Guest Post: Nidhu Nalin

Nidhu is one of Chris' 2010 Professional Speaking students at Heinz College, Carnegie Mellon University. Here she writes about getting your dream job.

When you wait impatiently for your turn to face your job interview, what is the only thing that is going on in your head? Most of you would agree with me when I say that the question is whether I will be able to crack this interview or not? Likewise, the things concerning Mr. John are will you be able to fit in the organization? Will you be adding value to the organization? Will you be able to do the job? And yes, you are right! Mr. John is indeed the interviewer.

When you stand outside that door to meet Mr. John, you should remember that the even though you have the right skills, education and experience for the job, so do those 90 people who have applied for the same job. So, what will make you that unanimous choice? Of course, the interview which you are about to give. Let’s explore further into developing the right interview skills.

As noted by Malcolm Gladwell, author of Blink, “When you meet someone for the first time . . . your mind takes about two seconds to jump to a series of conclusions.” Hence it is very important to create a positive first impression. Greet your interviewer with a firm handshake and a pleasant smile. Dress appropriately. Personal grooming and hygiene are important. Do not wear anything which is too distracting. For example, your interviewer might get distracted with that green eye-shadow of yours instead of focusing on what you are talking. Having said all of that, it is equally important that you are comfortable in whatever you are wearing.

Throughout the interview, maintain positive eye-contact. Speak in a polite manner. While responding, do not be too slow or too fast. This is your chance to present yourself as a best fit for the role, hence talk about things which describe you as a person capable of doing the job. Repetition of information already present in your resume should be avoided. Once in an interview, my interviewer asked me not to repeat the things which are not there in my resume.

Do research about the company and the position for which you have applied. In today’s information rich world, it would not go down too well with the interviewer, if you appear to be ignorant towards some big recent event associated with the company. Having the right information about the company shows your true interest in the company and more importantly will support your answer to the question “why do you want to join our company?”

While talking about yourself, do not be abstract. Always corroborate your statements with a relevant story from your experience. For example, if I simply say that I am a good problem solver, I am being too abstract. However when I say that once in an award function which I was anchoring, the certificates got delayed by 30 minutes, and to make up for the time delay, I started asking random fun questions to the audience. The audience enjoyed the fun-question event and we could smoothly continue with the function once the certificates arrived. This depicts strongly that you are a good problem solver in addition to being quick and creative.

Engage in conversation instead of a question answer session. What could be the best possible way to engage in a conversation? Ask questions. Look for natural pauses or just excuse and ask for any relevant question. By saying relevant, I am indicating that you would obviously not interrupt Mr. John to ask whether dogs are better than cats as pets. However, if Mr. John says that he also used to play football in his college and loves the game just like you, then it is not inappropriate to ask which team he supports for FIFA world cup 2010.

The way you end an interview is very important. It could be as simple as saying “Thank you for your time” or extend to something more elaborate. According to Shawn Graham, the author of Courting Your Career: Match Yourself with the Perfect Job, the job interview close is the equivalent of the “call me” moment at the end of a good date.

Research done by CareerPlaybook indicates that about 65% of the time, the hired employee meets fewer than 50% of the job qualifications. Hence, in addition to having a powerful resume you need to have the right interview skills in place to get that dream job.