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Employers wanting to test your written communication will have a written exercise as part of the interview. The exercise could be writing a letter, memo, or reviewing a document and providing a summary of it. Read the instructions carefully three times to ensure you know what you are to do. Make an outline of what you want to say and then begin writing. If there is a time limit, divide the time up for each part of your outline and keep a watch in front of you to keep on schedule. Remember to review your written document for content, grammar, spelling, and the overall flow of it.
Rather than only asking questions in an interview to see how you would handle situations, an employer may fabricate a situation to see how you may use your skills. Normally they would provide you with a written scenario that you review and then assign a role to you. You and another person, most likely one of the interviewers, will act out the situation. There is a lot of opportunity in this setting to show the employer what you have to offer. Make sure you understand the role you are to play and then choose the skills that the employer would be most interested in. Although it may be a fabricated situation, remember the reason the employer has chosen to use a role play. He/she wants to see how you would react in a similar situation.
Some employers will administer tests to evaluate your technical skills for the position you are applying to. There are two different methods they may use. One method is a written component where you may answer a series of questions or be asked to priorize a number of tasks. Another method is where they put you in a situation to complete a task using the skills required for the job. Employers today want to know that you will be able to do the job they are hiring you for. If the job requires you to be proficient in WordPerfect for Windows, they may have you type in a copy of a written document to see whether you have a good working knowledge of this software program.
Many employers today are interested in seeing samples of your work. A portfolio should include samples of your current work and the samples should relate to the type of position you are applying for. In fields such as Architecture, Fine Arts, Interior Design and Clothing and Textiles, an employer relies heavily on a portfolio to evaluate a candidate's work and to help them measure the exact qualifications of an applicant. It is understood that applicants in these and similar areas would bring a portfolio to the interview.
In other professions like Education or Journalism, a portfolio is an asset for the applicant. He/she can use this marketing tool to provide samples of work and highlight related projects or assignments. A portfolio is offered to an employer and he/she will decide whether or not they would like to look at it.
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