Yes, it is true that everything happens so quickly these days. However, when it comes to job searching it is still a good idea to take your time and practice a few skills:
- A good handshake can go a long way. If you are doing a face-to-face interview it is a good idea to extend a handshake to the person interviewing you at either at the beginning of the interview, the end of the interview, or both. If you do shake hands, don’t shake someone’s hand too hard – you’re not trying to break any bones, but there’s no guarantee they won’t try it on you! Just try and match the firmness of the handshake with the interviewer. But whatever you do, don’t give a limp handshake – no one likes that feeling!
- Develop your pitch. It is a good idea to develop several answers for common interview questions. Develop your pitch for “tell me about yourself?”, “why should I hire you?”, and “what are your best strengths or biggest weaknesses?” Think about these questions and practice your answers. This will allow you to sound conversational during an interview instead of trying to think of what you want to say on the fly.
- Memorize the Names at the Interview Table. Figure out a system for remembering the names of the people around the interview table and call each of them by name throughout. This shows your attention to detail, and trust me, they will be impressed that you remembered everyone’s names. Make sure to write thank you notes to those you interview with – remembering everyone’s names will make those even more personal.
- Become a Detective. As soon as you know you’ve landed an interview, begin researching as much as you can about the organization or company. Research the people you’ll be interviewing with and the leadership of the organization. You can use LinkedIn, Glassdoor and Google to learn more. On the flip side, there is a good chance they will be doing the same thing to you, so it wouldn’t hurt to Google yourself too. This way you are aware of what they might have seen, or you can reference something that they can verify with a quick search.
- Questions, Please. Almost always, at the end of any interview the interviewer will ask, “do you have any questions for me?” You better have some questions ready to ask. Why? It shows your interest in learning more about the company and can allow you to phrase your questions as if you are picturing yourself in the job. You can learn a lot during this phase of the interview, so do not squander this time. Some questions you can ask are:
- “Is this a new position?” If it is a new position that would be helpful for you to know. If it is not, they may volunteer some information as to why this position is available now.
- You can ask a question about something that came up in your research: “I saw in my research you hold a community event each year, and I really like that. What is the history behind that?” This allows them to share more about the values of the company or organization. These are things that you cannot always flesh out in online research.
- “What are the next steps in the interview process?” This will give you a timeline of when you can expect a decision, if they will have you interview with additional staff, or if they’ll be calling your references.
Practice these five tips and you will be more confident in every job interview.
– Jessie Hendrickson, Director – Workforce Development, Denton