During college I took what I called a "resume" building class. However, they also taught us how to act during an interview. The final exam for that class was to interview with actual companies that sent representatives on campus. Big names like Computer Associates, PeopleSoft, Oracle and the like "mock" interviewed us. I even remember the teacher for the class, she was more of a Gym teacher than a career adviser but I now thank her for her harsh words during the process. They taught me how to go into an interview and ace it.
I also have to thank my first employer for teaching me a lot about the business world. He really made an impression on me about how to dress, how to talk and how to act in front of customers. It was a very hard job for someone just out of college, but because of the difficult situations he put me through, it really catapulted my career. Speaking in front of a room full of hospital CIOs is not easy. They are the decisions makers for the purchase of your product, and they do not like to feel like their time is being wasted. The experience made me learn to react on the spot and use one of my strengths, humor, to make the time with them something they would remember. Most important is to make sure that the people that you sell something to, even it if is just services, remember the product for the right reasons.
Lately we have been looking to fill some positions at work. I am not the one making the decision or interviewing this time, but it scares me that most of the people interviewed have no clue about writing a resume or even coming to an interview. So I'm sharing some of the knowledge I have gathered. It might be all common knowledge to most, but I have been surprised lately how many people make these simple mistakes.
Mentality
The way you think will affect everything about the hiring process. If you think that you have no chance at getting the job, then why are you applying to it in the first place? Do not waste anyones time, specially your own.
Article comments
1 - g Anton
Please don't tell me that I don't know what I'm talking about--I already know that, and telling me so will only hurt my feelings.
First impressions are important, not only for the person giving the interview (the interviewer), but for the person taking it (the "interviewee" e.g. you). The guide lines in general are quite good, but all interviewers are the identical. Don't respond the same to a Human Resources professional as to the manager of a group of technical specialists. Your first action in an interview should be to assess the type of interviewer your facing, and quickly come up with a set of guidelines on how to respond.
What are the various types of "interviewers", and what kind of response should be emphasized for each type? I don't know--I read this article to find this out.
Try not to let the interview degenerate into a mechanical "he asks me a question, and I give him an answer" format. Try to form a conversational relationship with the interviewer. On the other hand, don't talk too much, don't obviously try to impress him, and don't provide him with personal information about yourself for which he does not ask. I recently stopped for a cup of coffee at McDonald's while passing through Albuqueque, NM, and the restaurant manager was interviewing a perspective employee in the next booth. The prospect told her that when things got busy, he could break four eggs in one hand onto the grill, that his wife was going to the hospital in three weeks to have and baby, and that she would return three days later to have her tubes tied. I think he got the job, but you might not be so lucky.