“Pfft. I can do better”
We admire your confidence and true enough, you need that extra dosage to excel. In between waiting and ridiculing your competitors, here are some pre-requisites that you can do to take your mind off the pressure. You should be doing these exercises while preparing for your interview
1) Turn off your cell phone. We are not even going to tell you what to do in the case where your cell phone goes off; it shouldn’t go off in the first place!
2) Check that you have brought your résumé. Reading through your résumé helps to keep your thoughts coherent and organized.
3) Gently flip through your portfolio; make sure your articles are in order of presentation.
4) Tidy yourself up. Make sure that no strand of hair is sticking out or no zipper has come undone
5) If the company has a newsletter, quickly skim through the material to refresh your understanding of the company. Be sure that the copy is updated, of course. You don’t want to be talking about their 2004 economic review.
Your name is called and you’re up. You steal a quick moment to inhale little gasps of air. You think about how important it is for you to clinch this job and how happy you will be when you do. Your financial independence relies on this one shot. Go show them what you’re made of!
An interview process is very much like a beauty pageant. Expect scrutiny the moment you walk in.
1) Do not trigger the panic button if you see a panel of interviewers
Just remember the familiar faces on your friendly reality TV show, American Idol. In every panel, there will always be a Simon, Paula, Randy and Kara. S
imon is the one who will have you writhing in mental torment while Paula is there to soothe your mind. You do wonder if she has a vote. Randy is the cool guy who appears intimidating at first, but slowly warms up to you. Kara… Kara is a gem. She is the one who will laugh at your jokes and be excited just about anything you say. But make no mistake; she has a mind of her own.Within the first three minutes of your interview, you should be able to classify the panel of interviewers. During the interview, make eye contact with ALL the interviewers. You don’t want to focus all of your attention on Paula, however ravishing she may look, when her vote doesn’t count.
It is imperative that you make a mental note of your interviewers’ personality. Why? Because cracking a joke is probably like pissing on his pants to Simon. When the joke goes unimpressed and Simon stares you down, you get apprehensive and you begin to stutter. You then try to explain your unfunny joke, which in a parallel world, was really funny.
Conversely, when the joke is appreciated, you feel a surge of confidence.
For Simon and Randy type, you do want to talk at length about your accolades and skills and what you can bring to the table etc. For Paula and Kara, look at them when you are talking about your personality and work experiences.
If you think about it, it’s better when a panel of interviewers is deciding your sentence (we do think of job interviews as excruciating). A good mix of interviewers allows you to play around with your personality. Show that you can be an asset to the company but still remain a good fun.
Of course, the same logic can be applied to one-on-one interview. Obviously we are putting our lucky charms on getting either Paula or Kara-type interviewers.
And don’t stereotype. We have met female Simons who throw scathing remarks at you and male Karas who just can’t stop gushing.
2) Extend that handshake
Handshakes are the best way to break the ice. If your palm is sweaty thanks to nervousness, wipe it off before you gruesomely wedge your palm
into your interviewer’s. Exchange body fluid in the first 5 seconds of meeting a stranger is frowned upon.
You know the drill. Smile and give a firm handshake. Chances are, unless your interview is scheduled in the early morning, your interviewer will be less than enthusiastic about a handshake. A good handshake should last no longer than 2 seconds and requires no exertion of strength.
3) Answer in a succinct manner
Of course, your answers should go further than a dichotomous yes or no but interviewers need not hear about the time you spent three hours at a grocery store because you couldn’t decide whether or not to buy cottage cheese or mozzarella cheese and the reason why you couldn’t make a decision is because since you were little your parents had been ruling your life and you depended on them to plan your day and even now you strongly oppose gay marriages because your parents are Christian extremists who believe that marriages should be between a man and a woman and even though you believe in equal rights you decide that your parents should be right because they have been right your whole life, except the time they took you to the doctor to have a circumcision when you were ten, that was just plain awful but you forgave them because parents are parents and they have your best interests at heart.
You get our gist? Even if they start off on a fresh day, interviewers lose interest after two sentences. Do not try to impress by overwhelming them with life stories. Test the waters by piquing their interests. Drop a few hints here and there; “oh, my brother fought in the Iraq war” and then see how it goes. If they follow up with a question, it means they are interested. If not, move on to the next topic quickly, because they are probably wondering what an Iraq war is.
4) Make your weaknesses a strength
Do not fall into the pitfalls of citing your weaknesses as weaknesses. Would you hire someone who blatantly advertises himself as lazy, greedy and has a habit of flashing himself? NO! This is one trick question that many interviewees have been fooled into answering.
Don’t even try to justify your weaknesses by peppering it with false claims. “I’m a procrastinator, but I will change once you hire me” Unless it is a rehabilitation centre you’re checking into, we seriously doubt that.
We are not asking you to lie, but a man of swagger knows how to present himself in an apt manner.
“I just can’t say no to clients who need help, because I believe in being a problem –solver, but sometimes I ought to really just let things be”
We’re hooked.
5) Be a tad conceited
Hey, you worked hard and you have earned the right to flaunt your achievements, so why not? But be careful about treading precariously on the fine line of being prideful and just being annoyingly boastful.
The former; taking pride in your work, is about being confident of your work, knowing that you have been there every step of the way since conception. You’re proud of the outcome and credit is rightfully due. You assure your future employers that you are capable of quality work and you can add spice to their company.
The latter; being boastful, is going into that room of judgment and telling your potential bosses that they need to revamp their company, rethink a mission statement and fire all their ground level staff. To be boastful is to act like you’re already the CEO of the company, even if you’re not interviewing for that position.
Be mindful of the tone of your voice and the things that you say. While it is good to show initiative, being overly eager can hurt your cause.
Check this space for even more tips on how to ace that interview!
Useful links
BBC News How to write a CV
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JYqI0mAp2AY]
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