Full Text:

Jobseekers Learn How To Prepare For A Job Interview

(with cut)

Someone who is unemployed, or looking for a better job, may spend a lot of

time searching newspaper and Internet postings, networking, and preparing a

resume. But perhaps most important -- and often the least prepared for -- is

the job interview itself, according to human resource specialist Craig W.

Bonnett.

"People go unprepared," Mr Bonnett said. "They think an interview is like a

final exam for which they can't prepare. I think it is more like an open book

exam."

A Trumbull resident, Mr Bonnett is a consultant with Drake Beam Morin, an

outplacement firm in Stamford. He is scheduled to present "How to Prepare For

Your Next Job Interview" to the Newtown Jobseekers Support Group when it

begins its fall season on Tuesday, September 14, at 7:30 pm in the Monsignor

Conroy Room at St Rose School. The group is free and open to everyone who is

seeking employment or considering a job change. It is facilitated as a

community service by Newtown selectman Bill Brimmer.

"A lot of people get nervous about job interviews," Craig Bonnett said.

"Preparation should remove a lot of the anxiety. In my program, I will attempt

to demystify the interview process."

A large part of the preparation is learning how to anticipate the kind of

questions that will be asked during an interview, Mr Bonnett said. "If you

learn how to anticipate the majority of questions, you will be much more

comfortable and make a better impression."

Mr Bonnett has more than 20 years of management and human resource experience.

Prior to his affiliation with Drake Beam Morin, he was employed by

Georgia-Pacific Corp as a human resources executive where he managed the

implementation of a major reorganization of the corporation's building

products distribution division.

As a career management consultant in individual outplacement, he assists job

seekers in developing resumes, coaches them through the job search process,

and helps them develop such job search skills as networking and interviewing.

"Our clientele are people from all kinds of businesses, all types of

positions," he said.

"Companies are changing today," he said. "In the '80s and early '90s, there

were layoffs as a result of the economy. Today companies are changing because

of mergers and acquisitions. They are changing to meet competition because

they've found a better way to do business, or they have decided to get out of

a business altogether. Or the technology has changed so much that they need

people with different skills than two, three, or four years ago.

"This business of losing a job and finding another will be a way of life.

Today the anticipation is not that a job is forever. The question is whether

you will initiate the change or the company will initiate it."

The changing job market has created a huge boom in the temporary employment

business, he said.

"It used to be mostly Kelly Girls, but now a lot of people on all levels of

the organization are working in part-time jobs."

Mr Bonnett said he encourages people who are looking for a job to go to any

interview that is offered.

"It is good practice," he said. "And you never know where it may lead. There

may be another job that has just come up in the company, or they may refer you

to someone else. You just never know. Take advantage of the opportunity to

interview. What have you got to lose except time?"

For more information about the Jobseekers Support Group, call Bill Brimmer at

270-9885.