Answering Job Interview Questions on Future Plans

When you are interviewing you will be asked about your future plans. This is a question that selecting officials use to see where you plan on “being” in a determined amount of time.

You will be asked: What are your long-term goals? What are your long-term career objectives? This is not an opportunity for you to “spill your guts” keep it professional and stay focused. Think about this question before you interview, you shouldn’t take more than 5 – 7 minutes. Talk about your professional goals and what educational aspirations you have. DON’T talk about your personal life or what personal projects you are working on.
Selecting officials want to know: How do you plan to achieve your career goals? They don’t want details, this is a rhetorical question that is meant for them to see if you know how to lay out goals and patterns on how to achieve goals. This is actually a tactic to see how you focus on objects and how you plan to achieve objects. Again, keep it professional not personal – stay focused.

The final future plan questions the selecting official will ask: What do you see yourself doing in five years from now? and What plans do you have for continuing your education? They questions help selecting officials to determine what kind of professional “drive” and motivation you actually have. It is my personal advice to answer all interview questions, keep in mind you can “respectfully” decline to answer any interview questions that you don’t feel comfortable asking. If you don’t plan on continuing your education or haven’t thought about what your goals are for the next five years, it’s okay – use your imagination and stay focused on the professional conversation.

For more information on answering job interview questions check out my Pep Talks Series

Answering Job Interview Questions on Education

Education comes in all arrays of quality. We all know that education is vital in today’s job market and education is important for many different reasons. The fact is you don’t have to have a degree to be considered educated, but you do have to have proof that you completed the educational program that which you are claiming you acquired the knowledge from.

During interviews selecting officials will want to know: What courses you liked most while attending school? and What courses did you least like? This question is steered toward the selecting official finding out more about you and what types of interests you have. This could be a mode of examining your personality traits or it could mean more. It all depends on what type of job you are interviewing for.

The next question of: Why did you choose your course of study? This question is pretty self explanatory, in the fact that the selecting official wants to know why you choose the course of study that you did. This question is asked with the intentions of understanding the applicant’s passion. Be honest and be short. Don’t give a long answer; the selecting official doesn’t want to know your whole life story. Keep it short and sweet unless they ask additional questions, if more questions are asked in this regard – make is short and sweet.

The selecting official wants to know if you prepared for the interview and what you did to prepare. So they will ask you to discuss your background in terms of how it has prepared you for the job you are applying. This is a question of character and needs to be explained in general detail. For example, if you were applying for a information technician position you would discuss your certifications and repeat your answer of your educational background this would be of great help. Talk about what you desired to be as a young adult and elaborate job history details – even if you have already discussed your job history – repeat yourself. Selecting officials love it when you repeat facts, because it reassures them you are telling the truth.

REMEMBER: BE HONEST. You will be selected over another candidate who wasn’t as truthful. The truth will allow you to shine and become employed faster than not being honest at all.

For more information on answering job interview questions check out my Pep Talk Books

Saint Leo University Technology Showcase

Saint Leo University hosted a “Technology Showcase” on August 19, 2013, at the Main Campus in the Donald R. Tapia, School of Business building. It was an honor to stroll upon the campus grounds, which I earned my Associates in Arts, Bachelors in Business and Masters in Business. All professors and staff were invited to attend and learn about all of the new aged technology for higher learning.

The Technology Showcase featured tons of information for all Saint Leo staff and students to learn about. Some of the technologies included: Smart Boards, video teaching, Prezi and eCollege workshops. The Technology Showcase provided the chance for inaction with “how” all of the technology worked and functioned. The presentation provided professors with options to create richer learning environments for our students. This

Technology Showcase provided useful information and practical interactive features, BRAVO!  Thank you to Saint Leo University for a wonderful event!

For more information about Saint Leo University go to www.saintleo.edu

Photography by:  Jenice Armstead

Saint Leo School of Business

Saint Leo School of Business

Saint Leo - Military Heritage

Saint Leo – Military Heritage

Saint Leo University 2013 Technology Showcase

Saint Leo University 2013 Technology Showcase

Applying for Government Jobs

Job security is important. People need job stability and benefits. There is job security in government positions, along with providing benefits and more. Many government agencies are receiving special hiring funding for creating new jobs in all career fields of the federal sector.

Government agencies are having problems finding eligible and qualified people to fill the positions. That’s right! Government agencies are having problems finding candidates, because the public isn’t applying for the government jobs. The positions that are needed to be filled range from: grounds keepers, administration assistants, secretaries, engineers, forest rangers, information technicians, legal assistants and the list goes on and on. Many people who are taking advantage of opportunities, being found qualified, and ultimately hired into the governmental industry, and you can too.

There are some keys factors when it comes to applying to government positions. First of all, you need to create or update a profile on the main “free” government website USAJOBs. Most federal government jobs are posted on this website for the public to apply for. Although, some federal agencies fill jobs using private sector staffing agencies, most use USAJOBs as their main job announcement forum. USAJOBs allows applicants to look for specific positions, and the application process is extremely easy to follow.

Search for your desire job, directly apply to any job announcement that is posted to the public and upload your documents. Applicants can conduct an advance search which allows for exact location and salary preferences to be determined by the applicant. For more information on how to apply for government jobs, check out my book “10 Tips for Applying to Government Jobs.”