Celebrate the
Holidays With a Job-Winning Interview!
Whether you light a pine tree for Christmas, a Menorah for
Hanukkah, or kinara candles for Kwanzaa, the holiday season for each of us can
be a bit overwhelming. Shopping, decorating, gift-wrapping, cooking, baking, and
entertaining consume our time and thoughts.
This year, however, you may want to consider taking the
following three steps to achieve a happy and
restful season:
Slow
down. You don't have to do it all yourself. Enlist the help of
family and friends with cooking, gift-wrapping, and mailing.
Simplify.
Let go of some of the time-consuming rituals so you can
relax and enjoy the celebrations. Order gifts online. Set up a potluck. Pay a
teen to clean up.
Stop!
Take a breather—and while you're resting, make a list (and
check it twice!) of where you are now and where you want to be a year from now.
If being employed in a new position is on that list, remember
that every great job starts with a terrific interview. Start thinking about
what you'll bring to this meeting: your appearance, your ability to speak with
confidence, and your skills and work experience that will grab a hiring
manager's attention. Use some of the spare time you have during the holidays to
make a plan so that when you're called for an interview you'll be ready.
Take Charge
Keep in mind that today's hiring
manager is more interested in who you are as a person than who you are as a
professional. Behavior-based interviewing is now the norm. Employers are
looking at a candidate's previous performance as an indicator of future
behavior. They're not only interested in your resume, but also in the way you interact
with others and how you respond when part of a team. They want to know what
they can expect if they hire you and how you'll handle tricky situations that
call for calm and confident leadership. It will be up to you to convince them
that you're the one for this job.
Tell the Truth
Following are some of the hard-edged
questions and directives you could face in a behavior-based interview. Answer
each one honestly to the best of your ability.
1.
Tell me about a time you took charge
of a situation that was out of control.
2.
Give an example of a goal you set at
work and how you achieved it.
3.
Have you performed beyond the
requirement of the job you held? If so, how?
4.
If you made a mistake in judgment
how would you handle it with management?
5.
How have you dealt with difficult
co-workers or customers?
Be prepared to provide details,
dialogue, and a description of what occurred and how you resolved it.Trust in Yourself—A Three-Point Review
1.
Recognize
your good qualities and review them often in your mind.
2.
Jot
down a few experiences that illustrate situations and times when you
successfully resolved conflict, stood up for the truth despite criticism, or
used your creativity to negotiate a challenging relationship.
3.
Take
your emotional pulse. If you're smiling and feeling comfortable and well suited
to the job in question, go for it. If you feel stressful, confused, or
overwhelmed, consider setting this opportunity aside and looking for a job more
appropriate to your skills and experience.
Once you're
clear in your mind that this is the job you want, you'll be able to walk into
any interview and establish a good rapport with the hiring manager. Following
that,
all that's left
is the question only you can ask and answer for yourself. "Is this the job
for me?"
Happy holidays!
May you land the interview that will lead to the job you really want.
© Written By
Jimmy Sweeney
President of
CareerJimmy and Author of the new,
