How to Get Employed!
Thriving - Not Just Surviving - at Job Interviews

Job interviews now are sophisticated and competitive. Most of us aren't remotely surprised to walk into the interview room to find panels of interviewers waiting to put us through our paces, rather than just a solo interviewer.

Or to be asked to demonstrate skills immediately, rather than airily allude to having mastered them, sit several psychological tests in a row with complete aplomb, or survive a series of rapid-fire questions on how you would adroitly handle worst case scenarios or complex issues.

Advance preparation is no longer an option, but a necessity to ensure that the interview goes the way you want it to:

1. Do Your Homework In Advance. Learn as much as you can about the interviewer and/or organisation - phone friends and contacts, visit the company's website, chase down background information. Play 'devil's advocate' with yourself before the interview: run through the 'worst case scenario' questions you can anticipate being thrown at you - then develop, and practice, your answers. First impressions are all-important and this may be your only chance to sell yourself to this organisation. Make sure you're prepared to talk through your resume highlights, then support these with concrete examples.

2. Know What You Want From The Interview and Job. Keep your objective for the interview firmly top of mind as you go into the meeting. Be clear on the role you want and believe that you're well qualified for. Quietly steer back to this personal focus if the conversation goes off on tangents - unless these are even more promising than the role you're originally interviewing for!

3. Know Your Strengths. Interviewers always ask what your strengths are. Be ready to outline yours succinctly and convincingly, then back up these statements, particularly where they have specific relevance to the position that you're applying for. Weave them into the conversation once or twice more in different ways to get this message through.

4. Address Your Weaknesses - Then Be Positive. When asked - and again, interviewers usually ask - touch on one or two shortfalls that aren't too damning to admit to. Point out that you not only recognise these, but are addressing them positively with action. Or describe a weakness that can be also viewed by the interviewer as a strength, eg. 'I work fast, so I get impatient with colleagues who are more methodical. I regularly remind myself to slow down and explain the project so we're all on the same track…'

5. Demonstrate That You Have A Planned Career Path. Even if you just want a job - any job, one that pays money - in a work market that's reeling from change, re-structurings and economic slumps, a prospective employer will usually still toss you the question - 'where do you see yourself in five years?' Have an answer ready that allows for flexibility in the current business environment, but still shows that you have goals and a firm grasp of what you want, from both that organisation and your long-term career.

6. Don't Make Up Lies About Your Last Job - Or How You Left. Nearly everyone you know has probably been made redundant or been fired through restructurings, corporate failures, business circumstances etc, even if their own work was very high calibre. Present the facts as honestly as possible and keep your emotions about previous experiences out of the interview.

7. Remember An Interview Is A Two-Way Process. Arrive prepared to 'reverse-interview' the person or panel hosting the interview, do have your own questions ready for them to answer. Be able to discuss what you're ideally looking for and to negotiate on whether both the vacant position, and that organisation, can meet your career development requirements, over and above whether you can meet theirs.

8. Discuss salaries openly. Can this organisation pay you what your skills and experience are worth? Most companies already know what the remuneration should be for that position, what the market is paying, and what your experience brings to them. Don't feel awkward about discussing finances. Be prepared to stand firm on negotiations if the company is truly trying to pay you less than the role is worth. Do your own advance homework about what the market is currently paying.

9. Make Good Eye contact. Glancing around the room may buy you time to think as you answer a question, but will look shifty or furtive. Make eye contact wherever possible to build trust and rapport. Hint: as you arrive and sit down, if there is more than one interviewer, rapidly assess the best place to sit to make eye contact with everyone while speaking. Your aim is not be constantly swivelling in your chair to face a new person as you talk.

10.Don't Be Negative About Your Existing Or Previous Employers. Don't start criticising the people you worked for. Keep it factual and professional - if you have to bring up negatives to explain why you're unhappy in your current role or working for your current manager, again, keep your emotions completely out of the equation. An outpouring of bitter blame and criticism about your previous employer will, strangely enough, not showcase you at your best!

11. Present Yourself Professionally. The basics are as relevant as they ever were - have good personal presentation, dress more conservatively than normal, unless it's a very casual or creative environment. This isn't the time to try to look sexy or ram home your individuality. Research repeatedly shows that people make rapid first impressions based just as solidly on how you look, as on what you say and the strength of your resume. Whether or not this is right or wrong, this is fact and must be factored in.

12. Don't Forget Your Follow Up. Courtesy has never gone out of vogue. Send a thank-you note via email or fax, or through the post, no later than the day after the interview. Keep it short and sincere. Refer to a key point discussed in the interview and to your continued interest in the job on offer.

And good luck!

Teri Sawers is a Sydney-based business and personal coach, writer, and business communications specialist.
Email: teri@shortcutsforsuccess.com
Website: www.shortcutsforsuccess.com