Preparing For Job Interview The Easy Way
Being on a job interview is a lot like going on a blind date. In a blind date, you know a limited amount of information about the person: what they’ll be wearing (to identify), what they do for a living and whatever little else is divulged about the person. In the same way, this is all you know about the interviewer: what company they’re working for that’s about it.
Having this perspective when attending an interview may help you up your chances of acing it and ultimately getting the job you’re applying for. Here are a few things to remember when facing an interview.
• Job interview preparation doesn’t stop at the mirror. It goes up till the moment you enter the room where you’ll be interviewed. This means arrive early, at least 30 minutes before the scheduled time. As in a blind date, this means you’re eager to meet and greet; good personality traits scores you plus points.
Having the mindset to arrive 30 minutes early will also give you ample time to prepare at home, which means you’re likely to have everything prepared. If you by chance forget anything important, you can use that extra 30 minutes to dash home and back to the interview all in due time.
• Get over your post teen achievements. Job interview questions are never directed to lead to your stories of winning that basketball dunking contest you’re so proud about. Your answers should show what you can do, your knowledge, your skills, not how high you can jump and dunk a basketball.
As your blind date is likely to find such a story immature and pointless, so will the interviewer. Unless you’ve somehow already established an emotional connection of some sort with your interviewer, it’s a good idea to stick to the basics and keep it formal.
• You’re being on a first date means that you’re in, you just have to take care not to screw it up. In the same way, you’re already qualified for the job you’re being interviewed for. But don’t press your buttons just yet, it’s just an interview.
You have to watch your job interview answers like you watch what you say on a blind date. Watch for verbal and non-verbal cues to see how comfortable the other person is with you. Don’t just take a leap and start a sensitive or personal topic you might end up spending the night alone (or getting thrown out by company security).
• If there’s one thing about a job interview that’s different from a blind date, it’s this: You can just leave if your date is a jerk, a slob, or just boring; you have to finish an interview, whatever happens.
However much of a shark the interviewer is, you have to sit through it and just take it, showing as little signs of weakness as you can. Write a job interview thank you letter, as is customary after an interview. It shows that whatever happened, you don’t take things personally and are still very grateful for being given the chance to be interviewed.
