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I am afraid that in my interview I get asked Can we contact you contact previous employer. Interview questions, such as this are not easy to answer!

What happens if I say no, I really cannot let them call him. (We had a bad relationship). Interview questions Contact previous employer ? Can we verify your income ? Is there a way to avoid these questions in the first place, maybe by asking a lot of questions ?

The hardest interview questions

can we contact previous employer ?
can we verify your income ?
do you have any references ?
can we conatact previous universtiy ?

Any help by your experts appreciated.

Camilla · Posted: Thu Jun 23, 2005 6:00 pm Post subject:

You're right, you can't just say no.

What you can do, however, is explain why you'd prefer they didn't contact him.

You may well lose your chance of the job by being honest but if you just say no, you'll have definitely lost it so it's worth giving it a go.

Explain what happened to produce the bad blood between you and add, with confidence, that you know you're able to do a good job and that you're looking for an opportunity to move on and put the past behind you.

~Camilla

TINA · Posted: Thu Jun 23, 2005 11:16 pm Post subject: Tough Interviewing Questions

Yes, you just mentioned some tough situations. Fortunately, the new person here who is interviewing you does not need to know your private details or reasons. Chances are the new interviewer probably won't contact or call the past employers anyways. My guess is they are only wanting permission to do so, and employers sometimes only ask questions such as that to see your reaction and how you respond to the questions.

Try this, Pretend like you would be more than willing and hope that they DO actually contact this past employer, as you were a great worker and they liked you. Show THIS tone of voice instead of embarrassment. Say, yes, you may certainly contact any of my references at any time that you wish to. OR, sure, that would be fine. AND SMILE!! Be sure to smile!! Be agreeable and be a good communicator. Look at that interviewer in the eye and say to them something friendly.

SELL YOURSELF!! Believe in yourself!

TINA

Someone just told me that they applied for one job FOUR times before they were hired. I know I had read and heard similar responses from others in the past, that they had to keep going back and applying at a certain job each time they had an opening. Finally, persistence seems to pay off and the prospective employer MAY be willing to give you a chance, as you kept coming back and you won't give up! They want someone WILLING to work and your persistence coming back all the time shows them you are trying hard.

7days · Posted: Fri Jul 15, 2005 5:57 am Post subject: References

Just had two phone interviews and they asked about references. One of them I had previously sent in the email SIX names of past co-workers that they could contact and told them they could contact any of those references and that should they need more than six references, they can contact me and I will furnish them with more references. Well I didn't even get that job which was an at-home job and I was way qualified and still didn't get the job.

The next phone interview the person wanted references and I told them two people at the last two places where I worked where they could contact them for references. I explained who they were at the company (Job Title) and then they asked, Do you think they'd give you a good reference? Well I gave them the truth each time. The ones I was very certain would give me a good references I told them yes, they were a good friend and we were very close and they would give me a good reference. The one that I wasn't sure about I just said to their question as to whether or not they thought this supervisor would give me a good reference, "I hope so." I had to be truthful. They wanted to know why I left the jobs and what I was doing now and I was very truthful there as well. Honesty is the best policy. It's a bit different doing phone interviews as you don't get to see or meet the person or see the office so you are just going by the voice and their tone of voice.

Camilla · Posted: Fri Jul 15, 2005 11:09 am Post subject:

Manik Thapar · Posted: Wed Jul 20, 2005 1:46 am Post subject: Hi!

Hi!

Some of these questions can be tough. You want to make sure that you dont come across as trying to avoid the question. If the interviewer thinks that you are trying to avoid the question, his falgs might go up. Even if he was not going to call your previous employer, he migh now

What you want to do is, let the interviewer know the truth before the question ever comes up. You can say that "I loved my previous job, and worked hard at it, but due to some differences between my boss and me (or) but I did not see eye to eye with my boss, and this put me in a difficult position"

You never ever want to talk ill about your previous employer, it reflects poorly on you. Find the right oppertunity and make it clear to the interviewer that reason you left your previous job was not due to lack of comptence, but due to varied opinion between your boss and you.

If you were fired for lack of competance! Hard luck, but if your were not you could explain your self if the interviewer pursues the topic further. In most cases he or she will leave it at that and move on to the next topic.

The advantage of this approach is that it tells the interviewer that you can think for your self and are not afraid to question authority.

Be confident, and believe in your capabilities!

Regards & All the best

Manik Thapar

7days · Posted: Wed Jul 20, 2005 5:49 am Post subject: Be Honest

Yes, of course a person should always be honest and no, they shouldn't pretend or be an actor at an interview. I was just trying to be positive and to offer some friendly advice to smile and be kind and optimistic, to think highly of themselves regardless of why they had to leave past employment, or whether they had to furnish references or answer questions they do not want to answer. It is a bit hard to even think of an answer to some of the interviewer's questions when someone is nervous, and I was always good in the past with interviews. Usually I could "feel" whether I wanted to work there when I either called them or visited them, or was at the interview even before they offered me a job. Sometimes it takes applying for a few jobs and having several interviews before being offered a position. Although years ago it seemed simple to find work, now it is a bit hard as there are less jobs available and more people seeking work. I also know it must be hard for an interviewer to choose just one person when they have hundreds of people applying for a job. Simply weeding out people and then deciding on who to call in for interviews must be quite a challenge indeed. I also remember being on the other side of the interview stage, when I was already working at a certain office and someone came in to fill out applications, and later they reviewed it and the boss came in and came up with right away an answer why he wouldn't hire them after the interview or even before. "They talked too much, we'd never get any work done as they'd talk too much." Or, "they had too many jobs" Or, "they wanted insurance and benefits."

Cameron

Cameron

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