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Don’t Jump In Too Soon or Talk Too Much. The interviewer asks you a question. Though you do not want to pause for so long a time the interviewer becomes uncomfortable or thinks you have entered a catatonic state, feel free to take a few moments to consider your response. Be careful that you don’t jump in too soon with your response. A moment’s pause to compose your thoughts will work to your advantage.

Be careful not to talk too much. Some applicants talk on and on because they are afraid of silence. In a common scenario the candidate finishes his thought and pauses waiting for the interviewer to assume the lead, but the interviewer says nothing. The applicant begins to feel uncomfortable after a minute or two, so he decides he had better say something more. The “something more” may tell the interviewer far more than the well composed comments the candidate offered initially. The interviewer may simply be formulating his next comment or question, but he may be purposely confronting you with silence. First, he may want to see how well you handle yourself under the pressure to keep the flow of the interview going by speaking. Resist that pressure. Second, he may wish to see whether you will modify or retract what you have said. Maybe you will provide more information that will help him eliminate you from consideration for the job. A good inteviewer will leave silence at the end of your answer. If you ramble on incoherently in order to fill silence, you will be rising to his bait.

Of course silence can be uncomfortable. But when you are confronted with silence at the end of your answer, resist the temptation to talk too much. Fools may jump in, but you shouldn’t! If the silence drags on for too long a time, you have three options which can reflect positively on you. First, you could ask the interviewer whether you have answered his question. This puts the ball back in his court and at least you should get a sense of what you should do next. If he asks you to clarify something, then of course do so—taking a moment first to compose your thoughts again. You may need to ask him to clarify what additional information he is requesting. Don’t be afraid to ask questions that will give you a sense of the focus the interviewer is interested in hearing. Of course, if the interviewer was just trying to see how you would handle the uncomfortable silence, you have conveyed your ability to remain composed and handle the situation in a positive manner.

A second option is to suggest another question the interviewer might be interested in hearing about, “Perhaps you’d like to hear about . . .” The question you suggest should relate in some way to the question you have just answered and be one of your strengths that you would like to have an opportunity to talk about. Third, you could take the opportunity to ask the interviewer a question. Ideally the question you ask should be related to the areas you have been discussing. And do not ask self-centered questions at this point: no question about salary or benefits please!

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Interviews count the most. Regardless of how well and how much time you spend on writing resumes and letters, conduct extensive research, and network for job opporunities, you simply must impress well in the face-to-face job interview if you really want to get the job offer.

But conducting an effective interview is easier said than done. Your initial surge of joy in getting the interview may quickly turn into a case of sweaty palms, dry mouth, churning stomach, and wobbly knees.

Filled with helpful tips and examples, including a idiot-proof checklist of frequently asked questions, this book can make the difference between being accepted or rejected for the job. Don’t leave for your next job interview without first knowing what you need to do to nail the job interview and get the job!

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In some cultures, downcast eyes are a sign of respect. But in the U.S. business world, lowered eyes are a sign of passive behavior, which is analogous to weakness. It may even be viewed as a sign of disrespect! Lowered eyes definitely convey a lack of confidence and hence competence to most business interviewers in our culture. Meet the eyes of the interviewer confidently and do it often!

If the applicant exhibits a lack of appropriate eye contact, he will be assumed to be detached or disinterested or even odd! When studies were conducted to determine what elements of a speaker’s behavior conveyed sincerity, eye contact was a significant variable. Those speakers who were rated sincere, looked at listeners an average of 3 times longer than the speakers who were rated insincere. Perhaps this gives true meaning to the perceptions that “shifty eyes” belong to insincere people or that if someone “can’t look us in the eye” they are being devious.

Eye contact must be appropriate to the business situation. It should not be perceived as flirtatious, but as sincere interest in the content of the communication and the person involved. Too long a gaze can be viewed as indicating attraction to the individual that goes beyond the employer-employee relationship. Or too long a gaze, if combined with other congruent body language, can actually be threatening and an indication of anger as is indicated by the common phrase “he tried to stare him down.” If the gaze is too long it can make the other person feel uncomfortable—threatened by either an inappropriate sexual connotation or by the threat of bodily harm. It is never to our advantage to make the interviewer feel uncomfortable.

