How to Impress Potential Employers During a Job Interview
Do you want a better job or really need a job? Better get prepared for the next step: the dreaded interview process with potential employers. Develop your professional A game early on in order to fix any possible flaws in your interview skills. Leave your nerves at home and smother yourself in self confidence perfume/cologne.
Job interviews are about an entertaining as going through a two week root canal of every crevice inside your mouth. The process itself seems almost like a police interrogation with the setting either being in an office or a vastly empty conference room. Your potential employer always appears to be an intimidating figure because the person is a mystery to you. If you're being interviewed in their office, look around carefully for something to use as a subtle talking point. Don't look around too much because the employer might deem your wandering eye as a sign of boredom and cross you off their list. Acknowledge your interest whenever they're explaining about the position or what the company has to offer you.
Loosen up when you're talking to the interviewer because that person can seal your fate in either getting or not getting the job. Relax your shoulders enough to look like you belong in their company without resembling a couch potato. Laugh at the interviewer's jokes just enough to show you have a sense of humor, but not too much to appear overly desperate. Be yourself as much as possible to give the interviewer an idea of what you're really like in a workplace setting. Quietly evaluate the situation before choosing an approach to the interview. Be careful what approach you choose because it could possibly hinder your chances of getting the job.
In job interviews, I usually try to go for a more serious approach to show the interviewer/potential employer I'm a responsible person who would excel at the position. Sadly, I've never been successful at securing a second interview with anyone. It's depressing sometimes to hear about my unemployed friends getting multiple interviews with places that won't let me past the front gate. Recently, I tried a more humanized approach at my last job interview to let the employer know not to judge a book by its reserved cover. He was nice enough to notice my nerves, but not enough to consider me for the position. I should be proud I was one of five applicants out of the hundreds that applied for the position. It's little consolation due to the fact that I'm still out of work.
Ultimately, you need to be the judge of how you go into a job interview. Make sure you're prepared with a resume, references and a list of questions to ask the employer. Research the company before going into the interview to show you have an idea of what the company is all about. Do everything you can during the interview and realize that other opportunities are around the corner no matter how much you wanted that job. Don't give up even when you want to because things will turn around when you least expect it.
