Response to Articles

As I read through several of the articles on the website given, I came across many interesting ideas and hints about the interview process. The two articles I chose to focus my blog on were "Four Questions to Ask a Potential Manager" and "How to Answer the Toughest Interview Questions." These two articles addressed some of the things that I think I would be worried about at an interview.
Sometimes, when I am put on the spot with a tough question, I freeze and my mind goes blank and I cannot think of anything to say, or I do not give the best answer I could. The article about answering tough questions gave some good tips for that. It said to not be too specific when answering questions about your future but to answer very generally, referring to your personal values and broad professional goals. If asked about salary, the article suggested to first try to deflect the question by asking another question, such as the general salary for the job being sought. If the interviewer is persistent, the article suggests giving a range, but not backing down too much. This is one question for which it is very important to be prepared. I thought it was interesting that the article suggested practicing in front of a mirror and talking about your strengths and why you should be hired. This is a good idea because I personally would feel like I was boasting when answering this question, so practice would definitely be good. Lastly, when asked a seemingly silly question, the key is to not freeze but think quickly and rationally and then be able to reasonably why you picked what you did. I think these were all good tips to prepare for questions likely to come up during an interview.
The other article I read discussed some potential questions to ask the interviewer or potential manager. When I am in a situation and someone asks if I have questions, I usually say no because I cannot think of anything to ask. This article gave me an idea of questions that I could plan to ask ahead of time. Asking these would help me seem prepared and well-informed and sincerely interested in the position. The questions mentioned in this article would also help me to get a good idea of how my personality and goals and beliefs would mesh with those of my potential manager.
Reading these and other articles gave me some good insight into the interview process and provided several ideas for both questions and answers that will definitely benefit me when I interview for jobs in the future and when I do my mock interview for this class. I think I will be better prepared to both answer and ask questions that will help me be a better potential employee and hopefully get the job I want.