Throughout my many years as an interview coach, I’ve found that the most challenging task for job seekers is effectively selling their skills and uncovering and communicating their relevant accomplishments.
Explaining professional accomplishments in a job interview can be a daunting task. Faced with a panel of skillful interviewers who will critique your every word, interviewing can be gut-wrenching.
Know What You Have to Offer
The best advice I can provide is to ensure you know what you can offer to the position and the company’s strategic goals and objectives. Remembering to remain calm before entering the interviewing room is necessary for a successful meeting. In many cases, the interviewer may be as nervous as the interviewee.
Within the competitive job-seeking arena, selling your professional accomplishments and past successes and improving productivity, sales, staff performance, etc., is paramount to interview success.
In a supervisory role, you must sell your leadership, administrative experience, quantitative achievements, and key strengths that will enhance collaboration and strengthen company initiatives. Also, it is exceedingly essential to touch upon your relevant academic background or volunteer experience.
Many job seekers have a hard time showcasing what they can bring to the table. Add a bundle of nerves and anxiety to that, and you can have a melting pot for disaster. This is why preparation, research, and practicing selling your skills are essential to interview success. Prepare, practice, and conquer!
When You Get Into the Interview Room
In the interview room, remain calm, relaxed, and collected. Introduce yourself with a smile and firm handshake, and maintain good eye contact during conversation. Touch on specific accomplishments and stay clear of providing generic, job description-like duties.
Should you be faced with a question such as “Do you have any training or experience with ___,” and you don’t have any knowledge or experience with that duty, continue to sell yourself by offering an answer such as “No, however, I do have involvement with ___,” and then turn the potentially harmful mark into a positive one?
Interview questions will often be geared toward how well you think on your feet, so expect the unexpected. You should have thought through what you would do if asked a question that would otherwise catch you off guard. Your response in such circumstances should be calm and calculated—never rush to respond to a question you’re unsure about, as a wrong response could reduce your chances of getting the job.
Need additional help? Reach out to Candace to learn more!
