APPLICATIONS AND INTERVIEWS

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

In different countries, different conventions apply to the process of job application and interviews. In most parts of the world, it's common to submit a typed or laserprinted CV (cur­riculum vitae — British English) or resume (American English). This contains all the unchanging information about you: your education, background and work experience. This usually accom­panies a letter of application, which in some countries is expected to be handwritten, not wordprocessed. A supplementary infor­mation sheet containing information relevant to this particular job may also be required, though this is not used in some countries.

Many companies expect all your personal information to be entered on a standard application form.

Unfortunately, no two application forms are alike, and filling in each one may present unexpected difficulties.

Some personnel departments believe that the CV and appli­cation letter give a better impression of a candidate than a form.

There are different kinds of interviews: traditional one-to-one interviews, panel interviews where one or more candidate are interviewed by a panel of interviewers and even 'deep-end' in­terviews where applicants have to demonstrate how they can cope in actual business situations. The atmosphere of an interview may vary from the informal to the formal and interviewers may take a friendly, neutral or even hostile approach.

Different interviewers use different techniques and the only rules that applicants should be aware of may be ‘Expect the unexpected' and ‘Be yourself’!

Progress interviews are interviews where employees have a chance to review the work they are doing and to set objectives for the future. Such interviews usually take place after a new employee has been working with a company for several months, and after that they may take place once or twice a year.

In different countries, and in different trades and different grades, the salary that goes with a job may be only part of the package: extra benefits like a company car or cheap housing loans, bonuses paid in a 'thirteenth month', company pension schemes, free canteen meals, long holidays or flexible working hours may all contribute to the attractiveness of a job.

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Date: 2014-12-21; view: 2672