After more than a decade of working since I graduated and from ground working in a small private owned company to famous enterprise Disney, NBC then move to Gateway. I have been experiencing a lot of things and working with a lot of people. Now I think it’s a good time to share some of my happiness and sadness to people now who is looking for getting into the big job market.
Few years ago I was working as a Web Development Manager in a financial institute. During my 5 years with the company, I have interviewed a lot of applicants and here I can point out few of them and hope you won’t make the same mistakes in your next interview.
1. Lack of Preparation
Most of the time I see applicants don’t really study or research enough about the company that they are applying for. A successful interview starts with a solid foundation of knowledge on the applicants. Open your eye and turn on your company, start doing some research about the employer, the requirements of the job, and in case if you know who is going to interview you, do some background research on him/her.
2. Review some common interview questions
Another way to conduct a successful interview is to prepare response for some interview questions. There are tons of resources that you can find online as reference. Be prepared and be honest to response all the questions during the interview. Do not lie!
3. Dress for success
You got to respect yourself before expecting people to the same on you. Appropriate dressing is the key to make yourself bright. Remember that it is better to overdressed than under. Keep all the jewelry and accessories to a minimum and remember, this is a job interview, not a wedding party.
You can not climb the ladder of success with a costume of failure ~Zig Ziglar
4. Be on time for an interview
Check the route and traffic ahead of time, it is recommend to be arrived no more than 15 minutes before your scheduled interview. Prepare all the documents such as extra copies of your resume, CV and references the night before. If you have any portfolios, bring them along and don’t forget always carry a pen with you. Finally when you get to the office, make sure to turn off or at least mute your cell phone.
5. Avoid bad habit and be confident
Try to relax yourself during the interview all time and be confident to answer questions accordingly with good body language such as straight up, smiling and eye contact. Avoid any bad habits such as picking the fingers, playing with pen, fidgeting in chair, touching face, brushing back hair, mumbling etc.
6. Ask questions
You must have some questions to ask if you did your own research about the company. Asking questions can also show your interest in the job and the questions that you ask also show the employers how well you know the company.
7. Thank you email after the interview
This is not a must but better and nicer to have it. Writing a thank-you email shortly after the interview definitely won’t get you the job offer but doing so can show your respect to the employer who offering you the interview and give you an edge over any of the other applicants who did not bother to do so.
Final thought of job interview success
Qualification is something that it can’t be changed by the time you are having an interview. But what you can do is to show the employer your passion, how interested you are in the position and what makes you stand out from all other candidates. Remember, getting an interview is already half way to success, the rest is all about preparation and presentation. This is all on your hand, the better you prepared, the higher the chance that you grant for the job offering.
