Interviewing Tips

Good day to all! Recently I have been blogging here about interesting articles related to IT and usually some connection to open source technology. I thought we here at Relay|technology could offer some great insight to the mad world of interviewing. We are a staffing firm and knowing interviews and being able to coach people through interviews are just a couple services we can provide to our candidates and clients. Below are the top interviewing tips along with a link to an article to elaborate on them. Please enjoy and if you need any help or advise let us know!

Top Interviewing Tips:

1) Practice: Practice makes perfect, everyone knows that, at why should an interview process be any different. Set aside time to practice in the mirror, with a partner, or whatever will best prepare you in your mind because when you feel most ready to interview; you will do your best.

2) Prepare: To best prepare yourself make sure you leave enough time to review all materials that pertain to the interview. Look over and know every inch of your resume, the job description, details on the company and also the people you are interviewing with. This will bring you confidence, and knowledge that will show through in a interview.

3) Get Ready: Make sure you have everything in order before your interview. Often times it is a good idea to lay out everything you will need the night before; suite, resumes, briefcase, portfolio, etc.. Make a checklist to walk down to ensure you are best prepared as possible. DO NOT be running around the day of trying to pick up dry cleaning or printing resumes or anything else for that matter. The last thing you want to be on the day of an interview is rushed!

4) Be On Time: It still amazes me how many people are late to interviews. This is one of the most unprofessional things to do in an interview. Sometimes it is not a bad is a to drive to the interview location a day or two before to make sure you know how to get there. There is nothing wrong with getting to an interview 5-10 minutes early or even drive around the block a couple times to go over your resume again. The last thing you should be in an interview is LATE!

5) Calm Down: It is much easier said than done, I understand. But remember that the reason why you prepared so much is why you should be calm. Try to make the interview a conversation between two professionals not an interrogation. Take a deep breath and keep eye contact. Make sure you listen to the questions asked to you and try to answer them as fully as you can. Lastly, don't be afraid to take a quick second to think about your answer before talking. It is not so bad to take 5 to 10 seconds to think of a great answer as opposed to blurting out a bad one.

7) Show What You Know: A good reason why you should you do so much research on the company and role your interviewing for is to reference that during an interview. This shows what you know about the company and role you're interview shows professionalism and that you care enough to look into it before coming. This could play out very well for you in the end of the process.

8) Follow Up: No matter if it is your first interview, your last or even just got done excepting an offer; you should always follow up via e-mail, letter, or some thank you note. Show the company you are going the extra mile and act in a professional manner. The thank you note could be the one thing that sets you apart from another interviewer. Or the note could be the tiny reminder to the manager or whom ever was interviewing you that you're the person for the job.

Please take what you can from the information above and do your best! The best tip I can give anyone is to be yourself. you will find the right job for you.

For more information go to the following link:
http://jobsearch.about.com/cs/interviews/a/jobinterviewtip.htm

Joe Catalano
RELAY|technology

Hackers to Destroy Facebook!

Today I read an article and watched a YouTube video form the group who is telling all that they will destroy Facebook on November 5th 2011. I really don't know what to call it other than strange. A group's hatred towards a social media is a little absurd and unneeded. The claim that Facebook is holding all this very private information and will always keep it or even sell it to a government agency even after your profile and account is deleted is not a reason to "destroy." The beauty about social media is the user's free will to choose. No one has ever been forced to create a Facebook account. No one puts a gun to your head or threatens your life to set up an account. If you are willing to have your private information on their network then you are responsible to understand what that could mean for your information in the future.

If any social media is selling information to different governments I do agree that it is a problem that should be solved. However, If you are not doing anything that would be considered bad or illegal then who cares? I would find it hard to believe that someone or some agency could steal my identity with one of my old pictures from college. I doubt any foreign country looking to harm me or the country I live in would find my interest in technology, my favorite music, my favorite foods, or where I graduated from college useful in any way.

Overall, if you have not seen the video or read up on any newscasts or articles on this please do. If the group making threats towards Facebook or any other social media sees how many people think this is ridiculous then maybe we can put all this nonsense behind us. On a side note, I think it would be really funny if there was a group on Facebook that liked the "Hacktivist" group making threats.

http://www.businessinsider.com/anonymous-facebook-2011-8