job interview tips

I remember the first mock interview I had with an IT consulting firm manager when I was in college practicing for the job hunt. Boy was I in for a shock. She massacred my resume and intimidated me with tough open ended questions. But in the end I’m glad I did it because I landed a job right before graduating. But that was a while back and today it’s a different story and much harder to find a job these days.

Sharing my experience
After starting my own business I started reviewing my fair share of resumes and interviewed quite a lot of people. Most candidates in general do a fair job but I’ve picked up on some things that you should or should not do when interviewing for a job. These are things I think will apply to any position in general and hope it can help some of you that are in the market for a job.

1. Your Resume

Keep it simple, to the point and shoot for 1 page - I usually don’t have a lot of time when I have to review 100+ resumes for a position. So help the people that are reviewing resumes by keeping it short, simple and easy to scan. If you must go past 1 page (and hopefully not more than 2) put your strongest experience and points on the first page and keep the supporting info on the second.
Customize your resume to the position – I know many people using the same resume for all the different companies and job positions they submit to and my suggestion is to put a little more effort into each company by customizing your resume a bit. Of course your job experience will always be the same but for every job there are different sets of highlights that each company is looking for especially when experience is task specific. If you’re looking for a job involving leadership you should tailor your resume experience to show how you lead a project or effort involving team work and people. If you’re looking for more of a task oriented job then tailor your experience on the skills you have relating to that position. It will help to show the interviewer your strengths instead of just reading a general experience resume. The less they have to make the connection between what they need and your experience, the more likely they will want to call you in for the interview.

2. Body Language

Don’t turn your back to the interviewer when entering the room
Don’t point your finger
Don’t touch your face
Keep your eyes on the interviewers eyes and nose (the triangle)
Keep the hand movements in front of you and don’t start moving your hands like an MTV rapper (unless of course you are auditioning for a position involving rapping :-p)
If you have extra time try to look up the company’s colors. For the gals you can wear accessories, like scarves, in the company colors. For the guys you can try matching the tie to the company colors. This will help make the interviewer feel your in touch with their company and thinking on the same level.

3. Speak Right

Use positive word
It’s ok to talk a little slower so you can get rid of the um’s, uh’s, like’s etc.
Use constructive sentence structure
Provide specific examples from previous experiences to show you know what you’re talking about

That’s all I can think of right now, but if anyone else has any other experiences to share, please leave a comment. I’d love to add to the list and help all of you out that need a forum to discuss on what to do to ace the interview and land that job!