Secrets To Helping You Get The Job You Want 

With the current job market so tight, it’s imperative that you do everything that you can to make your abilities stand out to the prospective employer.  There are three groups of people that prospective employers do not want to hire:  those who cannot learn the job, those that will not do the work and those who are not cooperative.  Your goal as a candidate for employment is to show the interviewer that you are not one of “those” people.

Show that you can learn the job—every position has a job description that lists the duties and responsibilities of that job.  Don’t guess what those duties or responsibilities might be; instead, do your research and find out.  Read the ad that you located the job from in the first place or ask the person conducting the interview.  Once you know the duties and responsibilities then give the interviewer an example of your ability to perform those tasks from you past experiences.  Be confident in your abilities but don’t be over confident!  Knowing that you are good at something is one thing but to brag about your abilities is a complete turn off to the prospective employer.
Show that you can and will do the work—just because someone CAN do the job does mean that they are willing to do it. Be enthusiastic about your job and use details to describe your abilities to complete the task required of you. Turn the job description into a list of your accomplishments to show that you are the kind of person that likes to get things done.

Show that you are friendly and easy to work with—prospective employers try very hard to “weed out” those interviewees that they perceive to be difficult or unfriendly early in the interview process.  So, go into your interview and be friendly and cooperative.  Show the interviewer that you have a good attitude and are willing to “pitch in” and help where needed.  Don’t become defensive or argumentative when you have to be corrected.  Accept it as a learning situation and LEARN from it.  And finally, have good people skills.  Show that you can cooperate with people and get the job done even when others around you may be annoying, demanding or lazy.  Let your positive attitude shine through!!!

When thinking of examples from you past work experience, don’t make things up.  If you haven’t had the experience handling a certain situation than try to offer a similar experience that you learned from.  This will show that you are honest about your skills but also that you are a quick learner and willing to learn the skills needed for the job for which you are applying.

Remember an old saying…you only get one chance to make a good first impression!  Whether doing a phone or face to face interview with the prospective employer, remember that this may be your best chance to get the job that you want.  Be confident but with a “dash” of humility, give examples of things that you have accomplished in your past work life and definitely be friendly.  Making a good impression on the interviewer will increase your chances of getting another interview or possibly the job that you really want.  Employers are looking for honest, hard-working and pleasant people to be a part of their company—your interview skills could mean the difference between getting the job and just being “another resume”.