Hello Beautiful Readers,
Today I want to share some of my best tips with you on how to have a killer interview and leave your mark on your future employers. I am not highly experienced in corporate interviews, but over the past few years I have engaged in multiple interviews and I believe these tips cross all spectrum’s. I hope they are helpful for you, and I encourage you to share some of your own tips in the comments.
- GNAP: This is my secret on creating the proper introduction, GNAP stands for Greeting, Name, Association and Purpose. For example, you may use this by saying “Hello, my name is Jane Doe and I am a business student at UniversityX and I am interested in learning about internship opportunities at your company.” I think this is a useful tool when you are unsure how to introduce yourself or engage a conversation with a stranger.
- Research the company prior to the interview: If you are seeking employment with a specific company, be sure you do some research before the interview. That way, when you are stuck on an answer or need a filler, you can discuss the company’s history and values that you learned from doing research. This will not only make you stand out, but it will show your passion toward obtaining the position with that company.
- Prepare your strengths & weaknesses, but know how to turn your weakness into a positive: For me, I use being a perfectionist as my weakness because I focus too much on one task sometimes, but I can turn this into a positive by saying I am detail-oriented. This part can also be connected to your research on the company because you can make a statement on how one of your strengths relates to the core values of that establishment. Preparing this ahead of time will make the interview process a little less nerve racking.
- Always prepare questions to ask the interviewer: This part is an important piece of the interview process, and I know how easy it is to say you have no questions but you should always ask a question. This makes you look more engaged with the interview and company. You can look up these questions or you can tailor them based on your interview process. Some examples include “How do you like your position within this company?”, “Is there room for growth?” and “If I am hired, how can I help the team reach the sales goal?”. These are just some examples, but the context will depend based on the establishment and position you are interviewing for.
- Sell yourself: This one can be scary and many people feel uncomfortable when they are talking about themselves; but this is your chance to showcase your skills. Keep in mind “why should they hire me?” You have to stand out; therefore, do not fear putting your skills out there on the table.
- Be confident: Body language is crucial to making the interview flow and feel comfortable. Being confident in your answers, along with having a good posture and smiling face, will make you have a much more successful interview. If you are hesitant or you seem uncomfortable, this could send bad vibes to the person who is interviewing you. Be prepared and be confident!
- Dress professional: Your first impression is very important, and what you wear can influence this. You want to look professional, but do not be afraid to add a little bit of your own style into what you wear. For men, this could be doing a printed tie or button down. For women, you could wear a unique top or add a printed pair of slacks. I like to stand out a little from the crowd but remain professional too!
- Shake hands before and after: Always shake hands in interviews or meetings, every time you are introducing yourself in a business or professional setting, you want to shake hands and make eye contact. I think people often forget to close with a hand shake as well, thank the person for taking time to talk to you and shake their hand.
- Follow up: Do not forget to follow up after being interviewed with an email, or even a hand written statement. I have yet to use the latter, but it will definitely stand out among other candidates you may be competing with. Simply, thank them for taking time to interview you and tell them you are looking forward to hearing back or working for them, depending on the outcome of the interview.
I hope you are able to pull something from this post, and if you want to share a tip, feel free to add it in the comments. I also would like to go further on the topic of professional dress and how to dress for success, if that seems like a post that would benefit you, please let me know. Thank you all for reading this post today and I will leave some Monday Motivation below. I wish you the best week and I hope you smash all your goals for the week.
Monday Motivation
Happy Monday.
xo, Lyss