TXcqa7Z1vx1heeq1u6tMOkY/s1600-h/image%25255B5%25255D.png"><img alt="image" border="0" height="185" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjv4PZbqZ-vEk1FDMyHWysw6SYZdUSMsYYaDwAPwv7QrJOg-lme7fW9Weu8DE0wuTRtYbjgbmozMEXZEZYWkwp7oAG_sdtGQOVYzfgWG0TajZoIpe8-ngVsV7BDK82yp3dRSCiBhONmuaE/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border: 0px currentColor; display: inline; margin: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="image" width="244" /></a><br /><br /><u>School Name</u>: SchoolNet SA <br /><br /><u>Subjects</u>: Intel Project Co-ordinator <br /><br />"I was first introduced to the Intel Teach Program as a student in 2006. I was completing my Post Graduate certificate in Education at the University of Pretoria and the Intel Teach to the Future Course was part of our training. It was my first taste of integrating technology into the classroom and was a springboard for my future. SchoolNet SA invited me to improve my original portfolio—which received a Silver grading—to a Gold and then to go on to become a trainer for Intel Teach to the Future (now titled the Intel Teach Essentials Course)." <br /><br /><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><strong>3. Peter Moeng</strong></span> <br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDdSvlAPK69wHYvUQhnuGLMLOC54k02eevO5RCCBKWkK8XoM43CyFMypjd6AZLKjgW0h8WwP1vu1GcZHEgJC7JqmXokMLZF0_lFk2jL6nGKdKputn5NLp5qUn_g-_XuoVuflIdzLQzNWk/s1600-h/image%25255B8%25255D.png"><img alt="image" border="0" height="222" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0i6Uoa-WOesVNfCg9B9b0fLeuV9UyX3_whZBqQxpk24AoQ7wqa9WM-irHDE_5nL1XDDC-NO_bbaH7m4fi_-fCp9xJrVNNV92P-vsM-iB_c6s9X3JhRkP6KDzh5sAqy_GQhNjA9tsWjVw/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border: 0px currentColor; display: inline; margin: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="image" width="244" /></a> <br /><br /><u>School Name</u>: Boikagong Secondary School <br /><br /><u>Subjects</u>: Basic Computer Literacy, End User Computing, CAT<br /><br />"The Intel Teach program has been embraced warmly by teachers and learners alike. There is remarkable interest in using ICT, and learning has been stimulated by the research projects that learners do. There is also remarkable discovery of new skills and new approaches to learning. New basic skills have been taught using computers and there is also development of new practices on how best to integrate teaching and learning. It has created good opportunities to explore and make use of other applications. However, some teachers do not have much interest in working with computers, Internet connectivity is still a need in this area, and a lack of good computers is still a large problem -- particularly with such rapid changes of technology and software."   <br /><br />SchoolNet would like to congratulate these three educators and all the other SchoolNet trainers around South Africa for their dedication and enthusiasm in training our teachers in how to integrate technology with good pedagogy.  </div>

profiles Three SchoolNet trainers featured in Intel’s ‘10 million teachers – Opening Doors of Opportunity’ site

  Intel@ Teach recently celebrated training 10 million teachers! (SchoolNet offers their marvelous courses free of charge to educators in South Africa). Intel called this celebration ‘10 million teachers – Opening Doors of Opportunity’ and they asked…

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The 2011 online K-12 conference takes place this month

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><em>Submitted by Fiona Beal<br /></em>I have just been reading about the 2011 K-12 online conference (presumably from the USA) that will be taking place starting 28 November. I have never participated in an online conference before but would like to do so this time to see what it is like, and of course, depending on whether there are topics that  will be of interest.  </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">Here is a quote from their website: </span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">“The 2011 K-12 Online Conference theme is “Purposeful Play,” and this year our conference will be entirely asynchronous. This means we will not have any “live events,” but all presentations will be posted online for participants to view and comment on days and at times of their choosing. As in the past, all conference presentations will be available for online viewing as well as offline/mobile viewing via </span><a href="http://k12onlineconference.org/?p=646"><span style="font-family: inherit;">our iTunesU channel</span></a><span style="font-family: inherit;">. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">Our 2011 conference will start on Monday, November 21, 2011 with an inspiring pre-conference keynote by </span><a href="http://twitter.com/AngelaMaiers"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Angela Maiers</span></a><span style="font-family: inherit;">. Angela blogs at </span><a href="http://www.angelamaiers.com/"><span style="font-family: inherit;">www.angelamaiers.com</span></a><span style="font-family: inherit;">. </span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">Following Angela’s pre-conference keynote the week of November 21st, four different educators will share keynotes in the strands of our conference. Our 2011 keynote speakers are: </span><br /><ul><li><a href="http://twitter.com/crafty184"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Chris Craft</span></a><span style="font-family: inherit;">, in Sandbox Play. Chris blogs on “</span><a href="http://www.crucialthought.com/"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Crucial Thought</span></a><span style="font-family: inherit;">.” <br /></span></li><li><a href="http://twitter.com/gcouros"><span style="font-family: inherit;">George Couros</span></a><span style="font-family: inherit;">, in Team Captains. George blogs on “</span><a href="http://georgecouros.ca/blog/"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The Principal of Change</span></a><span style="font-family: inherit;">.” <br /></span></li><li><a href="http://twitter.com/musictechie"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Carol Broos</span></a><span style="font-family: inherit;">, in Level Up. Carol blogs on “</span><a href="http://www.beatechie.com/"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Be a Techie</span></a><span style="font-family: inherit;">.” <br /></span></li><li><a href="http://twitter.com/jimgroom"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Jim Groom</span></a><span style="font-family: inherit;"> and </span><a href="https://twitter.com/twoodwar"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Tom Woodward</span></a><span style="font-family: inherit;">, in Story Time. Jim blogs on “</span><a href="http://bavatuesdays.com/"><span style="font-family: inherit;">bavatuesdays</span></a><span style="font-family: inherit;">.” Tom blogs on “</span><a href="http://bionicteaching.com/"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Bionic Teaching</span></a><span style="font-family: inherit;">.”</span></li></ul><span style="font-family: inherit;">This year there will be 41 presenters and quite a number of different strands to the conference. Find out more at their website:</span><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOLO3b2s_QzxgNM8ulTAqOwGgtQkAzvP2c6zVIP3XAlOXb4jvt5MC6JxBJf2OOvUWAbfD4ULkY8cD4sMVtCnPlP3uohBltAuB8xZ3-IU8aq7PWqx0Kmt1iCyEtB_zv4c3F622yRv4FQDg/s1600-h/image%25255B3%25255D.png"><img alt="image" border="0" height="448" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMbCmnAjADSOliDKnKc8JzZq2wSE_IVRlHQIktkwIY_qhP1i74KWkNkls80QFIWha9_GTip_Dwttj44b_cCR27i6N_8HjCEa8Wdlh8Y9QNx5WIMuiOn2qmbpNYyrDKUFkND0xOmhUBrgQ/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border: 0px currentColor; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="image" width="350" /></a></div>

conferences The 2011 online K-12 conference takes place this month

Submitted by Fiona BealI have just been reading about the 2011 K-12 online conference (presumably from the USA) that will be taking place starting 28 November. I have never participated in an online conference before but would like to do so this time…

Read more »