Landing your next new job is dependent upon having a good interview.  That fact alone is the reason most people are nervous when it comes to the interview process.  By thinking through the normal flow of the interview and preparing yourself mentally, the interview will proceed better and you will be able to ‘sell’ your skills more effectively.

The potential employer saw enough in your resume to spark interest. They saw the skills and work experience that seemed to match somewhat the opening at their company. Your job is to learn more about the position and correlate your skills to the position.  At the end of the interview, you want the company to feel much more positive that you are a fit and you want to be able to envision yourself in the job.

 Review the tips below for your next interview:

• Be Prepared – To be prepared for an interview, research the company online.  Understand the types of products/ services sold, the locations, the marketing channels, and published articles about the company, especially anything about the location where you are interviewing. Did the company win a Best Places to Work award?  Did they recently expand operations?  Did they acquire a new company?  Did they have a recent layoff?  These facts build your knowledge of the company and improve your understanding of your role within the company. These facts also will help you determine if the company is a place you would like to work. The interview is a meeting, or a date if you will, where both parties have the opportunity to see if the potential working relationship would be a fit.

• Correlate your skills to the job- Multiple times throughout the interview there will be times to correlate your skills to the job.  When the hiring manager talks about the requirements of the job, the issues at hand etc, this is the time to interject your experience in those areas.  If the interviewer talks about working through a recent acquisition, this would be the time to talk about how you performed the due diligence in a recent acquisition all the way to the final purchase accounting. Perhaps you worked through employee issues, layoffs, hirings, and reorganizations. Make sure these items are brought to the forefront. Don’t assume just because it is on your resume, the interviewer will know. Your resume is one of hundreds they have seen. Take this opportunity to share your skills and elaborate on them.

• Speak with confidence and enthusiasm- As people continue to be unemployed for longer and longer periods of time, the confidence level in an interview deteriorates. Make sure to speak with confidence about your skills and your enthusiasm for the position. If you feel your skills work well with the requirements of the job, make sure to say so at the end of the interview.  I like it when towards the end of an interview, a person will indicate they feel they are a good fit based on our discussion of the skills and duties of the position.  They are interested in the opening and ask if I have any question whatsoever about their ability to do the job.  You want to be enthusiastic and positive, but not desperate; however.  Don’t say you can do ‘any’ job at the company or you will do ‘anything’ to get back in the job market.  While understandable to want companies to consider you for other openings, interviewing in such a way will not do yourself any favors. Interviewing is much like dating. You don’t want to hear that your date will go out with ‘anyone’; they just want to go out. You want to hear that your date wants to go out with you. In that same vein, the employer wants to hear that you are interested in their open position. They want to know you know something about the company and feel it matches your desires.  They brought you in for a certain position, so express interest in that position.

• Body Language– Body language is one of those things we don’t think about, but says an awful lot.  Sometimes people SAY certain things, but you can tell they don’t believe it themselves. Try to maintain an open and relaxed body language. Don’t overcompensate and hide your nervousness by leaning way back in your chair and assuming an ultra relaxed position.  You should be comfortable, but not overly comfortable in the interviewer’s office. Don’t ask for coffee, spread your items all over the desk and ‘run the meeting’.  Be respectful and let the interviewer lead.  This doesn’t mean you are a passenger in the meeting, but let the interviewer lead the interview in the method they prefer. People have styles of interviewing. The interviewer may always have small talk in the beginning while finding your resume, begin at your oldest job and walk through your skills. If you jump in and start talking about your current position as if leading the meeting, you may inadvertently ‘ice’ the process.

Don’t change your interviewing style if you ‘assume’ the person you are interviewing with is a lower level than you.  Often Human Resources is a gateway to hiring and perhaps a lower tenured person will begin the interview process. Carry on with the interview as if the President of the company were interviewing. Don’t lead the interview or treat the interviewer is if they are being ‘handled’ by you.  Liking the person you interview is a very important aspect of the interview and by such behavior you may have alienated a potential ally.

• Ask Questions- The interview is a dialogue so ask questions as you would in any other situation.  Be thoughtful in your questions to learn more details about the position or to understand more thoroughly what type of person they are looking to hire. You just may find out skills that would be incidental to the job that you possess and can discuss.

• Bring Professional References- Bring at least two professional references with you. The best reference is a previous boss. Make sure to speak with each of your references and ensure they are comfortable with providing such.  Do not provide references you don’t want called.  If there is a confidential issue, ensure the hiring manager understands who to call for a reference that won’t jeopardize your current job.  Ask your references to maintain confidentiality; it is a small world.  If you can’t provide two previous bosses as a reference, perhaps a customer would be a good reference or a co-worker in which you worked on a team together.  Avoid just having co-workers provide a reference however if there isn’t a situation where they relied on your work. Friends at work really can’t speak to your work product if they are just a lunch buddy.

Using these tips in your interview will go a long way to ensuring you get a ‘*’  at the top of your resume and not an ‘x’.

Talis Group works with hiring companies every day who are searching for their next talented employee.   See the jobs we are currently hiring on this website and submit your online resume! 

                                                                                                Written by : Renee Fulton, Talis Group, Inc.