TIP of the Week

 

 

Your Body Language

According to the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, 80 percent of what you communicate is in your body language. Your actions will speak well for you, if during a job interview, you lean in slightly towards the speaker and nod your head to show you are really engaged.    

TIP of the Week - It's so simple.

 

 

          Smile

 

It seems so simple, but nerves can get the best of us at job interview time. Don’t forget to smile when you are greeting anyone you meet on interview day. Be sincere and engage your whole face and eyes in your smile. 

How do you present your strengths in a job interview?

If you are responding to a friend's question, listing your strengths might be easy. When you are vying for the position of your dreams, it can feel like the make or break moment in your job interview. If you’ve been working with a good recruiter who really knows you and knows the position and the company, you can discuss with him or her where your strengths actually fit the needs of the position. From there, you just need to talk confidently about what makes you such a great fit. 

Still, you first have to think a bit about what your strengths are, and how you can focus your answer so that what you say resonates in the mind of the interviewer. So what are your strengths?  Here are a few ideas on how to define them.

First, list the ones that come to mind, and when you do, think of an example to illustrate each one. For instance (strength) “My real strength is my attention to detail.” (Example) “That’s probably why I am always asked to review the project plans to see if anything has been overlooked.”

If you need more ideas, think about what your bosses and co-workers rely on you for, or the complimentary things they say about you or your work. Some examples could make you realize that you are: always on time to meetings, very deadline oriented, have a can-do attitude, work well under pressure, have great follow through or follow-up skills.  

Once you’ve have a handful of strengths, pick two or three and concentrate on how you will present them.

To be safe, do the same thing for your weaknesses. Let’s face it, those are just the few things we can do better if we just give them a bit of attention. You probably only have two, so then you’re done. Just paint them in the best light possible.

We’d like to know, have you ever really defined your strengths? How have they helped you get a job?

 

Tell me a little about yourself. 

What to say to the interviewer.

There you are. You arrived perfectly on time for the job interview. You are seated in front of the hiring manager. The two of you just chatted about the weather and the traffic. Here it comes; the first real question. “Tell me a little about yourself”.  It may sound like a casual question, but you know it isn’t. If you’ve anticipated it, maybe you still worry about what you’ve chosen to say. If you haven’t anticipated it, you haven’t been realistic about how to prepare for an interview.

How should you answer that question? What should you talk about?  How long should you talk? If you aren’t certain, here are some ideas.

1.      We hate to start with “don’t”, but because talking about yourself is so natural, we want to caution you. Please, don’t focus on personal details like, where you grew up or your family/children etc.

2.      Do focus on your professional experience. Highlight your successes. It’s a perfect opportunity to mention accreditations, exams and the types of experience you have, such as specific projects, modeling, management and programming.

3.      If you have them, it’s a great idea to include mention of examples of how you brought value to your employers. Some good examples would be to talk about the money you saved them or perhaps models you’ve developed. 

4.      Talk about the strengths and traits you have that relate to qualifications for this position.  

5.      Talk about your current situation, specifically about why this position attracted you in relationship to your goals.  

Your answer should take only a few minutes. It should be a summary, so the interviewer can ask about the details he or she is interested in. Talking too long leaves the interviewer out of the conversation. You need to do enough talking to demonstrate you can be articulate and focused, but not so long-winded that you talk yourself right out of the running.   

We’d like to hear your experiences with this question? Have you ever answered it in a way that you got you the job? Or maybe you learned the hard way what not to say? 

 

 

 

 Making Eye Contact

 

Job interviews make even the most confident of us nervous.

When you arrive, everything is unfamiliar. You naturally are curious about the office surroundings and want to take it all in. You might be so preoccupied that it's easy to forget the first, most basic communication skill- making eye contact.

 

The ability to immediately make and hold eye contact with the interviewer is an act of communication that speaks louder than words.