|
While effective resumes get you in the
door...successful interviewing skills keep you there.
Interviews grant you the opportunity to do in-person what
your resume did on paper: sell yourself and market your
skills to a potential employer. Unfortunately, most job
seekers handle the interview the same way as they always
have: they wake up, get dressed, drive to the interview and
answer the questions the interviewer asks with the first
thing that comes to their mind: then they cross their
fingers and hope they "got the job."
Sound familiar?
The difference between "going on" an
interview and "nailing" an interview can be summed up in one
word: PREPARATION.
The more you know about the company, the
position and the general business of the corporation for
which you are interviewing, the better you can prepare - and
the better you prepare, the more you can impress the
interviewer and demonstrate how you can contribute to the
success of their organization. Remember you must answer
their basic (unsaid) question:
why should we hire YOU above all other qualified candidates?
It is critical to realize that the
person actually conducting the interview isn't always a good
interviewer; they may never have been taught how to properly
conduct an interview, or they may try to intimidate the
candidate in an effort to judge how he/she will react in a
pressurized situation. They may be having a bad day. They
themselves may be up against a deadline. The point is, you
don't really know...so don't leave it up to the interviewer
to (hopefully) ask you the "right questions" and give you
the opportunity to get the vital points of your career and
achievements across to the interviewer.
Instead, PREPARE for your answers - no,
not memorize the answers, but have in your mind the key
points you want to verbalize.
This means doing your homework. What do
you want the interviewer to know about you? Make sure you
work those points into your responses.
When asked about
their strengths, most candidates will say the first thing
that comes to their mind; usually something as lame as: "I'm
definitely a people-person and I really work hard." Think
about it: how many people will ever say, "I'm terribly
hostile to others, I take long lunches, and I really don't
like it when my boss expects much from me."
No one, of course, but if you don't
prepare in advance for this question, you will most likely
say something equally as frivolous as the "people-person"
response. Think instead of what you definitely want the
interviewer to know: that you successfully developed and
implemented your current employer's disaster recovery
plan...that you achieved 143% of your quota...that you
initiated the recertification of ISO 9000 qualification
process, etc.
Also in your best interest is to pursue
as many interviews as you possibly can, even if you have no
intention of accepting the position. This gives you the
opportunity to "practice" interviewing and work through your
nervousness.
Below are some basic interviewing
questions: if you answer "no" to any of the following
questions, your career search could seriously suffer.
-
How to properly prepare for an
interview and set yourself above your competition?
-
What essential materials YOU MUST
bring to an interview?
-
The 4 most common types of interviews
and how to positively respond to each of them?
-
How to turn a negative response into a
positive situation?
-
How to correctly respond to the
interviewer's question of "Tell me about yourself?"
-
The 7 things you should NEVER do on an
interview?
-
The 10 questions you MUST ask on an
interview that reveal if you will be happy with the
company?
-
The 10 questions you MUST ask about
the specific position?
-
How to CORRECTLY follow up and clinch
more offers?
-
WHEN to negotiate your salary and
INSTANTLY increase your income by $5,000?
-
How to REALLY negotiate your salary
and compensation plan to earn the money you want?
|
