If you don’t hear from a company 2-3 weeks after you send your letter / E-mail, feel free to contact them by phone or E-mail.
Don’t be rude, be polite and just explain who you are, and that you where wondering if they where finished with the selection procedure.
If you phone everyday, you will be seen as a pain in the backside, but a courtesy call doesn’t do any harm, and let them know that you are still interested.
If you get invited for an interview, confirm in a letter e-mail, phone call that you are available on that time and place (or not if it doesn’t suit you that day).
If you let them know that you are still interested but the time or the day doesn’t suit you, most companies will make new arrangements, or keep you at least on file, if you do a “no show” and haven’t informed them at least 24 hours before, your file get stored in the famous shredder.
Be on time for an interview, but never too early or to late!
- To early means that you cannot plan your day.
- To late means the same, plus you are not interested
Be around 5 minutes before your time there, if you are to early (bad planning) check where the venue is, drive around the corner, check all your documents etc and report on time.
If you run late, because of unforeseen circumstances, inform the interviewer by phone, don’t tell him BS, and don’t tell him your lost, you’re the driver in the end, makes not a good impression if you got lost before you started.
In the interview, introduce yourself (a decent handshake does never go amiss) and wait until they tell you to sit down.
Sit straight and look at least interested, watch your body language!
Everybody is nervous at an interview, and the interviewer tries to prick through that to get the best picture of you.
If you sit with your arms crossed in front of you, means you are closed and have a barrier that makes it hard to communicate with you.
If your arms are hanging beside your body, means you’re not interested, the trick is to have your underarms slightly resting on the table with you hand palms half showing, this means that you are open and have nothing to hide.
It’s pure psychology but it can make the first impression go either way, don’t force it but if you can manage to relax and be open and you sit in that way you are on the right road.
Keep in mind, many times an interview is hanging on the first 5 minutes, if your first impression is good, than you don’t have to work so hard to get the rest ok.
Keep respect for your interviewer, Transport world is a very small community and you never know when your roads cross again.
You can find him the biggest ■■■■■■, but never show it.
Listen what they tell you, answer their questions as good as you can, if you don’t know it, be honest about it, nobody knows everything.
Ask you questions, but don’t challenge the interviewer(s) that is not in your favour.
If you have questions you want to ask, write them down on a piece of paper and take them with you, the interviewer will see that you are well prepared, which gives you another brownie point.
If you don’t understand the answer, tell them, there are no stupid questions, only stupid answers!
Be prepared, have al you documents in a folder (50 pence from Asda) clean and together, check them if they copy them if you have everything back.
Every interviewer likes to see somebody who is prepared, looks after his paperwork (important in the future) and is clean.
Be correctly dressed, you cannot overdress but under dress very easy. No need for a suit for most companies, but jeans and t-shirts dirty and with a hole in it, don’t do you any favours.
Don’t smell to alcohol, black tobacco or extreme strong mints, this gives the interviewer tears in his eyes and suspicion that you have something to hide (alcohol etc.)
Be clean, you are gone drive in a company vehicle and are the companies ambassador.
If companies with crappy vehicles prefer their driver to be clean.
Don’t try to impress the interviewer with all kind of useless information: “you know I was there and there in Italy and the guy said he never seen a driver putting that trailer in one go into that small street, you know in Verona beside the paper mill where that little Italian restaurant is” I didn’t know, I didn’t want to know, and was wondering why he had to proof no stop for 20 minutes how good he was. He got stored in the famous shredder for future reference.
If they are telling you that they will be in contact with you, feel free to ask in what kind of time a week, two weeks?
You should get a reasonable answer.
If you haven’t heard by then, a courtesy call shows your interest and doesn’t do you any harm; you have the right of proper information.
If they don’t take you on, but promise to keep your information on file, don’t always see that as a negative, they are interested in you, but don’t know where to place you immediately.
If they come back after they kept you on file, don’t always think that you are “second choice”
Especially when more than one person interviews you, they don’t always agree on the right candidate.