CAREERS
YOUR NEW JOB; Master interviews with help from Toastmasters by Peggy Schmidt
02/07/2000 Boston Herald Page 061 (Copyright 2000)

Q: I'm not very good at thinking on my feet, and I'd like to improve my ability to think fast and respond coherently in a job interview.Do you have any suggestions for how I can do that?

A: You're smart to identify thinking on your feet as a critical interview skill, and, better yet, to do something about it before you start interviewing. One inexpensive option is to join a local Toastmasters International group. Their mission is to help individuals speak more confidently in group situations. Look in the business listings of your White Pages under Toastmasters for more information about a group in your area or go to the Web site www. toastmasters .org. Another option: take the 12-week Dale Carnegie Course,which focuses on building self-confidence and using the power of enthusiasm, among other things. To find out more about locations and courses, go to the Web site www.dalecarnegie.com. Click on "Courses" and then "Performance Improvement." Or call (781) 894-2700 for information about Boston area courses.

Public speaking courses, most of which teach you how to do both prepared and spontaneous speaking in front of a group, are also offered at many adult education divisions of universities, community colleges and high schools.

Q: In an interview, is there a way to let employers know that you're hard-working and have a can-do attitude without saying so
directly?

A: The best way to communicate those qualities is to cite examples of when and what you have done that was above and beyond the call of duty. If the interviewer doesn't specifically ask a question that allows you to do so, you might say, "I'd like to give you an idea of the kind of employee I am," and then describe what you did.

Try to give a context for what you're saying so that the person who is listening can clearly grasp the message you want to relay. You might say, for example: "As a marketing assistant, my responsibilities included doing research and drafting reports of my findings to the two marketing managers I worked for. But at least twice a month, a big report would be due, and I would volunteer to do whatever was necessary - word processing, proofreading, even making copies and collating - to make sure the reports got out on time."

Job hunters who communicate their willingness to pitch in whenever necessary make a good impression.


Ruth's favorite web sites on job interviewing:
MIT's CompQuick
http://web.mit.edu/personnel/irt/compquick/

101  Commonly Asked Interview Questions
http://tigger.cc.uic.edu/~aerobin/libjob/interview.html

Interview experts sample interviewing questions
http://www.interviewexperts.com/interviewquestions/interviewquestions.htm

Interview.net Interview Question Bank
http://www.job-interview.net/Bank/QuestionBank.htm

The Art Of The Interview Question
http://www.job-interview.net/Bank/QuestionBank.htm

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