Mindy Thomas

CAREER CHAT

The Graduate

The Graduate

She was puzzled. Her parents were confused as heck. Her friends were altogether floored. After all, everyone thought she had the whole package. Even the graduate.

But, as you remember from my blog post a few weeks back, her interviewing style was crashing down on her. Every time she sauntered into an interview winging it, she choked.

So, when I got that text late last week that she accepted an offer with a top notch international corporation, I did the happy dance. In fact, when we had her celebratory lunch yesterday in center city, with members of her family, we talked about what actually shifted.

It was a clear and deliberate guerrilla attack on her interviewing style. Through coaching and reading “How to Boost Your Interview IQ” by Carole Martin, Jennifer was able to overcome every obstacle, every question and every doubt that resulted from her previous attempts in not landing an offer. Jennifer systematically analyzed what she was doing wrong and did she pull out all the stops.

Here’s a couple of Jenn’s tips . . .

Write out your answers for the questions you are preparing for. Yes, type them out into a Microsoft Word document and that means everything from the question, “tell me about yourself” to “tell me about a time when you showed exemplary customer service.”

Commit those answers to memory as if you were trying out for huge role in a play. Practice makes perfect. Say no more.

Remember the 20-60-20 rule when telling a story. You open up the story with a short introduction which takes 20% of the time allowed, you discuss the specific actions that you took that impacted the success story you are describing, and then wind it down with the outcome. It doesn’t hurt to add any feedback your supervisor gave you.

Use index cards to check and recheck if you nailed down your answers.

Visualize (affirm yourself!) that you have the position.
If you are able to get to the interviewing table and have difficulty landing an offer, know that this is truly an art and a skill that needs development. Congrats to Jennifer! You knocked ‘em dead! Way to go….Yay!

Your Career is Your Business. Isn’t it Time For You to Manage it Like a CEO?

Please call Professional Career Counselor Mindy Thomas, MS, CPRW, CLC, CJC, CJDC directly at 610.937.5632 or send us a message. Our offices are located in suburban Philadelphia at 221 North Olive Street in Media, PA, close to Wilmington DE, NYC and Washington DC.