Interviewing's Dark Side - 8.3 Insider Job Interview Strategies You Must Have to Succeed

1. Research the Company
2. Know your resume
3. Know your online reputation
4. Prepare an interview emergency kit
5. Study job description - identify skills most relevant to job
6. Build rapport
7. Make eye contact
8. Body language
8.1 Showcase your skills with concrete examples
8.2. Be yourself
8.3 Follow up quickly

Job interviews can be a mystery and tricky to navigate. But you can find success if you follow the right job interview strategies. The following 8.3 insider tips you can avoid common landmines and ace your next interview.

1. Research the Company (Study, study, study all you can find on the company)
One of the best job interview strategies and the one that most candidates ignore is to study the current events of the company. Knowing the current events of the company is important so that you can ask powerful, pertinent questions. With the help of the internet, you can now become an expert about the company before ever entering the door. Doing so will show the interviewer that you have done your homework, and also have a genuine interest in the company. This strategy will definitely help your job interview and give you an Advantage over other interviewees.

2. Know yourself
As a candidate, you must know your resume forward and backward. In any job interview, anything on your resume is within the interviewer's discretion to investigate. Implementing this job interview strategy allows you to answer questions with authority and will help build credibility with your interviewer. It is your responsibility to convince the interviewer that you are indeed the best possible candidate for the position. It’s easy to forget every little detail of your resume over the course of your job search. Speaking intelligently about each of your previous positions is a must, and is one of the best job interview strategies to follow.

3. Know your online reputation
Somewhere around 70% of hiring managers throughout the USA have rejected a candidate simply because of their online reputation. Professional recruiters and placement specialists as well as HR departments are reviewing online profiles, online photos, tweets, social network details before offering employment.

The first step in monitoring your online reputation is to simply do a search of your name, including nicknames and middle/maiden names, with Google, Yahoo, and Bing. Many recruiting firms require combined web searches to ensure the "searchability" of candidates before presenting to a client.

Other places to besure and search are: pipl.com (Pipl-People Search), Zoominfo, ZabaSearch, spock.com (Free People Search), searchbug.com, peoplebot.com.
These are free, web-based services that extract information about people and companies from millions of published resources on the Web. By using an advanced processing technology, accessing an aggregate of these tools, one can scans nearly every piece of information about an individual or company available on the internet.

A little extra effort at the beginning of your search will yield large results down the road. By reviewing your online reputation you know what prospective employer will see. This one step can give you a huge advantage over your fellow job seekers and interviewees.

4. Prepare an interview emergency kit
Many candidates don't properly prepare for a job interview. Getting together a "job interview kit" is a great job interview strategy to follow. Suggested items for the kit include extra copies of your resume, directions to the office, a bottle of water, eye drops, pens, and notepad. But you should only bring the extra copies of your resume and reference list into the office with you, preferably in a portfolio.

5. Study job description
After landing an interview, you need to study the job description to truly understand what the interviewer is looking for. If the description calls for attentiveness to detail, you will want to tailor the discussion accordingly. Knowing this, you can navigate the interview and discuss examples from previous jobs that will exemplify this trait. Do this for all significant traits or qualities that you identify in the job description. Ask the person that arranges you interview for the job description. This is one of the job interview strategies give you a real unfair Advantage. I always used this step and I never let a candidate talk with a potential employer with these important details, so I know that it can bring you success.

6. Build rapport
You know the saying, "There's never a second chance to make a first impression?" That holds very true in the case of job interviews. That is why building rapport is such an important job interview strategy. Shake hands, make eye contact, and smile. Put those three together when you first meet your interviewer and it will set a positive tone for the rest of the interview.

7. Make eye contact
Making positive eye contact is one of the best job interview strategies to follow. Eye contact is one of the strongest forms of nonverbal communication. A person's qualities and personality can be detected simply based on eye contact. Making direct eye contact communicates confidence and high self-esteem, two key qualities employers look for in candidates. Thus, it is very important that you make eye contact when you first meet interviewer and shake hands. And during the interview, it is important to make eye contact, not only when you talk, but also as you listen. Simply doing this job interview strategy will greatly help your chances of success in an interview.

8. Body language
Just as eye contact speaks volumes about you, so does your body language. One study at UCLA indicated that up to 93 percent of communication effectiveness is determined by nonverbal cues. Proper body language conveys confidence and high self-esteem. During the interview, things like sitting up straight with your chest out and keeping a pleasant demeanor on your face will project confidence. It is how you look, what you do, and what you say during the first 30 to 40 seconds of a job interview that will most impress the interviewer. The interviewer will be aware of this, and it will help you stand out in his/her mind.

8.1 Showcase your skills with concrete examples
When it comes to discussing their skills, many candidates make the mistake of "telling" instead of "showing." One of the best job interview strategies is to use concrete examples to demonstrate their skills to the interviewer. For example, if one of your skills is successfully handling multiple tasks at once, providing an example of how you do that will help paint a picture for the interviewer. It also gives the interviewer something to "hold on to" once the interview is over, and helps him/her remember you when it comes to decision time.

8.2 Be yourself
A common mistake that many candidates make is not being themselves. Some feel that they need to fit a certain mold and act accordingly. This will only end up hurting both parties in the end when your "true" personality comes out. You will be surprised how easy it is to detect insincerity during an interview. Thus, it is important to be professional, but also maintain your true essence. When you do this, your sincerity and genuineness will be picked up by the interviewer. This is one of the best job interview strategies to implement, and will go a long way in determining your success.

8.3 Follow up quickly
After the job interview, send a thank you note to the interview. These days, an email is fine, but traditionally a handwritten card is sent. Whatever method you choose, do it promptly after the interview. The correspondence should be sent the next day after the interview. Many hiring decisions are made quickly these days, so timeliness is very important. At the end of the interview you keep control by asking a simple question like, "What is the next step? Where do we go from here? What are you looking for from me? How can we follow up on this?" When it is time to leave, thank everyone again individually. Stand, smile, and give firm handshakes. Do not expect them all to come to you. Move to each interviewer and express your thanks and let them know that it was nice to meet them. But here is the absolute must: You have to call to follow up on the interview. You may need to follow up several times. Not doing so is how people fail to find a job fast.

You now have 8.3 of the most powerful job interview strategies to follow. There are many aspects of a successful job interview, but if you implement these 8.3 best job interview strategies listed above, your chances of success will skyrocket and you will definitely have an unfair Advantage over your competition!