Friday, October 26, 2007

How to land THE Job of your Dreams!!

I got an email from a friend yesterday saying

"wish me luck... I am headed for an interview today at noon!"
As a recruiter, I responded by saying "give me a call! I have 9 things, you can do, to make any company want you!"

So I thought... this would be a perfect opportunity to share those insider tricks with you! If your looking for a job, or just about go out for the interview. These are extremely helpful inside tips!

1. Bring at least 3 copies of your resume. There is nothing worse than being an interviewer and asking for a resume, only to be told, I didn't bring one. Your officially dead in the water if you say that. This resume should be printed on nice paper (not some everyday white from your printer) and not some crazy hot pink paper spritzed with perfume. Hello "Clueless anyone!" I only say this because, of course, it has happened.

2. Have 10 to 15 questions written down about the position and/or company. This is great! If you get to the point in the interview when they say... "do you have any questions?" and your response happens to be... "no, I'm good!" your really not leaving your interviewer with a good taste in their mouth. They normally assume, your not that interested. Which, in most cases, is not the case at all!

3. Dress Conservatively! It is better to be overdressed, then underdressed! A suit is always a good move, especially when interviewing for a management position. Always have a pressed shirt and ironed slacks. Remember to tuck in your shirt and wear a belt.
Now, a lot of the times we get questions like "if I show up in a suit to work, their going to know something is up, we have a casual work environment where I am now." My tip to them is to wear slacks, and a shirt/blouse. Leave your suit jacket in the car, and for men, leave the tie in the car as well. Once in your car, put on the tie and your ready to go! For women, your always aloud to use the excuse... "I have a hot date tonight!" (wink, smile)
Also, if you know that the company has "casual Fridays" and you are interviewing on a Friday... it is ok to skip the suit jacket. A shirt/blouse, tie (optional), and slacks will be fine. It is NOT ok to show up in a casual Friday outfit!!

4. Always, always, always, research the company before heading for the interview. It is customary to compliment the company on recent accomplishments! For Example, if you notice, while doing the research, that their stock has risen from $1.50 to $3.00 that is a perfect ice breaker! It lets the interviewer know, your not only interested, you know their product!

5. Always be prepared with answers to questions they might ask, such as:
Why would you be a good fit in our organization?
Why are you considering a new opportunity?
What do you know about our company?
What, about this opportunity, interested you in interviewing with us today?


6. Always answer a question with a question. This way, the conversation flows smoothly and the interview seems more like a conversation and less like a questionaire.

7. In interviewing, we recommend you speak half the time the hiring authority is speaking. When the interview is finished, all your questions should have been answered and you should walk out of the interview knowing your exact role and title.

8. Always end an interview with 2 questions.
“Do you feel that I am qualified for this position?”
“What is the next step in this process?”


This way, if the interviewer has questions regarding your ability, such as:
"I don't feel you have enough X,Y,Z..." you can reply by saying "well, in my current situation I do X all the time" and so forth. It is easier to clear a missunderstanding while you are in the room, then walk out of the room and leave the interviewer with their thoughts!

9. SMILE and RELAX!!! This is an interview... NOT an interrogation! Be the best YOU you can be! If the job is right for you, it will happen!!

My favorite quote is

"You spend 33.3% of your time working, 33.3% of your time playing and 33.3% of your time sleeping.
If you take away the sleep, you spend 50% of your time working!! Why not love the job you have!!"

*Now all you readers out there that don't comment... leave a comment. Tell us your interview tips! Or tell us a funny story about an interview you had.

6 comments:

Tina Poe said...

What a great set of tips! Thanks for sharing.

I've only been to a handful of interviews in my life since I am still pretty early in my career. But I totally missed many of your points in each of my intervews. I will keep them in mind from now on!

elysa said...

so I'm definitely reading this AFTER my interview which was at noon doouh!

But I did ...
- not go in casual Friday attire
- take 4 copies of my resume
- read their whole website, including the people's bio's before I went
- prepare the answer to "why are you looking to leave your current job?" question

I like your #8 questions, will have to remember those

Julie Q said...

Great tips, except I finally landed a new job last week so I'm glad I don't need them anytime soon! :) I'd probably pick a trip to the dentist over a job interview. Too nerve-racking!

Mistress of the Dorkness said...

Great tips, and I'd definitely agree with them. One I have to add is 'know your worth going in'.

I have had three great job interviews in the past year (maybe they were so fabulous because I'm not actively looking and was totally relaxed as a result), but! I didn't accept any of the three offers, even though they sounded exciting.

One was simply because there was too much travel required for a young Mom.

But, the other two undervalued my position by between 5-10 thousand dollars. I went in there, not only with my resume, but, also two salary sources... and, I like three sources, so, I also took my current employment profile as my last one.

I could have walked in there and taken the interviewer's word/opinion that I was paid VERY well already, or that I was overpaid, but, I knew my worth and verified it and they weren't going to talk me down just because they hadn't done their research.

Jess | the Jess Journals said...

I loved tip no.8 - next time i have an interview i'll def remember to ask that! Too bad I came across this post too late! :( haha But, thanks for telling me about it anyway. :)

BB said...

Thankyou thankyou THANKYOU! :)