Talent Scout Professionals, Inc.

Your Strategic Resource Partner and Talent Agent

 Current page : Home      Job Seekers      Ask a Talent Scout

Ask A Talent Scout

Do you have a career question?  or questions about interviewing?  or your resume?  Our Talent Scouts have many years of experience and they will be glad to provide answers to any of your career questions.  Please submit your questions here.
Recently Submitted Questions and Answers
I will be interviewing with a local high-tech company for an engineering position.  It's a business casual company.  Should I wear a suit to the interview?  What would be appropriate to wear to the interview?  David - San Jose, CA
As a general rule of thumb, it is best to dress how the rest of the company dresses.  In this case, since the company is business casual, a suit may be considered over dressed.  I would suggest wearing a casual collared shirt such as a golf shirt and casual cotton trousers such as Dockers for men and a sensible blouse with casual trousers or skirt for women would be appropriate.  To be safe, ask the company about their dress code.  In any case, no matter how casual the company, I never recommend for any applicant to show up wearing shorts, t-shirts, flip-flops or any attire that would be deemed inappropriate or overly revealing.  Remember, you are trying to make a good impression with your potential new employer and you worked hard to market your skills.  Why not spend some time on how to package your appearance to be equally impressive? 
Is it appropriate to ask my interviewer questions?
It's absolutely a good idea to have questions for your interviewer.  The questions to ask your interviewer should never be random or off the top of your head.  Instead, take some time prior to your interview to formulate your questions.  Write them down on paper and take them with you to your interview.  Also, choose questions that are appropriate/related to the job or company, provide helpful information toward your job selection, and shows the interviewer you have high interest in the job and company.  Before asking a question, wait until the end of the interview or until the interviewer invites to begin your inquiries.
What is behavioral interviewing and how can I prepare myself for a behavioral interview?
Many companies are now utilizing various behavioral interviewing techniques to help them assess job seekers.  The premise behind behavioral interviews is that employers believe how you behaved/reacted in the past in a particular situation is how you will mostly likely behave in the future in a similar situation.  Most behavioral interview questions will ask you to describe a real life example, indicating the problem encountered, the solution implemented and the result gained. 
 
The best way to answer any behavioral intervew question is: 1) Listen to the question carefully (usually there may be mutliple parts to the question).  If needed, write the questions down and reread it before attempting to answer.  2) Use an example from your current experience, job related preferred, but a personal experience may work as well if it can strongly answer the question.  3) Use the STAR method to organize your answer and to appropriately answer most behavioral questions (please see our resources area for links to sites that will provide more information on this subject). 4) Be prepared for follow-up questions from the interviewer that may "probe" deeper into your answer for clarification. 5) Most importantly, choose an example that results in a positive outcome.  Do not choose an example where you were unable to get to the goal.
Question 4
Answer 4