Too many job seekers stumble through interviews as if the questions are coming out of left field. But many interview questions are to be expected. Study this list and plan your answers ahead of time so you’ll be ready to deliver them with confidence.

What Are Your Weaknesses?
This is the most dreaded question of all. Handle it by minimising your weakness and emphasising your strengths. Stay away from personal qualities and concentrate on professional traits: “I am always working on improving my communication skills to be a more effective presenter. I recently joined Toastmasters, which I find very helpful.”

Why Should We Hire You?
Summarise your experiences: “With five years’ experience working in the financial industry and my proven record of saving the company money, I could make a big difference in your company. I’m confident I would be a great addition to your team.”

Why Do You Want to Work Here?
The interviewer is listening for an answer that indicates you’ve given this some thought and are not sending out CVs just because there is an opening. For example, “I’ve selected key companies whose mission statements are in line with my values, where I know I could be excited about what the company does, and this company is very high on my list of desirable choices.”

What Are Your Goals?
Sometimes it’s best to talk about short-term and intermediate goals rather than locking yourself into the distant future. For example, “My immediate goal is to get a job in a growth-oriented company. My long-term goal will depend on where the company goes. I hope to eventually grow into a position of responsibility.”

Why Did You Leave (Or Why Are You Leaving) Your Job?
If you’re unemployed, state your reason for leaving in a positive context: “I managed to survive two rounds of corporate downsizing, but the third round was a 20 percent reduction in the workforce, which included me.”

If you are employed, focus on what you want in your next job: “After two years, I made the decision to look for a company that is team-focused, where I can add my experience.”

When Were You Most Satisfied in Your Job?
The interviewer wants to know what motivates you. If you can relate an example of a job or project when you were excited, the interviewer will get an idea of your preferences. “I was very satisfied in my last job, because I worked directly with the customers and their problems; that is an important part of the job for me.”

What Can You Do for Us That Other Candidates Can’t?
What makes you unique? This will take an assessment of your experiences, skills and traits. Summarise concisely: “I have a unique combination of strong technical skills, and the ability to build strong customer relationships. This allows me to use my knowledge and break down information to be more user-friendly.”

What Are Three Positive Things Your Last Boss Would Say About You?
It’s time to pull out your old performance appraisals and boss’s quotes. This is a great way to brag about yourself through someone else’s words: “My boss has told me that I am the best designer he has ever had. He knows he can rely on me, and he likes my sense of humour.”

What Salary Are You Seeking?
It is to your advantage if the employer tells you the range first. Prepare by knowing the going rate in your area, and your bottom line or walk-away point. One possible answer would be: “I am sure when the time comes, we can agree on a reasonable amount. In what range do you typically pay someone with my background?”

If You Were an Animal, Which One Would You Want to Be?
Interviewers use this type of psychological question to see if you can think quickly. If you answer “a bunny,” you will make a soft, passive impression. If you answer “a lion,” you will be seen as aggressive. What type of personality would it take to get the job done? What impression do you want to make?

Source:  Monster.co.uk

Healthcare recruitment consultancy 20:20 Selection Ltd is expanding with new premises and two new staff members.

Managing Director Karen Forshaw commented: “We have always considered it essential that the working environment should add value to our core function of recruiting for the pharmaceutical and medical industry. In our new location we are better prepared to address the challenges ahead.”

Managing Director Karen Forshaw commented: “We have always considered it essential that the working environment should add value to our core function of recruiting for the pharmaceutical and medical industry. In our new location we are better prepared to address the challenges ahead.”

New Recruitment Consultant Sarah Taylor has worked in the Sales and Marketing department of a private hospital, and has recruitment experience from earlier roles. She said: “20:20 Selection Ltd is a leading player in a fast-paced industry, with a unique team ethos focused on delighting the customer. It was these key features that attracted me to the company and I am delighted to be part of its success story.”

Sarah Byrom joins as Recruitment Administrator, having previously been a Recruitment Assistant for a computer game company. “Working in recruitment requires efficient and effective administration support,” she said. “I understand the importance of a slick programme which ultimately benefits our most important asset, the customer.”

Source: On Target

http://www.ontargetmag.com/article.aspx?issueID=140&articleID=1065

I was unable to attend this seminar so this is an academic response to practice based or practice led research

Practice-Based Research within a creative and cultural context is often defined as an original investigation that aims to gain new knowledge by means of practice and the outcomes of that practice. Investigation, originality and contribution to knowledge may be demonstrated through creative outcomes, which include artefacts such as images, music, designs, models, digital media, performances and exhibitions. The significance and context of the claims are validated by text, but a full understanding can only be obtained with direct reference to the creative outcomes.(1)  Practice-based research is naturally of great interest to practising artists and designers, but it is not confined to these disciplines. One may find examples in music, in software design, in engineering, in law; in fact in any subject where the result might be an artefact generated in the laboratory or workplace. (2)

Practice-led Research on the other hand, is concerned with the nature of practice and leads to new knowledge that has operational significance for that practice. The main focus of the research is to advance knowledge about practice, or to advance knowledge within practice. The results of practice-led research might be fully described in text form without the inclusion of a creative outcome. Such research includes practice as an integral part of its method and often falls within the general area of action research. The domain of practice-led research also includes research into practice in many other disciplines, such as medicine and engineering. (3)

The AHRC define such research as being research “that should bring about enhancements in knowledge and understanding in the discipline, or in related disciplinary areas. For example, if a film-maker wanted to make a film about refugees, the research questions should be about the process of making the film, not about the experience of the refugees.” (4)

(1) http://www.creativityandcognition.com
(2) Biggs, M.A.R. (2000) Editorial: the foundations of practice-based research. Working Papers in Art and Design
(3) http://www.creativityandcognition.com
(4) AHRC, Research Funding Guide, Version 1.2, February 2009

Who’s Afraid of Artistic Research? – one-day symposium about the context and methodologies of Artistic Research.

