One of the reasons job interviewing can be a stressful process is that you may find yourself forced to step outside your comfort zone to actively sell your skills and qualifications to the future employer. Regardless to how well your skills match the job requirements and how strongly your references recommend you, it is your job to make sure that these skills are not only communicated, but also presented in way that assures the hiring manager that you’re the best fit for the job.
With that in mind, you may need to learn skills that are necessarily used in their daily work, but those skills are relevant to navigate the hiring process. By acquiring these skills, you should be able to send a clean resume and cover letter, conduct a successful personal interview and keep positive communication with the future employer from start to finish.
Here are some of these skills and how to acquire them.
Writing
You don’t have to turn into a professional writer to apply for a job. You need, however, to be realistic about your abilities and to which extent they meet the minimum level required to present your resume and cover letter professionally. There are basics that almost everyone can do – like running a spell check and making sure that sentences read well. But that is not all that is needed, you should make sure that whatever written material you use for communicating with your hiring manager and other staff at the prospective employer carry only a positive message and clearly communicate what you are trying to say. If you’re in doubt, get a friend who you trust his or her abilities to go over your writing thoroughly. At the very least, don’t overlook the importance of sending a clean resume and cover letter. It is your way to get the first impression right.
Presentation
Even if you’re not a fan of public speaking or you’re introvert by nature, interviews are a situation where addressing one person or more confidently is a must. Looking at how to achieve this goal again doesn’t require you to go through extensive training. All you really want to do is to be conscious that the way your handle yourself and everything you do are being monitored closely. With that acknowledgment of the importance of presenting yourself as best as you can, you need to be prepared not only with answers for interview questions, but also with the ability to adopt a positive, confident attitude, formulate logical arguments and be ready to respond to questions. Finally, have a short presentation that is often a 30-second elevator speech – about yourself rehearsed. This short presentation should sum up who you’re and what’s your objective. Since hiring managers often open an interview with a question like, “tell us more about yourself,” this elevator speech can become pretty useful and relevant in making a strong introduction.
Selling points
It is easy under the pressure of a job interview to forget what you actually want to say. That is why your preparation should focus on several key points that you’d like to stress in the interview – these are your selling points or the points of strength that you’re sure play in your favour. Focusing on your selling points should be the theme through your interview. In short, make your mind about what your sales pitch will be: long experience, most relevant experience, flexibility, ability to leader, etc. Then use the rest of your skills as secondary points that reinforce your case. With doing so, you’re sure that you communicate a clear concise message about your experience that the hiring manager can remember and communicate to other concerned individuals around the organization if needed. Many qualified job applicants can be overlooked in a job interview simply for failing to connect the dots between their experience and the job requirements.
Follow up
In professions like public relations to sales, following up with clients or business partners is critical to maintaining a positive impression and developing a positive experience. This is a skill that can be employed in job hunting. Sending thank-you letters or e-mails after meetings is essential, so are following up if you don’t hear back from the employer within a specified period, sending questions about the job, if needed. Also as you don’t overdo it, you can prove that your interest in the job is sincere.
Rania Oteify, a former Gulf News Business Features Editor, is currently an editor based in Seattle.
