In the capstone project, you will combine the skills you’ve learned in the prior four courses of the specialization to polish your elevator speeches, complete your resumes - including multiple versions for different targets - complete your story file, identify possible jobs or careers, perform the research you have learned to do, write suitable cover letters, and ideally land a job! You will: 1. Develop a personal marketing plan and campaign for getting interviews. 2. Identify at least three organizations with open positions for which you want to apply. 3. Research those organizations and positions. 4. Prepare pitch sheets and J.I.S.T. cards (mini-resumes) targeting those positions. 5. Complete your resume, and if necessary complete multiple versions to target each position. 6. Write appropriate cover letters for the positions. 7. Record and evaluate responses to a set of standard interview questions. 8. Record and evaluate responses to a set of predictable behavioral interview questions. 9. Record and evaluate a response to one situational interview question. 10. Record and evaluate a response to one wild-card question. As the specialization has focused throughout on the real-world skills you need to research yourself, the market, and a company and has given you strategies and tools to prepare for and succeed in an interview, the capstone project should align with what you have been trained for and position you to land the job you want!
Why Are You Interested in This Position?
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来自 University of Maryland, College Park 的课程
How To Land the Job You Want (Capstone Project)
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从本节课中
Responding to Standard Interview Questions
This week you practice five standard questions that you can expect in most interviews. You adapt your responses to the specifics of the positions you are targeting.
与讲师见面
Charles DuquetteLecturer/Marketing Coordinator
Maryland English Institute
[MUSIC]
Why are you interested in this position?
In this lesson you'll learn about strategies behind the asking and
answering of this question.
You might hear it as Why should we hire you?
Or on a scale of one to five, rate your interest in this job.
In whatever form you hear it, when a hiring manager asks this question,
your strategy should be to respond to what the hiring manager really wants to know.
Why is the hiring manager asking that question?
If you search the website Quora.com for the common reasons why
software engineers get fired, you'll find that besides incompetency,
one reason jumps out, a bad team fit.
A bad culture fit, one manager went so far as to say in my opinion
a good fit is a 99% of cases one important than being the best coder in the room.
So the hiring manager wants to know that if you are a good fit for the company.
That means as you answer this question the hiring manager will listen
to your attitude, listen to your interest in the company and
of course listen to how you sell yourself.
Your strategy in answering this question should be to convey
your professionalism and communicate your ability to work on a team.
You have the opportunity to demonstrate the research you've done about the company
and the thought you've put into the position.
You'll have the opportunity to convey to the hiring manager the skills and
experience you can bring to solving his or her needs.
Let's listen to how John handles this question.
>> John, what interests you about this position?
>> Well, first I'm attracted to United Health because you're an industry leader.
Your consistent ranking in the top tier of healthcare companies
tells me that you have high standards, standards of excellence and so do I.
I want to be part of a company that strives for
excellence, especially on a mission as important as healthcare.
So yeah, to be able to apply my skills and background in service of a mission to
innovate healthcare, to be able to impact our society on a large scale, improving
service to healthcare providers, Improving service to healthcare recipients.
If I can be a part of an organization that delivers all of that,
then that's absolutely a career I have to go for.
That's using my strengths to make a better world.
Not only would I be helping others lead healthier lives,
I would also be contributing to the growth of a top tier company.
Plus there's the benefit of professional developement.
>> How so? How would this position help you develop
professional?
>> Well, this position aligns perfectly with the direction I want to
move in my career.
First, building relationships and
delivering results to clients is what I want to be known for.
More importantly though, I'm passionate about healthcare and
helping others lead healthier lives.
The more people are in good health, the better it will be for
our society, the economy, and our future, really.
I feel that I can make a significant contribution to your mission
by shepherding new solutions that will come from the innovative teams at
United Health.
Healthcare and health insurance, it touches so many lives so it's important to
me to work toward a better future that promotes a healthy life.
Essentially, I see this position as a perfect blend of my professional goals and
personal passion.
>> You might want to go back and listen to John's answer again.
Did you hear evidence to confirm that he had done his research
prior to the interview?
Notice he used several key phrases from the job at, for example, he said
that the company consistently ranked in the top tier and he also mentioned that
shepherding new solutions will come from the innovative teams at United Health.
In doing this, John not only demonstrates his interest in the company but also that
he has carefully researched the position and is planning to grow with the company.
This translates directly into your job search.
The more informed you are, the more you demonstrate a genuine interest
In the company you're interviewing with, that's an important point.
It's easy to get caught up wondering if they're interested in you but
they want to know if you are interested in them.
Dale Carnegie was an American writer and
a developer of famous courses in salesmanship.
He wrote the book, How To Win Friends and Influence People,
from which this quote comes, in 1936.
That book remains an international bestseller because its advice
is as true today as it was 80 years ago.
John also makes it clear to the interviewer
how his strengths fit the needs of the company.
He does not expect the interviewer to make that connection.
He offers concrete evidence to the interviewer by connecting
his experience and skills to the needs stated in the job posting.
One thing John does not address that he could have
is how he feels about working in Minnesota and working for a large company.
John did his undergraduate degree at the University of Michigan.
So you could have pointed that out to further show his interest.
He does hint at wanting to work in a large company
when he talks about professional development.
But he could have sold that more clearly as well.
So where do you start when preparing for the interview?
You learn in module one how to conduct your basic research.
Here, the key point is to research the language of the company and
to integrate some of the wording from the job description into your natural speech.
Carefully read the job description, use a highlighter to mark collocations.
Remember, from the first course that a collocation is a group of words
that are commonly used together.
Think of the job description as a treasure trove of language
that you can use in your interviewing.
With the web, you can research how pieces of language are used and
then add that language to your covert rehearsal practice.
If you've forgotten what covert rehearsal is or how it works, go back and
review the last module in the first course in this specialization.
For example, John used ranked in the top tier in his response.
This is a common phrase used across many industry.
You can search the web using quotation marks around the phrase.
The quotation marks tell the search engine, find the exact phrase.
You can then research sentences where that phrase is used.
The phrase, in the top tier, produces over two million hits using Google.
That tells you it's a common collocation.
The phrase, ranks in the top tier is less common but
you can learn that it goes with the preposition of.
The top tier of and a plural noun follows the preposition.
John used, in the top tier of healthcare companies.
But you can use the phrase with any kind of company.
The key is to do your research.
As a non native speaker you may not know the key phrases
that are in the industry you're targeting.
Some of the phrases to look for are shown here.
Industry terms and
industry abbreviations should become part of your professional vocabulary.
Specific company terms represent pieces of language you will need to
become comfortable with when you interviewed with specific companies.
If you look at your research as a language treasure hunt
that will help you enjoy the learning experience.
When the interviewer asks you why you're interested in the position,
make sure you are genuinely interested and then convey how you feel.
Show the interviewer that you know what the company and position has to offer.
By being genuinely interested,
you should be able to convey your interest naturally and convincingly.
And that's an easy way to help you stand out from the crowd.
[MUSIC]