Artistic Research and Development (Artistic R & D) and Rhetoric aslaug-nyrnes-rhetoric

Learning from Experience: approaches to the experiential component of practice-based research – an outline 2004a

Six Impossible Things Before Breakfast -Dr Simon Bayly paper

Gulf Coast Community Design Studio: Spring Design/Build Studio

The GCCDS has run spring studios for the past two years. Both studios brought together students from several universities to live and work in the community of East Biloxi, Mississippi. The students benefit from being close to the work of the GCCDS because they are able to learn about community-based practice in one of the most innovative design studios in the nation. In addition, the students learn from each other as they work as a design and building team.

For the 2009 spring studio, the GCCDS will be engaging in a design/build project in East Biloxi. Director David Perkes and the other GCCDS architects will lead a house project. with a distinct family and site, and will follow team-driven methods. The students from the studio will come together for a weekly evening seminar addressing a wide variety of design issues. The house projects will be administered through Mississippi State University as described below.

Curriculum, cost, and course credits

The curriculum for the semester will be simple and pragmatic. In practice, there will be two courses: a twelve credit design/build studio, and a three credit weekly seminar. However, to meet the course credit requirements of various schools, the design/build studio can be divided into studio, construction, and an independent study. This flexibility is important to allow students from various schools to make the semester work for them.

In the previous two years the evening seminar has proven to be a great learning activity. Students and instructors meet for a shared meal and have a directed discussion about ethics, values and architecture. This reflective time is an important complement to the active learning of the building studio. We include the architects, planners and interns of the GCCDS in the seminar and also use the time to hear from invited guest speakers.

As far as registration and transfer of credits, we have flexibility to work in two ways. Students of some schools have been able to maintain their registration at their home school and transfer the course credits. Other students have registered as students of Mississippi State University for the semester. In both cases, we have been able to meet the course credit requirements for the home school.

The cost depends upon the arrangement with the home school. Our goal is for the student to be able to be part of the Biloxi studio without adding cost to their regular tuition. We have been able to do this for home schools that are able to send a portion of the student’s regular tuition to MSU. The cost difference for students that find it best to register as MSU students will depend upon the home school tuition cost. In both cases, the GCCDS budgets to receive $1200 for each student from their home school or as part of their MSU fees. These funds help pay the instructors and provide some money for studio activities.

Housing and meal arrangements

Students in both communities will be housed at volunteer camps. In previous years the living situations have added to the semester experience: the students become part of a volunteer camp, interacting with extraordinary people from other parts of the country who are dedicating their time and talent to the people of Mississippi. These volunteer camps are always evolving, and the arrangements that we had last year do not apply this year. For the past two years we have been able to avoid housing costs to the students; however, with changes to the volunteer camps we may not be able to make such an arrangement this year. Please stay tuned in as we get more information.

Next steps

If you are interested in being part of the design/build work or have any questions, please email James Wheeler: jwheeler [at] gccds.msstate.edu.

We look forward to hearing from you and hope to be able to work with you. We guarantee that it will be a life changing experience.

gulf-coast-community-design-studio-spring-design-build

2. Julia Robinson – New Orleans (1cr)

This catalyst is an opportunity for students to work on designs with Lower 9th Ward New Orleans residents.  Building upon the analysis and design completed by the New Orleans Fall Studio, students will develop designs to address urban design and housing needs experienced by the community. The plan is for us to get feedback on the fall student work from the  Get It Done Committee, and then develop designs that extend the fall work by applying the community response (designing as individuals and/or teams such things as a needed pedestrian & bicycle bridge, infill housing or the character of a commercial street).  We will present the accumulated work at the Neighborhood meeting, as well as to the local politicians whom we did not meet with on the last visit.  While in New Orleans we will learn about the ecological setting, the city and the culture by field trips to ecological sites, historic sites and neighborhoods, new projects.  If time permits we will also spend time as volunteers in the Lower 9th Ward. We will arrive in New Orleans on Sunday March 15 and leave the following Friday, March 20 (unless students want to stay longer on their own).  Students will meet once prior to the trip with the Fall semester studio group to learn about the research analysis and designs that were done in the fall.  Housing and car rental costs will be covered, but students will be expected to pay for food and airfare.

I am a Dr PH student in Boston. I am here to share my learning with other Public Health students and professionals in this field. Having the opportunity to study in a graduate school is not always possible for interested people, so I decided to share and disseminate my knowledge with people who are interested. I try to summarize the pieces that I found interesting during my journey in the school of public health. 

I was out of school for almost 10 years after I graduated from Medical School in 1995, so I know how difficult could be adjustment with the new applications in the era of information age. My plan is to summarize most of my lesson learned by June 2008 and then I will keep this blog updated with the public health challenges and practice based interventions. I try to write about the controversial aspects in public health, practice based approaches, new findings, and the sources of grants for students and professionals, events, practicum and job opportunities, and everything we need to learn for conducting a professional mission on the ground. 

 I am from Middle East and I am interested in working on countries in the Middle East and North Africa region, so you may find most of my examples from this region. Also since we are heading to the presidential election in the States in Nov 2008 and one of the most important parts of debates among the candidates is about Health Care in this country I would like to spend time and learn about candidates and parties viewpoints in this aspect.

I am looking forward to hear and learn from your viewpoints and your comments, your critics are the priceless gifts to my journey and add a lot to the value of this Blog.  Thank you