Keys to a Great Interview

It's funny how nailing an interview is so important to attaining a job, but they don't really teach you about it in school.  Kind of like balancing your budget, shopping for groceries, or doing laundry- every day life experiences that you are mostly "on your own" to figure out.  

Here's a few helpful tips for that I've found useful when going to a job interview:

• Do re-con on the company & the position you're hoping to get hired for.
• Show-up at least ten minutes before the scheduled interview time.
• Find common ground to talk about (not specifically related to the job itself).  It shows you have interests & are a good "people" person.  Companies usually want to hire someone with a great personality, someone who stands out from the crowd, not just another worker.
• Concentrate on making eye contact with your interviewer.
• Try not to take it too seriously.  Just think of it as any other meet & greet conversation you've had with a stranger.
• Talk about past work successes & problems that you've solved or overcome.  They love that kind of stuff.
• Think as if you got nothing to lose.  Imagine you have your pick of whatever job you'd like & that it would be in their best interest hire you on their team.         

These tips have helped me over the years.  I've held many jobs but, I pride myself on the fact that when I get an interview with a company, I've gotten hired nine out of nine times (100%).