How to prepare for job interview, communicate in it and get the job you want. June 27 2018

How to prepare for your job interview, communicate in it and get the job you want. 

Prepare:

1. Know what you want — best case scenario. Imagine what it would be like to have that perfect job and exactly what it would look like.
2. Research the company or organization you have the interview with. Get o know them and their mission statement. If you can find out who the interviewer is, research them. 
3. Make your list of questions.

Now you’re ready for the interview:

4. Psyche yourself up just before going into the interview.
5. Be aware of, and control your body language and eye contact.
6. Go with the flow of the interview.
7. Sell yourself.
8. Ask closing questions.

1. Know what you want. Decide what the perfect job for you is. What kind of work do you like to do? What kind of work atmosphere do you like to work in? What type of people do you like to work with? What do you want to learn? What are you willing to learn? What kind of product or service would you like to work with? What type people do you like to serve? Write it all out. Be very specific.

Know what you want or you’ll never get what you want. Have a clear picture in your mind of the perfect job. Be willing to pay your dues and get the experience you need to get that job. If you’re unrealistic in your expectations, you won’t get what you want. 

If you need more experience or education to get that perfect job, get it. Find a job you can get experience with, stay there and get good at. Don't quit until you have another job to use as a stepping stone. Employers like to see that people stick with a job for 2-3 years or longer. When I’m recruiting I don’t even consider resume’s where the person has changed jobs more than twice in a year unless there is a recent past that shows the person has stuck with it at least one employer for 2 to 3 years.

Apply for the jobs that fit your desires.  Get out of your desperation. Don’t apply if it doesn’t make sense or has no chance of fitting in with what you want.

If you are desperate, and willing to take anything so you can eat and have a roof over your head, that's okay but don’t show it. If that's the case, choose to apply at places and take a job where there will be an ability to have time to keep searching for the perfect job and keep searching. Don't give up. 

The best time to find the perfect job is when you’re not desperate and you can wait and be choosy. When you're working you don't have to be desperate and you can be choosy. Employers like to hire people already working anyway. It shows responsibility when you look for a job before quitting the old one.

So now you've got an interview for the perfect job. 

2. Research the company. Get to know them. Go to their website. Learn their mission statement. Learn their structure as much as you can. Do you know someone who works there now or know someone who knows someone? Meet them and pick their brain.

If you can find out who's interviewing you, do it. Research the person. Find out things about them so you have some understanding of them. Maybe you can find some common likes or dislikes and nonchalantly bring it up at an appropriate time of the interview. This will help solidify common ground and the relationship. 

3. Prepare your questions. You are interviewing them as much as they are interviewing you. You are interviewing to see if its the right company or organization or department for you. If it's not, don't take the job even if its offered, unless you see a long term gain or opportunity of some sort. 

Make your list of questions: ask about things that matter to you — refer to your list above describing the perfect job for you, and ask questions that will reveal if this one is almost perfect. Ask things that are important to you like; what are the hours, benefits and pay?

Ask this for sure: Who are the people I serve? What are the challenges that come up in serving them? Everyone in a business or organization has customers to serve. Some are internal customers. Find out who your serving and ask yourself how you’re going to serve them best? Share how you're going to serve them best. This will trigger positive feelings in the interviewer. 

You might ask; What’s the team like that I would be working with? Is there mentoring opportunities so I can learn quicker? These kinds of questions shows you are team minded and wanting to expand your ability to serve.  These questions trigger positive feelings in the interviewers.

You might want to know what the long term employment and advancement opportunities are. Ask. Employers are looking for committed people. When asking about long term opportunities you show interest in loyalty. It triggers loyalty feelings and that’s a good thing.

Ask about pay and benefits last. What are the benefits? When do they kick in?

What’s the pay? Are there opportunities for raises if I serve better? Remember that pay is a result of your ability to serve?

Be prepared for personality discovery questions: I ask them in interviews and more and more people are. Be prepared for questions like: Tell me about a time you had conflict with a co-worker. Tell me about a time when you had a challenge at work. Tell me about a time when you put in a procedure in place that made things flow better or more productive. 

Just before you go into the interview:

4. Psyche yourself up. You’re selling yourself. Imagine the end result. Tell yourself, you’ve got this. Raise your arms like you’ve just won something — got the job.

Get in touch with your confidence. Think of a time you felt confident. Invoke that feeling. Remember feelings are mostly transparent. They spread. If you feel desperate, the interviewer may sense it. They don’t like to feel desperate or work with people that are.

If you feel confident and sure footed, the interviewer will feel confident and sure footed and they like that feeling. Get in touch with your positive feelings before going into the interview. Access confidence, patience, determination, caring about others — customers, co-workers, etc. Get in touch with all those feelings before you go into the interview. 

In the interview:

5. Keep your body language open. Body language is often mirrored by people we are connecting with. Open body language opens people for positive emotional triggers.

Get some soft eye contact. Soft eye contact promotes trust and transparency.

Have your list of questions and a note pad in front of you; it shows preparedness. Employers like to hire people that can prepare themselves for any situation. Show that you are a prepared person.  

The goal is to trigger positive emotion in the interviewers.

You might open with; Tell them you researched the company and you know the mission statement. Tell them how it fits with you. Compliment the interviewer and the company. 

Go with the flow of the interview. The best communication process is 2 way.  Answer all questions thoroughly. Ask them if you’ve answered to their satisfaction. Make sure you’ve clarified things. 

Don’t ask a question until you’ve answered theirs clearly.

6. Sell yourself. Take control of the interview at times by asking questions to make sure communication is flowing 2 ways. You’re selling yourself. Start with the questions about who you are serving and the challenges in serving them. Share how you would overcome the challenges. 

Then ask questions about the team you'll be working with, learning opportunities, etc.  Ask about benefits, hours, and pay last. 

A tip for Socratic selling:  When the prospect has asked more than 2 questions in a row, you’ve lost control of the sales interview. Get control by asking questions after you've answered their's thoroughly. This rule of selling has to be adjusted a little for the job interview process. As an interviewee, we don’t want to take the interviewer off course too much. It will frustrate them. You might let them ask 2 or 3 questions before going into your agenda. 

Fit your questions into the flow if the interview. Don't go of topic until you've fully discussed the topic the interviewer is on. 

Remember that the company interviewer is selling their organization as much as you are selling yourself. The better you sell yourself, the more they will want to sell themselves so you come to work for them.

Use clarification. Make sure you and they get the interpretations of the answers correct — both ways.

Ask closing questions at the end of the interview. Make sure they are on your list so you don’t forget.

Closing questions: Did I answer all of your questions? When will you be making a decision? When’s a good time to call to follow up?

Remember that your job is where you spend a big % of your time. Do you want it to be one that you enjoy going to? Do you want it to be one that you can grow in? Do you want a good work atmosphere so you can have some peace of mind? Be choosy in your job selection. It matters. 

Overview:

Prepare:

1. Know what you want — best case scenario. Imagine what it would be like to have that perfect job and exactly what it would look like.
2. Research the company or organization for sure. If you can find out who it is, research the person interviewing you.
3. Make your list of questions.

Now you’re ready for the interview:

4. Psyche yourself up just before going into the interview.
5. Be aware of, and control your body language and eye contact.
6. Go with the flow of the interview.
7. Sell yourself.
8. Ask closing questions.

Good luck in getting that perfect job. Thanks for reading. 

Mike