Month: November 2019

How to Turn Job Interview Jitters into Poise and Confidence

Job Interview Jitters: At a time when you want to feel confident, you are tense and uncomfortable. Believe in yourself.  Take these simple steps to create poise and confidence.

Believing in Ourselves is the First Step to Poise and Confidence. ~ www.jaywren.com

Job Interview Jitters and Stage Fright

Stage fright comes from thinking about ourselves. However, the audience is there to hear our message. Confidence comes from changing our focus from ourselves to what our audience needs to know.

Likewise, job interview jitters come from thinking about ourselves. However, instead, we can focus on the information the interviewer needs to know.

Arrive Early

Clear your schedule to arrive early and have time if the interview runs late. Getting to the interview early relieves you of the stress of trying to beat the clock. Additionally, when a hiring manager must wait for you to arrive, you risk frustrating the interviewer in ways that could cost you the job.

Eat Before Your Interview

Being hungry can make you feel nervous. Take a light snack and a bottle of water with you. Find a comfortable place to relax. Enjoy your snack about thirty minutes before your interview. Give your body time to digest the snack and get the food into your system. Hungry alone can create job interview jitters.

Reduce the Caffeine

Before an interview, avoid dark chocolate bars and caffeinated drinks. They are great for energy. The sugar and caffeine can give you an energy boost. However, as the sugar wears off, you can feel an energy drop. The caffeine can leave you feeling on edge. Caffeine, added to the adrenaline of having interview pressure can give you a heavy case of the jitters.

Prepare Thoroughly

Know the details of the company. Know the details of the job for which you are interviewing. Review your resume. Know how to discuss your experience in terms of how are qualified for the job.

Questions About the Company

Having questions about the company will show that you are interested in the job. Additionally, having written questions will help you to remember to ask the questions that you will need answered.

Anticipate Interviewer Questions

Try to expect questions that the interviewer might ask. Focus on situations in your background that make you feel uncertain about your skills and employment history. Write those situations in the form of questions and write your answers. Continue to practice giving your answers until you feel comfortable.

Breathe

Baseball players use this simple technique often. Watch pitchers right before the windup or batters right before stepping into the batter’s box. The players will take one or two deep breaths. You don’t need to master any complex breathing meditation. Just take a deep breath and release it slowly.

Script the Match

Research the company thoroughly. Create a script: list reasons why you want to work for this company; list reasons why you are the best candidate for the job and the company.

The Interviewer’s Background

Research the interviewer’s background. Be able to tell the interviewer positive things you know about them and their accomplishments. If you have things in common that are relevant to the job interview, mention those things. Use the interviewer’s name during the interview.

Job Interview Jitters: Conclusion

Poise and confidence are always inside us. We just need to know how to find them.

Remember that the interviewer wants to speak with you. The person sees things in your background that show that you are qualified for the job.

The night before the interview, read your resume. Make notes about your accomplishments. Write specific titles and names of the people with whom you have worked. Make a list of the specific skills you have used to create your accomplishments. Read your scripted notes about the interviewer. Review the match between you and the job opening. You should sleep better knowing that you are prepared. A good night’s sleep will give you even more confidence and poise.

Interview Attire: Dressing to Get the Job

Interview Attire: Different companies have different dress codes. Nonetheless, each company has attire that is standard in their workplace. Moreover, making a point to understand the hiring company’s dress codes will help you feel more comfortable when you walk in the door for a successful interview.

Dress at or Above the Company Dress Standards

Sometimes, the way that hiring managers respond to attire appears capricious and unfair. Here are two examples.

In one case, the applicant wore a colored dress shirt and tie. In another case, an applicant wore business casual to an interview at a weekend company meeting. The employees attending the meeting were wearing business casual as well.  In both cases, the hiring manager passed on the job applicant for not wearing attire that matched the company’s business dress code.

Business Professional Interview Attire

In business professional interviews, avoid brightly colored shirts and ties. Professional attire for women is a dress, pants suit. An open-collared white button shirt or blouse is appropriate. Professional attire for men includes a navy blue or charcoal grey suit, a white shirt, and tie.

A level below this attire is for women or men to wear slacks and a jacket.

Footwear for women is typically close-toed black heels or flats.  For men, laced-up or tasseled dress shoes are common.

Business Casual Interview Attire

Many companies have a business casual dress code. Women wear skirt or slacks, and open-collar shirts or blouses.  Similarly, men wear khakis or slacks and cotton or knit, open-collared shirts.

Footwear for business casual includes running or walking shoes. loafers, boat shoes, Oxfords, or lace-up leather shoes.

Salaried or Hourly Employee Interview Attire

So far, I have been discussing office attire. Depending on the type of job, hourly employees or skilled workers may need to dress ready to go to work. Whether the purpose of the job is to make surfboards or to build bridges, knowing what to wear to work may be based on what you will be doing. Again, if you are uncertain, you might call ahead to get some insight into what people wear to work at the hiring company. In other cases, you may go by the workplace to see what other workers are wearing.

