In American society we are taught to never be too cocky, to always give credit where credit is due, and to make sure we do not come off to people as too sure of ourselves. Well, when you are going in for a job or internship interview, throw all that advice to the wind!
When you go to a company for an interview you are selling yourself to the interviewer. They don’t want to put time and money into a person who doesn’t wow them from the start, so make sure you do! Not only do you have to know how to dress for an interview, but also how to speak.
When you are discussing yourself, either in a positive or negative light, and your past experiences keep these thoughts in mind:
- Be the Solution
- A new employee is usually searched for because a company needs a new outlook on an old problem. Identify that problem and discuss it in your interview. Scour the job description for any potential leads for what this problem may be, or research what the company has been having trouble with.
- Be specific and real
- Employers look for people to back up what they say on paper, so make sure you can cite an example for everything you’ve written on your resume and cover letter. For example, if you say you “led the team” give an example of how you were their leader.
- Stay positive
- Even when an interviewer asks about a challenging time with a previous employer, stay positive. Use constructive terms like “challenging”, “not a good fit” or “the atmosphere did not meet my professional goals” to show that something did not work out.
- Prepare tag lines
- The chance of you being the only interviewee for a position is not only unlikely, it is impossible. Some positions have dozens of potential candidates; use a tag line to make you stand out to employers. Examples like “My work with the 3 most prestigious accounting firms in the state…” or “I increased productivity by 8% with my innovative workplace summary” offer impressive statistics that can be jotted down quickly and remembered by interviewers.
- Discuss your resume and cover letter
- Use your resume as a conversation starter. Just like the excerpt or summary of a story, your resume and cover letter should entice the reader to know more. it’s your job to fill in the actual story and explain the “how” to the “what” found in your resume.
- Know how your body language talks
- Your facial expressions, your clothing, and the way you sit and what your hands do say a lot about who you are and what message you are trying to portray to future employers. Our dressing for success and interviews session dives into this topic more.