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Too many candidates mistakenly believe that being called in for an interview is being guaranteed a position — nothing could be further from the truth!

You might be the last person on a short list of candidates. Your skills, knowledge, and abilities are good, but perhaps not a perfect match for the company. However, the hiring manager is interested enough to meet with you and allow you to sell yourself to the company.

How do you do that? Preparation – preparation – preparation.

1. Know how to dress. If you’re not familiar with the company culture, visit its website or offices during work hours to see how staff dress. No matter how casual they may be, the key is for you to look professional—you’re not on staff yet.
2. Do extensive research about the company. Know what they’re about. Nothing’s worse for a hiring manager than to interview someone who hasn’t a clue what their company offers.
3. Compose a list of questions about the company that indicates your interest in its products and services, the position itself, and the company and department culture.  No more than 3 or 4 questions.  Any more than that and your prospective employer might think you’re going to be “high maintenance” always coming to them with questions.
4. Prepare a list of answers to the most frequently asked interview questions. For example: Where do you see yourself five years from now?
5. Practice, practice, practice. Make certain your voice and body language don’t give away your anxiety.
6. Calculate travel time. Know how long it will take to get to your interview so you arrive on time.

The part of the hiring process known as the interview is something that scares most people to death. It doesn’t have to if you have thought of prospective questions before hand and prepared yourself accordingly and also thought of some questions you may have for the interviewer.

Here is a brief list. We kept it brief because the list could be four pages long if we so desired, however you would not read it and it would be very frightening. So we pared it down to the most likely ones:

1. How would you describe yourself?
2. To be successful in this career, what do you think it takes?
3. Do you have the qualifications and personal characteristics necessary for success in your chosen career?
4. Why should we hire you?
5. What are your long-term goals and objectives?
6. What major problem have you handled recently? Did you resolve it? How?
7. What characteristics do you think make a manager successful?
8. Why did you apply to our company?
9. How do you approach critical assignments?
10. If you had to think on your feet to solve a difficult situation, what would you do?
11. Why were you fired?
12. What steps do you take before making an important decision?
13. Name the most difficult assignment you had and how you finished it.
14. What kind of supervisor do you prefer?

As you can see, the questions are open-ended, not allowing for a simple yes or no answer. The more you talk, the more the hiring authority learns about you. That’s why you need to be prepared before you utter one word. Each answer must be crafted carefully to maximize your chances of being hired.  You can become more prepared for interview questions and answers by looking online there are several great interview resources like Resumeindex.com and Monster.com

Suppose you had just one chance to advertise yourself on a billboard overlooking a busy highway, and that passing motorists had only a few seconds to glance at it. How would you make your advertisement meaningful and memorable?

Think of your resume as a portable version of that billboard. The motorists whizzing by? Human resources professionals and other hiring entities. They don’t have time to read a jobseeker’s biography, and they don’t want to read a description of your job. (They aren’t interested in knowing that you report to work and do what an employer expects of you—the daily tasks for which you are paid.) They want to know what makes you special, how you add value and that you achieve goals, and how you can, therefore, make a difference in their organizations. They want to glance at your resume and say, “Here’s someone I need to meet.”

It’s not always easy or comfortable for people to try to “sell” themselves. There’s a fine line between hollow bragging and effective advertising. Here are some real-life examples:

Before:
Daily processing of portfolio transactions in accordance with department policies and procedures
After:
Provide investment managers and clients with accurate, time-sensitive portfolio information through diligent processing, analysis, reporting, and dissemination of cash and transaction data

Before:
Inspected, marketed, and sold properties to first-time homebuyers
After:
Created home ownership opportunities for low – and moderate-income residents who might otherwise be excluded from the housing market; provided prospective buyers with inception-through-settlement financial consulting services and education

Before:
Presented PowerPoint presentations to civic, photography, and hiking clubs around the country with client endorsements
After:
Increased revenue and brand awareness by making sales presentations to clubs and associations countrywide, incorporating customer testimonials about tour experiences as marketing technique

Before:
Daily processing of portfolio transactions in accordance with department policies and procedures
After:
Increased revenue and brand awareness by making sales presentations to clubs and associations countrywide, incorporating customer testimonials about tour experiences as marketing technique

Before:
Organized profitable and charitable events
After:
Organized and ran for-profit and charity events attracting more than 45 musicians of regional, national, and international influence in the avant-garde genre, including two-time world DMC champion DJ Klever.