Raise Your Glass to a New Year of Great Job Interviews!

The old year is nearly over and the New Year is just around the corner. As you put away the holiday decorations, exchange the gifts you don't want, and step on the scale, promising yourself to lose those extra ten pounds, don't forget to plan your career goals for the coming months.

Decide now to make this the year of a great new job—the one you've been dreaming about.
To roll out that dream, focus on the first step—solid job interviews with the companies you're interested in. It will take some planning and preparation but it will be worth every minute you invest.

You're the Star—So Shine!

An interview is not simply a meeting of two people sitting in a room across from one another asking and answering questions. It's so much more. It's a connection between individuals who have the same goal—to fill a position for a job at a first-rate company.
The interviewer hopes the right person will walk through the door and the interviewee hopes to be that person. You can be––with a bit of practice and a presence that compels the hiring manager to pay attention.

Today's interviews are more about you as an individual than who you are as an executive or teacher or manager or secretary. Of course your skills and talents play a part, but the interviewer is even more interested in finding out if you are compassionate (sensitive to those around you), communicative (willing to speak truthfully and accurately), and confident (able to get the job done responsibly and on time).

In other words, your behavior on the job is as important as you're ability to do the job. 'Behavior-based' interviewing is becoming standard practice when considering people for employment.
Your past performance could be an indicator of future behavior. So don't be surprised if you are asked questions that seem to have more to do with how you relate to others and resolve difficulties than how many widgets you sold or policies you influenced.

Truth or Dare

Read the following directives and then dare to answer them truthfully in front of the mirror and then in a real job interview.
• Name a situation when you handled a crisis calmly and patiently and how you did it.
• Share one bold goal you've set for yourself and how you achieved it.
• Tell me what it means to you to go beyond the call of duty in the workplace.
• State the single most important quality in an employee.

Explore. Dream. Discover.

"Twenty years from now," said Mark Twain, "you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover."

• List your skills and talents.
• Recall a few stories that illustrate your successes.
• Review the description of the job you're aiming for.
• Envision sitting in the interview room relaxed, confident, and poised.
• Visualize yourself on the job, making calls, meeting with customers, closing deals.
• Send worry packing.

Ready. Set. Go—to your next interview equipped, eager, and entitled to the job you want, desire, and are made to have.

Happy New Year—and Happy Interviewing!