One of the primary lessons I have learned in my 20+ years as an executive recruiter is succeeding during the interview is the most important part of landing a job. As a result, I have shared many interview tips to help improve your interviews and in turn increase your chances of landing your next job.
Several interview guidelines can be drawn from successful Toastmaster speakers. In “Here’s How To Work A Room”, Lin Grensing-Pophal shares many essentials that can be adopted to both interviewing and networking (to generate interviews). Included are:
1. Be a good listener. Listening is tough for many. However, if you can listen carefully to your interviewer, they will share the most important employment traits for their job. Then when you have a firm grasp of these employment essentials, you can better customize your interview responses to meet the interviewer’s needs.
2. Provide a strong greeting. Stick your hand out, firmly shake the interviewer’s (or anyone you meet during networking) hand, introduce yourself and smile. The premium is remembering to smile. Make it a very warm and sincere smile. Many people are reluctant to do this.
3. Practice. Many interview techniques can easily be practiced at home in the mirror or on videotape. The more you practice, the stronger and more natural your responses will be.
Once you feel comfortable with these interview techniques, practice them during the next networking event in your job field. Keep a journal of your progress including: a) what you did right and b) what you need to improve upon. This will help you master the interview process!
