Fearless interviewing

CONTENTS; ACKNOWLEDGMENTS; INTRODUCTION Why Are Interviews So Scary?; Christine's Story; My Story; CHAPTER ONE An Assault against Anxiety; The Most Common Interview Fears; Strategy versus Memorization; Interviewing Can Be Fun!; CHAPTER TWO Building Your Skills Arsenal; Assessing Your Skills; General Skills; Using General Skills in an Interview for a Career Change; Using General Skills to Get a New Job; General Skills Inventory; Job-Specific Skills; Job-Specfic Skills Inventory; Personal Traits; Personal Traits Inventory; Competencies; What Are Some of the Most Valued Competencies? Your GiftSkills Summary Page; CHAPTER THREE Q Statements: Your Secret Weapon; What Is a Q Statement?; Quality or Quantity?; Let's Get Specific; Q Statements for General Skills; Q Statements for Job-Specific Skills; Q Statements for Personal Traits; Q Statements for Competencies; Q Statements for Your Gift; CHAPTER FOUR Research: What Separates the Hired from the Not Hired; An Interview Is Like a First Date; Why Research a Company?; All the Information Is Right at Your Fingertips; How to Get Your Hands on a Computer; Company Web Sites; Company Mission Statements; Company Culture. Targeting Your Skills to the Company's NeedsUse Your Library Card as a Job Search Tool; CHAPTER FIVE Winding Up Your Strategy; Recommendations; References; The Presentation Packet; Punctuality; The Preinterview Checklist; CHAPTER SIX Managing the First Twenty Seconds of the Interview; First Impressions; Facial Expression; What to Wear; Men; Women; Your Handshake; Your Greeting; Your Attitude; You Passed the Test!; CHAPTER SEVEN Answering Interview Questions; Straightforward Questions; Your Positioning Statement: 'Tell Me about Yourself '; Other Common Straightforward Questions. Questions behind QuestionsWhat-If Questions; Stress Questions; Technical Stress Questions; Illegal Questions; Questions to Ask the Employer; Stalling and Accessing; Handling Questions in Nontraditional Interviews; Group Interviews; Body Language; CHAPTER EIGHT Negotiating Your Salary; The Negotiating Challenge; Common Fears about Negotiating; One Job, Two Different Salaries; The Four Bargaining Factors; Leticia's Story; Open-Door Negotiating; What Open-Door Salary Negotiation Is Not; The Rules of Open-Door Negotiating; The Salary Discussion; Benefits and Your Total Compensation Package. Creative NegotiationsCHAPTER NINE Following Up: Juggling Multiple Offers; Focus Letters; How to Compose a Focus Letter; The Format of Your Focus Letter; Tips to Remember about Focus Letters; Follow-Up Calls; Multiple Offers; Values Assessment; Evaluating Offers; CHAPTER TEN Sample Interviews; Jerry Aronson, Marketing Manager; Sarah Auschansky, Information Technology Engineer; Kei Soto, Director of Launch Operations; CHAPTER ELEVEN Practice Questions; CONCLUSION Confidence; INDEX; ABOUT THE AUTHOR.