The water cooler was pretty quiet today, until I showed up, that is. I mean, they were just standing around… wait for it… drinking water?! I honestly couldn’t believe it, so I ventured to bring up the first thing that came to mind. I remembered someone had told me recently
about the job market and how interviewing had become a work of art. Too many people trying for too few jobs is the main reason for it. Now more than ever, we came to the consensus, knowing and practicing tried-and-true interviewing skills is the ticket to getting past the first round of interviews and being in the final running for any quality job you want to try for. So what are these techniques, you ask? We came up with, in no particular order:
1) Eye contact. Yes, it’s the old standard, but it’s true now more than ever. Too many people aren’t trained enough in this, so they look everywhere but into their interviewer’s eyes. When you are seeming to avoid eye contact, it tells your potential employer that you’re a shifty character, not someone they should hire. The best way you can make sure you have good eye contact is to bring absolutely nothing with you to the interview. If you are holding something in your hands it makes it all that much easier to look down instead of up. Another way to ensure eye contact is to play a game inside of your head. Anytime you say the word “I,” just look up. “I” equals “eye.”
2) Avoid your resume like the plague. Anytime you find yourself saying, “As my resume explains,” you’re dead meat. Potential employers want to know more about you and your skills. If they just wanted to hear your resume rehashed they wouldn’t have bothered with bringing you in for the interview in the first place. They would have just read your resume over and over. So avoid the resume when answering questions. Stick to your strengths, and help them realize how well-rounded you are by playing up the points your resume hasn’t touched upon. They will be suitably impressed, and since everyone else will probably be expounding upon their resumes, it will also be a breath of fresh air.
3) Try to stay away from the long pause. Even if you need to take time to come up with a 
response to a tough question, don’t sit there hemming and hawing. It will not win you any points, and the longer you go, the more you’ll be thinking about it, and you’re a goner. The trick is to keep talking. Anything can be connected to, “That’s a question I was just considering before I came here today, and I’m glad you brought it up…” which should buy you just enough time to come up with a finisher for that sentence. It makes them realize you’re a thinker, but it also closes the gap between the question and the answer, essentially becoming part of the answer without making you think about it, so you could formulate an actual response.
4) Always ask questions at the end. All good interviews end with the interviewer asking if you have any questions for them. Have questions ready, and reel them off, but not too many. The number agreed upon by our water cooler committee was a solid four questions. Again, it shows them that you’re smart enough to want to know what you are getting into, but also that you have researched before you came. That could give you the leg up you need when it comes down to a battle between you and the highly qualified “other guy” who didn’t ask questions at the end.
Sam
Sam's Online Journal 