Nine tips for getting hired

Takeaway:
Job
seekers sometimes approach interviews too eager to please. Here are his
tips for getting around that feeling and putting your best foot
forward.

The problem with career advice, there’s just so darn much of
it out there. Everybody has a personal slant on how best to present
yourself in an interview. It’s refreshing to come across something as
simple as a bulleted list of best practices to follow. That’s why I like
this advice, provided by Jim Camp
, an internationally coach and trainer, and author of NO: The Only Negotiating System You Need for Work and Home
.

Camp recognizes that job seekers feel like they’re at a disadvantage.
They go into the interview feeling nervous about rejection, ashamed of
getting fired from their last job, or too anxious to please. He
cautions however, that if you let such emotions and attitudes overtake
you, you’ll be unable to think about the challenges facing this company
and unable to articulate why they need you and should hire you.

Here are his nine other tried-and-true tips to getting hired:

1. Do impeccable research on the company and position before the interview.
Read
recent business articles, visit the company’s website, and read press
releases and annual reports. Write down anything and everything about
this company.

2. Don’t try to impress them with your dress, attitude, or speech.
It will backfire. Be honest, direct, and authentic. Look decent and be comfortable in your own skin.

3. Find out what your interviewer wants by asking questions.
Your
aim is to discover the company’s problems, issues, and needs so you
can position yourself as the solution. Example: “What are the biggest
challenges facing your company?”

4. Ask interrogative-led questions–what, how, and why–to help YOU direct the dialogue.
These
get your interviewer spilling the beans. Example: “How do you see this
position developing and changing over the next three years?”

5. Get your interviewer to reveal what a “good fit” means to them.
Your
objective is to find out how you might uniquely enhance this company.
Example: “How would you describe your employees and the culture of this
organization?”

6. Don’t volunteer too much information.
You might
think your previous working environment is relevant. You might think
your family life is important. You might think your hobbies are
character revealing. But telling too much gives your interviewer fuel
to make assumptions and draw conclusions about you.

7. Be a blank slate.
Learn to clear your mind of
assumptions, fears, and expectations so you will be emotionally neutral
and can maintain an open-minded perspective. If you start to feel
hopeful or fearful, needy or overconfident, drop your pen, shift in
your chair, take a deep breath–do anything to distract yourself and get
back to neutral.

8. Don’t be needy.
Neediness kills your advantage in a job interview. You do not NEED this job. You need water, food, and air.

9. Focus on what you can control.
The only thing
you can control in the interview is your behavior and your responses.
Focus on listening carefully–taking notes if necessary–and on answering
questions in such a way that you are always keeping your interviewer’s
requirements and goals in mind. Your answers should reflect how you
fit in with this employer’s aims and enhance the employer’s objectives.