How to Prepare for a Job Interview 1. Get Into the Right Frame of Mind President Bill Clinton, no stranger to the importance of conveying the right message, once said, “Sometimes when people are under stress, they hate to think, and it’s the time when they most need to think.” Learning to be comfortable in an interview environment is important and relatively easy if you’ve adequately prepared and understand the possible consequence of each outcome. Getting the job or the promotion is important, but success doesn’t mean you will live happily thereafter, just as failing will not be the end of your life. 2. Understand the Interview Objective: Get to the Next Step Getting a job or promotion is typically a process that moves from one stage to the next, successfully completing each stage being a prerequisite to the next. The purpose of a cover letter and resume is to be invited for an interview, just as the intent of the interview is either a job offer or future interviews with higher positioned members of the management team. The pace of the process is always controlled by the company organization, usually by detailed policies and procedures. Some companies publish their policies on the websites or make them available through their human resources departments to ensure that candidates know what to expect. Whole Foods Market, one of Fortune’s “ 100 Best Companies To Work For,” explains that their process includes preliminary and full interviews, individually and in groups of company employees. Try to determine the process of the company for which you’re interviewing before your interviews to avoid surprises. If you’ve been asked to attend an interview, you’ve already made the first cut of potential candidates for the job. Presumably, you and the other interviewees meet the necessary qualifications, so the interviewer is looking for reasons to keep you in the hiring process or toss you back into the pool. Your ability to interact and be personable or likable is important. Companies generally want to hire people who like other people, and can get along in the social environment of a company. Interviewers want to like you and for you to like them. If you can make the interviewer like you, the higher the likelihood that you will get a good score and be invited back. 3. Do the Necessary Research There is no excuse for not knowing details about a company at which you’re applying to work. Most companies have websites that describe their products, history, locations, and management members. Large companies often have a special section dedicated to company information, which can be searched for financial information if they are publicly traded. Similar information can be found for competitors and the industry as a whole. No one expects you to be a stock analyst, but you should be aware of the company’s financial condition. Social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Pinterest can provide information about the culture in the company, although you should be aware that disgruntled employees and customers are more likely to post critical information than employees who are happy and satisfied with their jobs. Review the description and the requirements of the job for which you are applying, noting how well you fit the company’s needs. If your experience enables you to identify a particular area where you will be immediately productive, file it in your memory (and write it on a note card so you don’t forget) in case you have the opportunity to identify your strengths. Not all interviewers will throw you easy questions, such as, “What are your strengths and weaknesses?” or “What can you do for my company?” If similar questions arise, you’ll have canned responses which you can modify to fit the interviewer and the situation. 4. Create the Right Image Interviewers typically meet dozens of candidates each week – so many, in fact, that it can be difficult to remember each individual person. Impressions matter, since interviewers use these mental shortcuts to quickly discard or recommend the candidate for the next step. Everyone searching for employment should be neat and clean, and should practice proper body language. Dress. Unless you are interviewing on a college campus or in the unconventional offices of a trendy software or video game developers, dress semi-formal, rather than casual, and wear shined shoes. Don’t be afraid to show some individuality, however. Wearing a bow-tie instead of a long tie, for example, or bright socks signals that you think for yourself, but understand the formal rules of the occasion. Nonconformists are highly valued in some businesses with fresh perspectives and ideas, but no one hires an anarchist. In the highly social environment of most businesses, everyone has to conform to some degree. Smile. Did you know that it is virtually impossible not to smile when someone is smiling at you? Psychological research proves that smiling is contagious. In fact, mimicking another person’s smile is an unconscious automatic response triggered in the cingulate cortex of the brain. A smiling face also triggers the release of neuropeptides and neurotransmitters such as dopamine, endorphins, and serotonin in the orbitofrontal cortex where you process sensory rewards. Study after study shows that people who smile are seen as attractive, reliable, relaxed, and sincere. Let your smile work for you – spread it around liberally and often. Interaction. Handshakes are standard business practice whether you’re meeting a man or a woman, so be sure you have a firm grip, neither bone-crushing nor dead fish. Stand until you’re invited to sit, lean forward in your chair, and maintain eye contact. Finally, take a deep breath and relax, knowing you’re ready for whatever the interview
Posted on: Thu, 05 Dec 2013 03:33:49 +0000
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