How to Ace the Interview

How to Ace The 2010 Interview

Common sense would tell us that a job interview whether for your first
employment out of school or for CEO of a NYSE company, requires planning
and research.

This same famous - common sense - tells us that holding a seashell to our ear retains the sound of the ocean. Scientists disagree. Many believe you are hearing the
sound of your own blood moving through your ear’s arteries and veins.

Maybe not. Some scientists explain that the seashell (by the seashore) is really a resonating chamber. It produces a louder sound when your background is near the waves. Anyway, why would She (Sally) sell seashells by the seashore when her customers could bend over and pick them up free? Common sense, right?

The University of Missouri researchers – Dr. Daniel Turban lead author, finds that
of 327 job seekers, common sense is not their strong suit. Few have a job-seeking plan, less evaluate whether the plan is working, and it is considered an interview Sin (felony) to have a strategy to impress the interviewer (decision-maker).

Getting in Front of The Competition

So What? So – make a marketing plan to obtain employment and don’t wing it.
Reevaluate how your plan is working continuously, eliminate strategies that are not
working and rework your resume by industry. Wait. Be aware of your emotions and their impact on the interviewer.

Human Resources

Do you believe the tone of your voice and your facial expression can cause a job offer or a turndown? The personnel interviewer is not demented, he is human and like other Homo sapiens reflects the emotions he/she sees on the face across the
desk. We are copy-cats and are influenced and persuade by facial expressions.

Get this: you are being evaluated for the following four (4) characteristics:

a) Attitude – your use of language, facial expressions, gestures and body language speak louder than your words alone. Words alone create comprehension less than 20% of the time, 80% is caused
by the tone and use of your voice and body language.

b) Aptitude – your are being dissected to see if you are a team-player, and fit into the organizational culture. Are you an IBMer or a Googler, or too entrepreneurial? Aptitude is fitness for the
position – while Aptness is whether you are likely and inclined to be a company asset.

c) Knowledge and Understanding – Are you a rapid learner with a powerful memory? IQ and EQ (Emotional Quotient) include what you know and how you will feel about your team peers.

Do you show conscientiousness also known as self-discipline and dependability during the interview? Is job-satisfaction important to you? Creative folks rank Job-Satisfaction #1 on their list of needs to successful function.

Fact: interviewers will hire a Less qualified candidate with limited job experience, if she/he indicates a high level of inquisitiveness, an extroverted attitude and strong aptitude for the position. Don’t you like lively, positive people around you?

So What

How does that play out? Attitude means the new hire will be a great fit
for the organization, and will learn the team rules and strategies quickly and easily.
Interviewing is always a matter of predicting good hires based on limited evidence.

What about credentials like grades and top-10% of your class? Scribbled evaluations by your professors or corporate HR departments do not override what the interviewer intuits. Decision-making is intuition and visceral (gut) in the end.

Expect Rejections

I have been on both sides of the interview. It was painful to be rejected for my first dream job because your brain turns on your amygdala and its fight-or-flight signal.
You get a hot dose of epinephrine (adrenaline) and cortisol – the stress hormone and
feel worthless and devalued after experiencing failure.

Years later I interviewed law graduates and lawyers – some for their first job
and others to advance to law firm partners. I always chose candidates who understood the principles of how to influence, persuade and convince others.

Underline this: no matter your title – including v.p. of the division, you are a
sales person – you are always in the business of selling someone something.
We sell ideas, products and dreams of a better and more comfortable life.

What to Do

It is your job to make the life of the interviewer easy and fun. Mild, retiring candidates are boring. People who try to take over the interview are too
threatening. Ask questions and never depend on your resume. Yes, acing the job
interview is a personality contest. But so are life, relationships and your career.

Breathe-Stretch-Shake – And Let It Go

When we are searching for employment our self-image is lower than an ant’s belly.
We must have a simple strategy (quick and easy) to move from feelings of worthlessness and stress to expectations of career-success and long-term wealth.

If you breathe deeply (diaphragm) just three (3) times, stretch out your limbs and
exercise your muscles for 20 seconds, and shake off stress like a dog does water,
you change your mood instantly.

Stand up and take a deep inhalation and hold it for a count of three seconds. Release
and do it twice more. You add new oxygen to your blood circulation and access mental attention and alertness.

Picture in your mind a dog or cat stretching out its bones as far as they can go. Gently draw out tour arms as far as they can go. Now - Stand on your right leg and extend your left leg, and reverse and spread out your right leg. Now - slowly S-t-r-e-t-c-h each leg for 20 seconds.

Mentally picture Pluto (Mickey’s Dog) shaking the water off his body. Do the same vigorous shaking. It improves your circulation while triggering your brain for up to a 49% increase in Attention-Span.

Last cue: Shout out (if you are alone) or whisper it to yourself – “Let-it-go!”
This verbal shout adds up to 15% to your energy output. It raises your vibrational
frequency for exerting a stronger effort for up to 30 minutes. Remember the grunts you hear by tennis player when serving the ball. That’s what we want.

Breathe-Stretch-Shake And Let it Go! is a very powerful stress-buster. Use it in the
future – it only requires two-minutes of exercise and keeps on giving. See ya.

Endwords

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See ya,

copyright © 2010 H. Bernard Wechsler
www.speedlearning.org
hbw@speedlearning.org
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