So we want to establish enough eye contact with the interviewer to indicate an interest in him and the organization he represents. We want to convey that we like him as a person—as a business person. We need to demonstrate that we can interact appropriately with him and hence with others—co-workers and clients—in a business setting. You want to convey that you are an active and enthusiastic individual who can get things done. You are competent. The most positive eyes sparkle with a life that conveys this interest and dynamism. To be interested in the other person and the discussion pays him a compliment, makes him comfortable, and says, ” I fit in.” Of course, the sparkle in the eyes is best complemented by an appropriate smile on the applicant’s face.

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You can’t afford not to pay attention to details of grooming and selection of apparel. You are the package you are selling. The wrapping on the package suggests both the care that was taken putting it together as well as the value of what lies inside. No detail is too small to be of concern and no message too unimportant to hone.

Hair. Mid length hair is recommended. Hair should neither be so short it reminds one of boot camp nor long enough to look unkempt, shaggy or like the remnant of a protest movement. Have your hair trimmed at least every three weeks. Cleanliness is essential. Shampoo your hair every day. You may want to select a shampoo for dry hair—even if yours isn’t—so as not to be too harsh with frequent use. Blow dry your hair. It will only take a few minutes each morning, but will give your hair a fuller, neater appearance. You may want to use a light spritz of a non-aerosol hairspray to hold—not glue—any wisps in place throughout the day.

Shirt. This should be its first wearing since it was cleaned and pressed. Yes, pressed. If you are buying 100% cotton shirts, as you should be, your shirts will need to be pressed. No time to iron shirts? Your neighborhood drycleaner will launder and press your shirts for you. Even polyester/cotton blends that say “wash and wear” look better when they have been pressed. Once the collar or cuffs begin to fray, toss that shirt so you won’t be tempted to wear it again. Avoid button-down collars on your dress shirts.

Car. Car? Yes, your car. You never know when the boss will see you drive up or invite you to continue the interview over lunch with some other decision makers, and you are the designated driver! Wash your car, vacuum the inside and clean out those old candy bar wrappers from the floor. Take the baby’s car seat out before you drive off for your interview.

Remember that you are “on stage” so to speak from the moment you drive into the company parking lot until you get back into your car and start home. Make sure everything about you conveys positive images!

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Timekeeping. Warning bells should start ringing if you arrive a quarter-of-an-hour before your appointment to find more than one other candidate in the waiting area. Something has gone badly wrong with the schedule, either because of an emergency, or more likely, because each interview is taking longer than the time originally allocated to it. This is sheer bad planning and can throw a carefully planned return journey home into total disarray.

Other areas of poor time-planning are:

interviews restricted to too short a period—say quarter of an hour; or

interviews extended beyond their ‘natural’ length—say beyond three-quarters of an hour.

A well-structured interview should last between half-an-hour and forty minutes, with five minutes allocated for the interviewer to complete any relevant notes before seeing the next candidate.

An Unsuitable Interview Location. If you find yourself being ushered into a corner at the far end of a large office or workshop with hectic activity going on all around you unabated, you have problems. There could be several reasons for this unsuitable interview location, not all of them due to thoughtlessness:

1. There is no suitable spare room available to set aside for interviews.

2. Your interviewer is the supervisor in charge of a section, and can’t, or won’t, leave his or her work station for long periods.

3. Your interviewer is oblivious to the surroundings and does not think them unsatisfactory for interview purposes.

4. Your interviewer knows the surroundings are unsuitable but believes candidates should be able to cope with them.

Having your interview in a room shared with other members of staff can be just as harrowing. The effect is just the same as being interviewed in the larger environment—constant interruptions from both employees and phone calls to other people in the room.

Even where an interview room has been set aside from the hurlyburly of the rest of the organisation’s everyday life, your troubles are not over. It may be any old spare room currently not being used. It may be the stationery cupboard or even a store room. Conditions may be cramped, vast, untidy, dirty, cold, hot, damp, stuffy, draughty or a combination of several of these. In other words, totally unsuitable.

