 In our previous blog post, “8 Tips for Tackling a Group Interview,” we addressed intangible aspects of the interview process, including body language.
In this blog post, we’re going to elaborate more on the topic of body language. Body language is important because you want to project an air of confidence. Companies want to hire people who both appear confident and are confident. In addition, company officials are interviewing you not only for your skills and experience, but also in regards to whether or not they would enjoy working with you. They need to be assured of the fact that you would fit in well with the company culture, and your body language helps them to make that decision. Taking all of that into consideration, below are the three most important aspects of body language during the face-to-face interview: #1—Facial expressions As you might have guessed, interviewers prefer candidates who smile versus those who don’t (and especially those who frown). Keep in mind that your facial expressions should change to reflect the mood of the conversation. However, your “default expression” should include a smile, if possible, as well as a look of interest, alertness, and enthusiasm. #2—Head movements First and foremost, your head should be held erect during the interview, and it should not be stiff or in a position that makes you appear disinterested or sleepy. Second, keep your hands away from your face or neck, especially when it comes to touching those areas. Last but not least, nodding your head in agreement communicates positive affirmation and understanding in a non-verbal way and also encourages those talking to continue their dialogue. #3—Eye contact This is perhaps the most important aspect of body language. First and foremost, it’s important to maintain five to 10 seconds of eye contact when you meet a person for the first time. (Of course, eye contact in combination with a genuine smile would be optimal.) Then it’s crucial to be consistent with your eye contact throughout the duration of the interview. It conveys confidence, a high self-image, and credibility. It’s not just what you say during the face-to-face interview that’s important, it’s how you say it . . . and what your body language conveys while you say it. We’ve covered numerous aspects of the face-to-face interview in this blog . . . but what if you’re faced with a group interview?
A group interview is just what it sounds like—a group of people interviewing you at the same time. As you might imagine, that can be an intimidating situation, especially if you don’t know about it beforehand. (Many times, you won’t be told beforehand because company officials want to see how you’ll react and respond to such a situation.) Such a strategy makes sense. However, if you’re prepared for a group interview—whether you actually experience one or not—then you’ll be “ahead of the game.” Below are eight tips for tackling a group interview. They’re grouped into two categories—tangible tips and intangible tips. Four tangible tips for group interview success:
These eight tips will help you to navigate the challenges that a group interview presents . . . especially if you don’t know that one is waiting for you. It may be the middle of January, but it’s never too late for companies to start thinking about hiring the best employees they can. In other words, it’s always a good time to be thinking about such things.
Nothing has as much of an impact on a company as how well it hires. A bad hire can be costly, even more so than it appears on the surface. Lost time, lost energy, lost resources . . . they all factor into the financial equation. With that in mind, below are five action steps for more effective hiring in the New Year: #1—Be deliberate about your plans for hiring. It’s easy to get carried away by what’s happening today—right now. While day-to-day business operations are certainly important, letting them distract you from your long-range hiring goals can be more than counter-productive. It can be detrimental to the bottom line. #2—Analyze last year’s good hires . . . and bad ones. Specifically, why do you consider the good hires to be good? What were their characteristics? How did you find them? What do they all have in common? Conduct the same analysis for those hires that didn’t pan out the way you had hoped, and then put that information to use. #3—Stay on top of industry and marketplace trends. Once again, this requires a proactive approach, as opposed to a reactive one. Where do you get your information now? How would you rate that information? What new sources of information might benefit you this year? #4—Evaluate your current staff (regardless of when they were hired). One component of effective hiring is workforce management. Which of your current employees would you consider “top performers”? What percent of your workforce do they comprise? Make sure that they’re recognized for their performance, and also make sure to communicate expectations to everybody else. #5—Stay one step ahead of your needs. Staying with the theme of being proactive rather than reactive, a company almost always makes a better hire when it’s able to forecast when it will need to do so. That means seeking out qualified candidates before the position officially becomes open—so you can fill it with the best candidate in the shortest amount of time. How prepared is your company to make better hires this year . . . and more of them? A proactive approach might mean the difference between a good year and a great year. Our final blog post of last year was about your resume . . . and our first blog post of this year is about your resume, too!
In our previous post, we explored “5 Ways to Update Your Resume at the End of the Year.” In this post, we’re shifting gears slightly and taking a look at the four most important aspects of your resume. For this post, we’re enlisting the help of Heather Spruill, who recently answered the question, “What are the main issues with resumes?” on Quora.com. The Quora.com article addresses four main problems with most resumes. For our purposes, we’re going to “turn the tables,” so to speak, and present them as the four most important aspects of any resume. Below, first we present the aspect and then the most common problem, as identified by the Quora.com article. Then we present a solution that will enhance the overall effectiveness of your resume. #1—Readability Common problem: The formatting does not help the person reading the resume actually read the resume. Solution: Check your resume meticulously and have multiple people proofread the final product. #2—Organization Common problem: The way in which the resume is organized emphasizes facts and chronology, overshadowing skills and experience. Solution: You only have a few seconds to grab the hiring manager’s attention, so make sure they can quickly see the information that will convince them to contact you. #3—Relevance Common problem: The resume is not organized in a way that makes it readily apparent that the person is applying for that specific job. Solution: If it’s not relevant to the job for which you’re applying, get rid of it! If that means creating a new resume, then fire up the printer. #4—Substance Common problem: The resume contains an abundance of jargon and other excessive, nonessential verbiage. Solution: Jargon is vague (sometimes intentionally so). Instead, deal in specifics and speak clearly about your skills and experience. Click here to read the full article on Quora.com. If you haven’t updated your resume yet, do it now, and also be sure to address the four items listed above. Doing so will help you prepare to grow your career in the New Year and reach your professional goals! |
