3 Tips for Giving a Great Job Interview
To increase your chances of succeeding in today’s job market it’s extremely important to make a powerful impression in your job interview to stand out from other candidates. A well structured and scannable resume, a professional cover letter and the required qualifications are one part of the process. Once you get in the door its all about how you present yourself in the job interview. It’s common for many to think of the job interview as a simple conversation and lose sight of the importance of being properly prepared but this is a big mistake. To showcase your talent in the most effective way follow these three tips for preparing and presenting an interview that stands out from the pack..
Highlight your “Best Qualities” – two or three of your strongest and most attractive features as a job candidate.
Giving a great job interview the begins with knowing what you desire the outcome to be. Of course you want to be hired the desired position. To achieve this you need to look like the best choice among the different candidates being interviewed.
- What makes you a stand-out as a potential employee?
- Are you extremely creative or well-spoken?
- Do you have a real knack for connecting with people while on sales calls?
- Are you well known for your ability to work well with groups and your ability to lead?
You may be all these things and more but what is important is to choose a few to present in the job interview. These are your “Best Qualities” and they will be the ace in the hole for your interview strategy. Whatever else happens you will make it your priority to be sure that the interviewer knows the best qualities about you by the time the interview is over.
Choose an example to illustrate each of the professional attributes you plan to highlight.
To express these amazing things about yourself during the job interview you’ll need an example to illustrate each one. Think of a time when you used that skill in your personal and professional life. What were the situation that led to your doing so? What was the outcome? Your story should draw the interviewer into the action so that he or she can experience what you did and how doing so enhanced your job performance in the moment.
Stacey (not her real name) was an experienced social worker who wanted to change agencies but continue her work with children and foster families. She felt one of her key qualities was her ability to connect with her clients to put them at ease. As an illustration she recalled a challenging case in which the foster parents had made a point of complimenting her communication style. When an interview materialized Jane was able to say that she knew relating to clients was an important part of her job, that she prided herself on her ability to do so. Pointing to the family that had been complimentary as an example allowed her to bring this quality to life.
Practice your story so it sounds natural and confident.
Planning what you will highlight about yourself and choosing a good example to illustrate it is not enough. You also need to practice telling your story until it is so smooth it rolls right off of your tongue. In other words, although you can’t know exactly where you’ll have a chance to insert it into the interview, you prepare enough to know you’ll spot your chance and tell the story well when you do so. To do this, once you’ve put your story together, say it out loud over and over again
- You can say it in your car while you’re driving along.
- Or stand up at home and say it to an empty room.
- perform a sample interview session with a trusted friend or colleague.
The repeated rehearsal will allow you to fine tune exactly what you say until you find a version that sounds good. You will get to the point where you always say just about the same things every time you tell the story and sound very natural when you do so. The comfort you’ve developed with what you plan to say will leave you ready to spot your chance to share that story. Because you know what your point will be you will spot the right opportunity to insert it into the conversation. Taking these steps to plan and practice will leave you much better prepared for the job interviews you attract. Your preparation will give you an agenda that goes beyond planning to look good and get the job. Instead you’ll have a detailed plan of what you want to share to show precisely why you’re the right choice. Give it a try and experience the improvement it brings to your job hunt. Technorati Profile
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Doug, I really like you site and I really appreciate your efforts to help others give dynamic interviews.
Excellent post and absolutely spot on. Interviews are getting exceedingly tough due to the environment we are in and any small thing can now put the interviewer off. The more natural you are and prepared you are, the better your chances at nailing that job.
Doug