
If you’re sitting in the office of a ferry company waiting to be called in
for an interview, that means they liked your resume enough to call
you and learn more about you. Hopefully, your efforts to find a
position on a boat have paid off to land you an interview at a good
ferry company, working for good wages. The ferry operator is
obviously interested in you, or they wouldn’t have called in. If you
handle the interview intelligently, the reward can be getting the job
you want. If you don’t, you could be politely be told thank you but we’
ll call you back if a need should arise in the future.
They say the early bird gets the worm. Interviews are not a first-
come, first served business. Someone has set aside a timeslot for
you and it’s your time on stage. So do things right. It sounds
obvious, but leave extra time. Don’t be late. By arriving a little early
for an interview, you can make sure you do little things to leave a
good impression…hair combed, maybe having a chance to
rehearse to yourself what you’d say if asked a particular question. It
makes for a better impression than stumbling into the interviewer’s
office frazzled and uncollected because you got caught in traffic.
Arrive a little earlier than necessary.
Be confident. Speak in a polite tone, loud enough to be heard
clearly, but not overpowering. Greet the interviewer with a smile.
Make eye contact, but not so long that you give the impression of
being too intense. Don’t stare. Be firm with your handshake.…but
not too strong where the interviewer thinks your hand is a lobster
claw. No one needs to see that you’re super strong. They want to
see a firm handshake as an indication of character, sincerity and
confidence.
Dress clean and conservative. The clothes you wear to an interview
say something about you. No one expects a person coming to an
interview for a position as ferry pilot to dress like a bank president.
However, an interviewer needs to see that you pay attention to your
appearance. Combed hair, clean and iron shirt, clean
shoes…those things tell an interviewer how you feel about yourself.
That also tells them that it’s likely these good habits can reflect the
way you perform your job.
Know something about the company and the position. Is it a
municipal ferry? Is it privately run? How many ferries does the
company operate…what routes? Are they having a new vessel
built? Are they implementing programs to hold themselves out as a
“green”, environmentally responsible ferry fleet. If the interviewer
sees that you took the trouble to learn things that for the interview, it
shows him or her that you’re interesting in working for this company.
Don’t be caught off guard if the interviewer asks you to speak about
yourself. The interview might not necessarily be a question and
answer period. Be honest and straightforward when you answer the
interviewer’s questions. If you don’t know the answer to a question,
it’s better to admit it than try to fumble through an evasive answer
that tells the interviewer that your honesty is questionable. If the
interviewer asks about information you don’t have at the moment,
such as the technical specs for equipment you handled in a
previous job, ask if you can follow up and provide at the soonest.
Don’t be negative during the interview. Be positive. Don’t say things
like, “my previous supervisor didn’t know the first thing about how to
treat people”. Even if true, interviewers don’t like to see negative
sentiments like that come out from their prospective candidate.
Dwell on your positive attributes…your skills, experience, licenses,
interest in working hard, and other good elements. When the
interview is over, get up and shake hands. Thank the interviewer.
Tell them you’re highly interested in the job (if that’s the case, of
course).
Good luck
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U.S. Department of Labor - These are contact numbers for Dept of Labor Offices that maintain regional employment, unemployment, wage information.
ALABAMA - Montgomery, AL - (334) 242-8859 ALASKA - Juneau, AK - (907) 465-4518 ARIZONA - Phoenix, AZ - (602) 542-3871 ARKANSAS - Little Rock, AR - (501) 682-4500 CALIFORNIA - Sacramento, CA - (916) 262-2160 COLORADO - Denver, CO - (303) 318-8898 CONNECTICUT, Wethersfield,CT, (860) 263-6255 DELAWARE - Wilmington, DE - (302) 761-8052 DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA - (202) 671-1633 FLORIDA - Tallahassee, FL - (850) 488-1048 GEORGIA - Atlanta, GA - (404) 232-3875 GUAM - Tamuning, GU - (671) 475-7062 HAWAII - Honolulu, HI - (808) 586-8842 IDAHO - Boise, ID - (800) 772-2553 ILLINOIS - Chicago, IL - (312) 793-2316 INDIANA - Indianapolis, IN - (317) 232-7460 IOWA - Des Moines, IA - (515) 281-0255 KANSAS - Topeka, KS - (785) 296-5058 LOUISIANA - Baton Rouge, LA - (225) 342-3141 MAINE - Augusta, ME - (207) 287-2271 MARYLAND - Baltimore, MD - (410) 767-2250 MASSACHUSETTS - Boston, MA - (617) 626-6556 MICHIGAN - Detroit, MI - (313) 456-3090 MINNESOTA - St. Paul, MN - (651) 282-2714 MISSISSIPPI - Jackson, MS - (601) 321-6261 MISSOURI - Jefferson City, MO - (573) 751-3609
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U.S. Department of Labor - These are contact numbers for Dept of Labor Offices that maintain regional employment, unemployment, wage information (cont'd)
MONTANA - Helena, MT - (406) 444-2430 NEBRASKA - Lincoln, NE - (402) 471-9964 NEVADA - Carson City, NV - (775) 684-0387 NEW HAMPSHIRE - Concord, NH - (603) 228-4123 NEW JERSEY - Trenton, NJ 08625 - (609) 292-0099 NEW MEXICO - Albuquerque, NM - (505) 222-4683 NEW YORK - Albany, NY - (518) 457-6369 NORTH CAROLINA - Raleigh, NC - (919) 733-2936 NORTH DAKOTA - Bismarck, ND - (701) 328-2868 OHIO - Columbus, OH - (614) 752-9494 OKLAHOMA - Oklahoma City, OK - (405) 557-7265 OREGON - Salem, OR - (503) 947-1212 PENNSYLVANIA - Harrisburg, PA - (717) 787-3266 PUERTO RICO Hato Rey, PR - (787) 754-5340 RHODE ISLAND - Cranston, RI - (401) 462-8767 SOUTH CAROLINA - Columbia, SC - (803) 737-2660 SOUTH DAKOTA - Aberdeen, SD - (605) 626-2314 TENNESSEE - Nashville, TN - (615) 741-2284 TEXAS - Austin, TX - (512) 491-4802 UTAH - Salt Lake City, UT - (801) 526-9401 VERMONT - Montpelier, VT - (802) 828-4153 VIRGIN ISLANDS, Charlotte Amalie, VI 340 776-3700 VIRGINIA - Richmond, VA - (804) 786-7496 WASHINGTON - Lacey, WA - (360) 438-4804 WEST VIRGINIA - Charleston, WV - (304) 558-2660 WISCONSIN - Madison, WI - (608) 267-2393 WYOMING - Casper, WY - (307) 473-3807
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