All resumes are beginning to look the same. Bolding is okay, but specific to the job and bold intelligently
Resume is your introduction What are you doing now? What are you really good at? What is your passion?
TECHNICAL EXPERTISE MAY BE WHY YOU DID GET THE JOB, BUT IT IS USUALLY NOT WHY YOU DIDN’T GET IT.
This is one time you need to pay attention to the fluff.
Lose earrings (ladies, minimize jewelry), cover tattoos, keep long hair pulled back. Business casual is okay if you know it is the dress code, but a suit is always best. Nice notebook & pen Resume If someone presented your resume, have a copy of that version.
Men & women’s body language say different things. Women are generally noisier with their body language. Be especially aware with opposite gender interviewer. Stand when meeting. Firm, brief, dry handshake. Sit slightly forward, but don’t invade space. Maintain eye contact Be aware that you may be watched and evaluated at all times. Phone interview? Consider doing the same things. It will come through in your voice.
Allow interviewer to run the interview, but be active, not a passive participant.
Never say, “It’s on my resume.”
More to being a success than technical ability. BTW – behavioral interviewing questions. This is a “negative” question. No one’s perfect. Respond with the negative situation, neutralize it, move on. This is a nice template to use in responding to negative questions. You neutralize by how you overcame or from what you learned.
If you get a question like this, always be prepared for the next question…”What factors may have handicapped you from moving ahead more rapidly?”
Another one I like especially if the person is currently employed – What do you think Odyssey can offer that XYZ cannot or will not?
Expect questions to try to determine attitude and willingness to perform. “I can, but won’t” spells failure as clearly as “I cannot.” I really like the flip of this – Describe the most ineffective supervisor you’ve ever had. What steps did you take to ensure success? Were there others they managed that seemed to thrive under their direction? Tell me why you think that was so.
Not every manager is skilled at interviewing. Most don’t like to and have not been trained on how to do it successfully. Still respond with open-ended answers to close-ended questions. For this, try, “I’ve recently had to deal with just this type of situation. I was successful because blah, blah, blah. And, my relationship with that coworker is now…”
This conveys to me that the person is not interested in the job, someone who is bored or boring, an introverted individual, or someone who is easily intimidated. None of these qualities say, “HIRE ME.”
Have 4-5 questions prepared, phrase them in your style, write them in that notebook you have with you, practice asking them so they sound natural.
First one, ask early on to help frame your subsequent responses to questions. Besides being a good question to get at information, the second question has a positive spin that puts you in the light as a positive person. The third question will help you determine non-technical qualities the manager wants and may give you some insight into the organization’s culture.
It would be nice if my acct. reps. would ask this first question of the manager. It would make my job a lot easier. This second question is a must ask question for 2 reasons. First, any unspoken concerns become negatives about you as soon as you walk out the door. And secondly, this question will give you the opportunity to demonstrate your ability to take criticism professionally. The last question is another must ask question and should be the last one you ask. Wealth of information will be found in their response.
Last question was actually how one of my candidates responded to me when I asked them how they deal with stress.