While getting a job – just any job – may be the most important thing in your life right now, the harsh reality is this: Potential employers don’t care about your problems; they are focused on their own. Employers are interested in finding the best candidate to hire for their open positions. So that puts the burden on YOU to prove your value, to prove your uniqueness, as to why YOU should be the one that is selected.
Proving value can be done by discussing examples that support any statement you may say in response to interview questions. For example, if you are asked, “What are your best qualifications for this job?” you might respond with, “I am a hard worker and have a great work ethic.” OK… So prove it! Give a couple of examples from past jobs where you went the extra mile, where you voluntarily worked overtime, or where you got kudos from your boss for the great work that you did.
It’s important to prepare for the interview by thinking about your examples or work stories in advance. Writing your stories out using a formula – CAR – really helps. CAR stands for Challenge/Action/Result. Explain a challenge that you faced in a previous job, the actions that you took to resolve that challenge, and the great results that occurred. This is the best way to prepare for any interview that you go to.
Before leaving an interview it’s important the employer knows that you are interested in the job. Employers don’t like rejection any more than you do. They are more apt to offer a position to the person who expresses that they really want the job than to a person about whom they have no clue if they’ll take it or not if offered. So at the end of an interview, thank the interviewer and politely say, “I just want you to know how interested I am in this position and I’d really like to work here.” That’s enough – they’ll get the message and hopefully, you’ll get the job offer when they are ready to make one.
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