Job Club Journal

Day 8 – More talk about talking

 More about interviewing . . . try to schedule your interviews in the morning, so you don’t have to talk over lunch. 

·         Job Seeker needs to make sure that he/she knows where the interview will be held – if you don’t know exactly where it is, drive by.  Carry a map in your car.  Don’t always trust GPS.

·         Preferable that job seeker arrive 10-15 minutes before the time of the interview.  Look for company literature or bring the research you have done about the company so that you have something to read while you wait.  YOU MUST NOT BE LATE!!!

·         Take a pad of paper and several blue-ink pens.  Ask interviewer whether you can take notes.  Make certain you have written five questions to ask the interviewer on a separate page in your pad. [Also, have a pad and pen by your phone at home, as the person who calls you may be the one who is setting the interview.]

·         Take the application you filled in during Job Club so that you have the information you will need to fill in an application at the time of the interview.

·         While you are job hunting, try to keep things organized at home so you can be professional-sounding when you answer the phone.  Remember that the caller may take the call as a way to eliminate you – if the dog is barking and the kids are screaming, you may want to have a way for the caller to leave a message.  Then you can call back from a quiet, controlled space.

·         An interview question often asked is: Why did you leave your last job?  Whether you left voluntarily or were let go, you can say: “I’m always looking for new challenges”; or, “I like to keep my options open,” followed by something appropriate to the company doing the interview.

·         “Not what you say, but it’s how you say it.”

·         Dress according to the job you’re applying for: office job, wear a suit; custodial, wear clean pants and shirt; health care professional, clean, pressed uniform.  Shoes clean and polished no matter what the job.

·         Be careful of the number and type of accessories you wear: no more than 13 including hat, gloves, briefcase or portfolio, handbag, shoes, eyeglasses, jewelry (earrings and necklace count 2), scarf, folder, pad of paper, pens).  You don’t want to be leaving a trail of left belongings wherever you go.

·         DON’T TELL THE EMPLOYER THAT YOU’RE RETIRED! (Some employers take this to mean that you do not need (want) to work).                

Follow up:

·         Make eye contact with each person.  In a group interview, make eye contact with each person in turn and end up where you started.  Try to get a business card from each person and arrange them in the order received and you will be able to call each interviewer by name.  If the interview is a video conference, or some of the people are on video, face the video screen and introduce yourself.

·         Have sufficient resumes so that you can give one to each interviewer.

·         Your handshake should be firm and short – it won’t cost you a job; but don’t be a crusher or give a limp handshake.

·         Stand with one foot a little ahead of the other so that if someone shakes your hand too strongly, they won’t cause you to lose your balance – especially important for women.

·         Your responses to questions should be about 25 seconds – practice, time your answers, do this often enough that you instinctively know how long is comfortably 20-30 seconds.

·         Illustration:  If an interviewer sits with fingertips touching in front of face, he/she is saying that he/she is a power player – your response, fingertips together, arms on table (power response).

·         If you really want the job, ask the interview to hire you at the end.

·         DON’T TOUCH ANYTHING ON INTERVIEWER’S DESK!

If the interviewer asks, “Why should we hire you?”   This is your place to brag on yourself!!!

Homework:  Make a 30-second commercial about yourself.  (Summarize your early years, education, work history, and recent career experience that relates to the job for which you are applying.  DO NOT MENTION RELIGION, POLITICAL PARTY, MARRIAGE STATUS OR YOUR FAVORITE TEAM OR ANYTHING PERSONAL.)

AFTER INTERVIEW, SEND ‘THANK YOU’ WITHIN 24 HOURS – THIS IS IMPORTANT!