how does a powerpoint presentation work in an interview?

D

djs2772

hi

i have a job interview in a couple of days which requires a powerpoint
presentation.

i know enough about ms powerpoint to put together to put together a
presentation but i have never had to put it foward in an interview before.

can anyone advise on what the technical setup is likely to be. will i
control the presentation via a normal pc which is linked to a
projector/screen? if not what devices/controls will i have to use to control
when i need to switch between slides?

many thanks in advance.
 
M

Melanie Remen

Hi djs2772

First of all don't worry too much, powerpoint is extremely straight forward
to use.

A standard set up is a laptop/pc connected to a projector (set up tip: turn
on laptop/PC before turning on projector). Open the powerpoint file and
press F5 to start the slideshow. The arrow keys on the keyboard will navigate
through the slides for you.

Below is a link to some more keyboard shorcuts which will be helpful, and
you can throw a few of the more funky operations in there too to add some WOW
factor to your presentation, such as Ctrl+P to change the mouse pointer to a
pen!

http://office.microsoft.com/en-au/powerpoint/HP101547121033.aspx?pid=CH101029511033

I strongly recommend you have a practice run (or two) prior to presenting at
your interview.

Good luck, and hope you are able to find a resolution in here.
 
L

LVTravel

djs2772 said:
hi

i have a job interview in a couple of days which requires a powerpoint
presentation.

i know enough about ms powerpoint to put together to put together a
presentation but i have never had to put it foward in an interview before.

can anyone advise on what the technical setup is likely to be. will i
control the presentation via a normal pc which is linked to a
projector/screen? if not what devices/controls will i have to use to
control
when i need to switch between slides?

many thanks in advance.

You have really asked a question that I don't think any person other than
the interviewer can answer.

We can only guess. My best guess if they supply the computer and other
equipment is:

When I create a presentation for a system I don't know, I try to use the
lowest common denominator, set it to run on a Win 98 or 2000 system with
Office 97 installed. In other words, I don't use all of the bells and
whistles of Office 2003 or 2007. It is a lot easier if you know what
version of PPT will run the presentation. If your presentation is actually
part of the interview process to see how well you create the presentation be
careful of all the pitfalls of moving presentations to another computer.
They include but are not limited to: use Windows fonts only in the
presentation creation as the delivering computer may not have your fonts
installed, sound files should be embedded not linked to easily transport,
any video should be in a very compatible format (generally .wmv is the best)
and should be in a folder on the root of the drive along with the
presentation's file. Death by PowerPoint is not a great way to die.

If your interview would be in front of more than one or two people then the
system used would probably be set to a large screen monitor or projector.
You should not have any issue with that projector or screen however as it
would be the company's equipment unless that would be part of the interview
process. We don't know what job description you are attempting to get. If
it is for an employee that would be handling AV equipment they could throw
bugs in the process to see if you can fix them.

To advance to the next slide the company would either give you access to a
mouse, presenter remote or the computer keyboard where all can be used to
advance to the next slide. I have been to some presentations where someone
else controlled the slideshow from another location and would advance on a
signal from the speaker but this is rarely done with the advent of wireless
equipment.

You should also move the presentation to another computer to ensure that all
the items display correctly from your transport media (CD/DVD, flash drive,
etc.)

Run the program repeatedly until you know exactly what will display, when.
You will need to be as smooth as possible running the presentation and also
by running on different computers you will ensure that everything is totally
device independent.

Take a copy of PPT viewer on removable media just in case they don't have
PPT installed onto the computer that is to be used (however this will be
very unlikely.)

If you supply the computer (laptop) ensure that you know how to hook up to a
projector or other display, the control to send the desktop image to the
external device and find a monitor and test it. All other above holds true.
 
D

djs2772

hi

thanks very much for both these replies they have really helped give me a
good idea of what to expect.

the job isn't computer based so i think it will be a straight forward
process of running through the slides. also the company want the file sent
through prior to interview so they can address any possible compatibility
issues.

just to clarify your points: its most likely to simply be a case of me
scrolling through the slides using the keyboard arrows on a laptop/pc which
will then be displayed on a projector?

and

if i have emailed them the file prior to interview it will be likely that
they will have my presentation open before i start (as i wouldnt know the
file location on their system)?
 
J

Jaime

If they haven't provided any specific instructions , then you really need to
ask these question to the company where you are being interviewed. They
really are the only ones that would have the definitive answers. I would
much rather call, find out specifics, and be completely prepared; than worry
about what they might think because you called to ask questions.
 
J

Jaime

or be very impressed if they didn't ask any questions, yet came in
completely prepared for any possibility :eek:)
--
James
Orlando (Goofy says "Hey"), Florida

Echo S said:
Actually, if I were hiring someone and required this as part of the
interview, I'd probably be disinclined to hire anyone who *didn't* ask the
questions....

--
Echo [MS PPT MVP] http://www.echosvoice.com
What's new in PPT 2010? http://www.echosvoice.com/2010.htm
Fixing PowerPoint Annoyances http://tinyurl.com/36grcd
PowerPoint 2007 Complete Makeover Kit http://tinyurl.com/32a7nx



Jaime said:
If they haven't provided any specific instructions , then you really need
to ask these question to the company where you are being interviewed.
They really are the only ones that would have the definitive answers. I
would much rather call, find out specifics, and be completely prepared;
than worry about what they might think because you called to ask
questions.
--
James
Bart: "According to creationism, there were no cavemen."
Homer: "Good riddance! Their drawings sucked and they looked like
hippies."
 
A

Alessandra

or be very impressed if they didn't ask any questions, yet came in
completely prepared for any possibility :eek:)
--
James
Orlando (Goofy says "Hey"), Florida


Actually, if I were hiring someone and required this as part of the
interview, I'd probably be disinclined to hire anyone who *didn't* ask the
questions....
--
Echo [MS PPT MVP]http://www.echosvoice.com
What's new in PPT 2010?http://www.echosvoice.com/2010.htm
Fixing PowerPoint Annoyanceshttp://tinyurl.com/36grcd
PowerPoint 2007 Complete Makeover Kithttp://tinyurl.com/32a7nx

it would be interesting to read a report on how the interview went.
 

Ask a Question

Want to reply to this thread or ask your own question?

You'll need to choose a username for the site, which only take a couple of moments. After that, you can post your question and our members will help you out.

Ask a Question

Top