It’s already mid-June; if you haven’t gotten a part-time job or role, it’s time to line up some interviews. Before you start applying haphazardly, though, you need to make sure you’re able to ace those interviews and get offers aplenty.
While there are many factors in getting a job, including applying for the right roles and managing your online profile, there is also a plethora of tricks available when it comes to interview preparation. What to wear, what to say, what to do…you could spend days looking through articles about interviews, but it can all be summarized easily here:
Prepare For The Part- Time Job You’re Interviewing For
When it comes to interviews for part-time jobs, it can be tough to figure out what questions to anticipate. The easiest way to figure it out is familiarise yourself with the key responsibilities of the role you’re interviewing for, and ensure that you know how to answer questions regarding the role.
Learn the key responsibilities
For example, you might be interviewing for a retail job, such as a shop assistant, which requires knowledge in managing a cash register, dealing with customers, and folding clothes. In order to impress the interviewer at the store (which is most likely the location of your face-to-face interview), you’ll need to know at least half of the responsibilities, or be able to describe prior experiences that are similar to the responsibility. You might not know how to manage a cash register, but you can discuss your ability to do other money-related activities. Or, maybe you’re not a master clothes-folder, but you’re able to do stock-taking efficiently. All of this adds up to portray a potential employee who has relevant experience, and has shown prior willingness to learn.
Another case in point is regarding a hospitality role or F&B job, such as a bartender. You might never have bartended in your life, but you can easily learn how to make a great cup of coffee or a good cocktail, and use that as an example of your proactiveness. This could be enough to fulfil the ‘interest in the F&B industry’ section of the job description. For a part-time admin job such as administrative assistant, too, you could read an article on minutes-taking, or dig up previous administrative duties you’ve done to share with the interviewer.
In short, make sure you know the responsibilities you’re interviewing for, and ensure that you sound up to the task of the part-time role you’re applying for.
Know your availability
Another part of preparing for a part-time job includes knowing your own availability. Most part-time roles include information about the shift work or time frame that the successful applicant has to work. Even if the applicant is perfect, a bad fit in terms of schedule will automatically eliminate him for the recruiter or interviewer.
Before you go for the interview, take a look at your schedule, and remember what your job availability is. Since most part-time openings need an immediate applicant, it becomes imperative to answer, in detail (and quickly!) what your availability is. Interviewers won’t be able to wait to keep you in their list of top applicants if you need to go back and check your schedule.
In the end, the onus is on you to ensure that you prepare sufficiently for your interview; if you’d like to apply for some part-time jobs now, why not try out GrabJobs today?
Browse Part-Time Jobs on GrabJobs!
