Originally Posted by rezo
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Well, I finally nailed a job after being unemployed for 3 months. A lot of the tips here are great and duplicate to what I can offer, so I'll just describe my situation.
First off, I was one hour and 10 minutes late to the first interview for the job I ended up getting. It really wasn't my fault. HR never sent me directions. So I mapquested them and it turns out in the town where the site is, there are two 192 Street Aves (not the real street name). Guess which one Mapquest gave me?
The residental one. So after navigating blind for that time, I found it. (Both HR and my brother-in-law, who lives in the same town where the site is were of no help!) As it turns out, my new boss, who got there in August, was a half hour late to her interview for the same reason!
So, how may you ask did I turn extreme lateness into a job offer?
- Wear a suit/Proper grooming: Obvious and dependent on what kind of position you're interviewing for. Clean shaven is a must. With my awful skin, I would roll shaving to the day of, even if my face so itchy that I was going to kill myself otherwise.
- Preplanning: Obvious, but even if you sound almost robotic in your responses, it shows you took the time to prep. That's as imporant as what you actually say.
- Interview Experience: If you just started looking, or just lost your job, and you find an opportunity that you think you'll really like, try and find a 'beater' interview to go on first. Obviously not as easy as it sounds, but it can help you shake off your nerves and make sure your responses sound right under pressure. When I finally went on the interview for the job I took, I was so fine tuned that I shot off each response so naturally that I didn't break a sweat.
- Enthusiasm: Don't expect to get a job offer for a job you want solely for desperation purposes. Faked enthusiasm will never match up to real enthusiasm. Also, it helps a lot if the person interviewing offers the same enthusiam back to you. I went on 8 interviews (not including second ones), and only 2 really tried to sell the position to me. The one I took was one of those. I was genuinely excited about the position when it was time for me to start talking.
- Eye Contact & Firm Handshakes: Again, obvious. Goes right in with enthusiasm.
- Confidence: You really don't have to worry about confidence if you can control and execute the previous four points. They will take care of it for you.
- Be observant: Whether it's in the interview or while you're waiting in the lobby, look around and observe. You can sometimes cull questions to ask or points to insert into your responses that improve your standing. An example from the job I got, I read their mission statement board in the lobby while waiting. In there, was a term called kaizen. I had no idea what it meant, so I asked the person I met with what it meant. She said that she had thought the same thing and had no clue either! But it lightened the mood, and showed good qualities in myself (observant, curious, not afraid to ask). Also, these are the things you can touch on in your thank you email.
- The 'concerns' question: A little gem from my sister, who is literally 4/4 on interviews for her career. The last question you ask is 'Do you have any concerns about myself? My experience, my presentation, anything at all?' Most times, they'll be polite and say nothing, but I have squeezed out thoughts before, and this allows you to address them right then and there. It helps build confidence in areas you may be lacking experience-wise, or patch up any mishaps during the interview.
- The Thank You email: Again, obvious. Even if you use a form one like I do, be sure to tailor it to the person you were talking to. If you forget to get someone's card, do whatever it takes to extrapolate the email for that person off of the domain and how they set email addys up.
- Don't rely on recruiters beyond actually getting you in for the interview: In my field, recruiters are the only way to get worthwhile interviews. I probably browsed the job sites 3 or 4 times over 3 months, and generally, I would just refresh my resume then. Applying online hurts you twofold: one, you get lost in a sea of resumes, and two, it locks you out of recruiter help with that job. That being said, once they get you in there, don't rely on their info to get you through the interview. Do your own research, your own prep. Recruiters can be pretty good and they can also be pretty fucking stupid. Also note that recruiters are very bad at giving the employer the exact amount of experience they ask in their candidates.
- Use Numbers: When describing your experience, if you can use solid values (dollar amounts, amount of projects per year), do it. Being defined like that helps a lot.
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