Even in ideal surroundings, you can be faced with the ‘interrogation’ layout—a huge desk with three interviewers sitting behind it like judges, and the candidates’ chair—rigid and straightbacked—placed several feet away from the table in terrible isolation.

All these signals warn of the low priority given to recruitment standards by the organisation, and may well reflect the management’s attitude towards staffing matters in general.

The job of your dreams is waiting for you …

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The job of your dreams is waiting for you …

Get the “Job Interviews 101″ Book right now!

Only this week we’re offering the Book for only $9,95 !!!

Should I Make the First Approach?

This is a very debatable point. The greatest danger lies in being tempted to write an enthusiastic letter the day after the interview. The idea behind this seems to be to impress your recruiters, emphasising how much you would like to be considered for the job and your willingness to be available immediately.

Be warned that with some recruiters this sort of approach will go down like a brick. So avoid it. It is far better to leave your interviewers to make up their own minds than damage your chances by being labelled a creep.

The time to begin thinking about contacting your potential employers is once the deadline for hearing the result has passed. You are then perfectly within your rights to make a tentative enquiry to find out whether the decision will be made shortly.You may have been told to expect a delay of a week or so before hearing the result: but if you have not heard within two or three days after your interview, this usually means that someone else has been offered the post.

All is not lost, however. There is always some delay between the successful candidate being offered the job and he or she accepting it. Until an employer has received this acceptance in writing, the remaining candidates have to be kept waiting. The reason is that the successful candidate does not always take up the offer, in which case the next best candidate will be approached.

How Should I Make the Approach?

Once you have decided you want to know one way or the other, contacting the organisation by phone is obviously the quickest way of being put out of your misery. It does have its drawbacks, however.

1. Can I cope with receiving bad news over the phone?

There is something chillingly clinical about a ten second conversation which is the mental equivalent of having a bucket of ice-cold water thrown over you.

2. Am I ready to be put on the spot?

You may have phoned just at the right time—the letter is being drafted at that very moment offering you the job. Consequently, you may be expected to give an immediate response, or be faced with the complexities of negotiating some aspect of the offer which you might not be ready for.

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If most of the interview seemed to go well, you may feel very confident and see no need to examine your performance. On the other hand, if it has been a disaster, the temptation to dwell too much on each catastrophe is almost overwhelming. In both cases, however, try to use the experience as a source of learning to perform better in future.

Why Do I Need to Take Stock?

There are very good reasons why you should stop and take stock of what happened as soon as possible after the event:

1) You may have more interviews in the near future and need to fix the events, personalities and facts associated with this one very firmly in your mind to prevent any possible confusion.

2) You need to be certain your personal presentation and performance were up to scratch. Were there any areas which unexpectedly let you down and need working on, or which were handled well and need remembering?

3)You need to be certain you have enough information to decide whether or not to accept the job if it were offered to you.

4) If things went badly, reviewing what happened helps you work through your tension, and if done thoroughly, should provide positive pointers on how to handle the next interview differently, and to better effect.

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Even nontraditional experience can apply to the requirements of the target job. As you prepare for your interviews, take an experience inventory. Be sure to include knowledge and skills gained from part-time jobs, volunteer work, and community service.

Training is everywhere: adult education programs, community colleges, university extension courses, trade or technical schools, and correspondence courses. If you want to acquire new skills—or brush up on old ones—to meet the requirements of the job you’ve targeted, get the training you need without delay. Just be sure the course is skills oriented (no theory unless you need it for the job), inexpensive, and short enough to give you a certificate of completion within a few months. Anything longer is unlikely to make much difference in getting hired.

But if you have set career goals that will require longer training—such as completion of a bachelor’s or graduate degree—go for it. The long journey begins with that first step. In the meantime, explore job opportunities at lower levels in the same field. If your ambition is to be a registered nurse, apply for an entry-level job in a hospital or clinic. By the time you’ve completed your course of study, you’ll also have several years of related experience and will be all the more valuable in your target job.

Employers say they want people with potential. But reality doesn’t yield to rhetoric. They want skills. Usually yesterday.

The job of your dreams is waiting for you …

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