Preparing for a Job Interview
June 5, 2008
I’m preparing for a job interview and I want to know exactly what to avoid doing so I can make sure I give myself the best chance possible. I’ve heard horror stories of people being sure they have the job only to say one little thing that messes it all up. - Michelle in Seattle, WA
Preparing for a job interview is an absolute necessity. I know exactly what you’re talking about, many people think that just winging it during the interview process is fine so long as they end up getting the job. But why stack the odds against you if you can do the opposite and make an excellent first time impression?
Consider this, you’re sitting down with the person that you’re having the interview with and everything is flowing smoothly back and forth between the both of you. There is good rapport with questions and answers being given readily and then all of a sudden, that uncomfortable silence. Blank stare on your interviewer’s face and that uneasy feeling we all have experienced.
What the heck just happened? You basically just ran into a wall by triggering a negative response. This puts you on the defensive and makes you feel like you’re being viewed under a microscope. This is exactly what you don’t want so here are some tips on how to prepare for a job interview.
Proper communication is something that I can’t mention enough.
Neither too little or too much either because you need to have a balance and I’ll explain why. Imagine that you are actually sitting down with someone and interviewing them for a position. In the course of the interview, you do your best to tease out very important information about their previous work history, knowledge and experience. But if they sit there through every question and barely squeek out a sentence then how could you be sure that they would be right for the job?
On the opposite hand, what if by asking one simple question, the interviewee goes on a tirade literally for half an hour about something that is completely unrelated to the question or could have been answered in a couple well put sentences? Either would be extremely frustrating. Also, think about how you talk. Among friends or family, slang is commonly used in the course of a conversation and no one thinks anything about it.
However, what kind of impression do you think you give off if you use that sort of langauge in a professional business environment? Some more job interview strategies are pretty simple but regardless they are still over looked. Not focusing your attention on the conversation and specifically how it relates to the question asked makes you look like a bumbling space cadet. If the question though seems vague, ask for them to clarify it for you.
Another thing that can make the interview take a turn for the worse is avoiding eye contact. Looking around everywhere but at the person can make you appear that you don’t have confidence or are even a bit shady. I realize that some people are shy but at the same time if you can’t bear to look someone directly in the eyes, at least look at the space in between their eyes or the middle of their forehead. One final common sense tip of course is don’t lie during the interview.
One little white lie can come back to bite, and bite hard. So being able to build up a sense of trust between you and the other person is paramount and can give you the edge that you need. By following these simple job interview strategies gives you the power to put you in the position to win and get the job you want.