The job interview. Your Broadway stage entrance, your time to shine and dazzle. Nothing else is as critical in landing the job, it is your opportunity to show to a potential employer how eloquent and vibrant you are. If you can’t impress on the interview, your chances of success are super slim. Here in her latest post, Carissa explains why:
One of the questions I hear most often is, "How do I ace a job interview?" The simple answer is, "Convince the interviewer you’re the best candidate for the job." Here are a few tips for how to do that — for any job. <br /><br />
- Smile<br/>Smiling — more than you ever would in day-to-day life — shows your potential employer that you are friendly and pleasant to work with. Particularly in cities not known for friendliness, a smile can set you apart from other candidates and make you appear more confident and better qualified.
- Dress the part<br/>The best thing you can wear to an interview — and the only thing you should consider wearing when it’s an interview for an office job — is a clean, pressed suit. Dressing professionally shows your potential employer that you take the job seriously.
- Be well groomed<br/>Make sure your clothes are free of stains and wrinkles, your shoes are clean, and and your hair is combed and out of your eyes. Looking fashionable isn’t important for an interview, but looking clean and well groomed is.
- Be prepared<br/>Find the building where you need to go and plot out how you will get there in advance to ensure you are on time on interview day — allow plenty of time for traffic and subway delays. A day or two before your interview, hold a practice interview with a friend. Have your friend ask you any questions he thinks you might hear in an interview, and be sure to go over the standard questions (e.g., "Why do you want this job?") that come up in every interview. Jot down a question or two to ask your interviewer when he asks if you have any questions, such as, "What is a typical work day like here?" And bring a few copies of your résumé with you to the interview — at least one interviewer is sure to ask you for one because he forgot to bring his own copy.
- Be confident<br/>Holding a practice interview with a friend — even if only for a few minutes — can go a long way toward making you feel more confident at the real interview. For an addition confidence boost, remember this: Your interviewer wants you to do well. He wants to be able to hire you so he can be finished with filling that job. This is not just a pep talk; I am completely serious.
<br />If you have an interview coming up and would like more detailed advice for your individual situation, send me an email at <a href="mailto:carissadoshi@gmail.com" target="new">. I’m happy to help.<br /><br /><div style="margin: 10px; padding: 10px; background-color: #efefef; border: 1px solid #dbdbdb;border-radius: 5px">Carissa Doshi is a business writer and the president of Gen Y Media Group. She gives career advice and blogs about her experiences on <a href="http://www.carissadoshi.com" target="new">www.carissadoshi.com. You can also follow <a href="http://twitter.com/#!/CarissaDoshi" target="_blank">@CarissaDoshi on <a href="http://twitter.com/#!/CarissaDoshi" target="_blank">Twitter.</div>