Job Interview Preparation: The 3 Things You Need to Know

Job Interview Preparation: Are you frustrated with rejection when you have the qualifications for the job? Understanding these three elements will help you understand what happens in an interview. Moreover, these steps will help you prepare for a successful meeting with a future employer.

There are three distinct elements in preparing for an interview.

Everything About You

In the first step, review your qualifications.  This step will organize your thinking about the things you want the interviewer to know about you.

In writing your resume, you will have begun to work on this step.  Ensure that you can discuss from memory the dates and places where you where you have worked.  Furthermore, prepare to present your qualifications as accomplishments.

In the United States, applicants for jobs in research, education, and medicine often use a curriculum vitae.

Everything About the Company

The second step in preparing for an interview is to research the company and research the people at the company where you are interviewing.

The Internet is a powerful tool in this step. Research the directions to location of the interview. Your smartphone can direct you to the location.  However, having to follow your smartphone in traffic is stress that you don’t need.  Additionally, know where to park before you arrive at your destination.

Furthermore, is this a location where you want to work?

Then, research the details of the company business.  What is unique about the company?  Why do you want to work for this company?  Can you explain to the interviewer the reasons you find the company attractive?

Additionally, learn about the people you will meet.  Are these people you want to work with every day? Can you tell the interviewers why you are excited to meet them?

Thoroughly understand the experience and qualifications listed in the job description.  If the company does not publish a job description, find job descriptions for similar jobs at other companies.

Why the Company Should Hire You

Prepare to discuss how your qualifications are a match for the job and for the company that is interviewing you.  In this step, merge the preparation you have done on presenting your qualifications with your research on the company.

Furthermore, show how you experience makes you the perfect match with the job requirements.

Based on your research, make a list of the things you don’t know about the job and the company.  Prepare questions that you fill in the gaps between what you know and what you need to know.

Do mock presentations.  Become confident that you can show that you are the best candidate for the job.

Job Interview Preparation: In Conclusion

You are competing against other candidates.  Most of them have the qualifications to get the job.  Separate yourself from the competition by using the steps in this article to prepare for the interview.

Creating Leaders: 4 Elements of Leadership Development

Creating Leaders:  How can companies hire and train people to become leaders? Here are four steps to effective leadership development.

Companies that produce great leaders become greater companies. ~ www.jaywren.com

Creating Leaders — Four Steps

Creating future leaders is critical to the long-term growth of a company. An element in succession planning, creating leaders from within increases moral, loyalty, and engagement. Here are four elements to leadership development.

  1. Hire for Leadership
  2. Teach Responsibility, Authority, and Accountability
  3. Continual Training for Leadership
  4. Increase Responsibility

Hire for Leadership

People in any organizations have specific levels of responsibility.  Some of those people will stay in the same job for their entire time with the company.

Other people come into a company as developmental candidates.  These people may start in entry-level jobs.  However, the company has a plan to move these people into bigger roles.  Their responsibilities increase as they master each job.

Teach Responsibility, Authority, and Accountability

For new leaders to become successful, they must know their responsibility, their accountability, and their authority. Responsibility defines the tasks and activities under a leader’s management. Accountability creates an understanding of what to expect for failing to manage responsibilities. Authority is the power to make decisions and the power to hold team members accountable. Last, a leader must know the limits of their authority.  They must know when to ask for direction from the people for whom they work.

Additionally, leaders must use these elements to teach their team members what the leader expects of them. Leaders can use these elements as reminders for team members to stay on task and meet the leader’s expectations.

Train for Leadership

Most of the articles that I read on types of leaders do not mention how much the conditions in an organization affect the leadership role and style. In an ideal situation, leaders have the authority to hire the best people. They can put people on their team who only need to know the objectives to perform successfully. In this case, leaders have more freedom to use the leadership style that prefer.  They can be the coach, the servant leader, the hands-off leader, the strategist, etc.

In less than ideal situation, leaders have must operate with the circumstances they inherit. For example, a leader may have no control over which people get assigned to their team. These leaders may have to deal people in positions for which the people are not qualified.  Additionally, leaders may have to work under strict guidelines that limit the leader’s authority to make decisions and direct their teams.  In worst case scenario, some leaders must rely on other departments for support. And, some support departments just don’t support the teams they serve.

However, the leader is still accountable for managing their team for success. These leaders must develop styles and practices that make their team as effective as possible. Training, hands-on management, greater feedback, asking questions that provide useful information for the team member and the manager: these are some of the things a manager can do to make the team as effective as possible.

Increase Responsibility

For leaders to continue to grow, their responsibility must increase.  Companies promote new leaders into bigger positions.  These positions have a higher pay grade.  Additionally, they have the greater responsibility.

However, companies cannot always promote leaders. But they must keep the leaders growing and engaged.

What companies can do is relieve experienced future leaders of bottom rung responsibilities.  At the same time, companies can give them responsibilities that will prepare them for greater responsibility.

error: Content is protected !!