By Lina Martinez
It can be disheartening to be embarking on the job seeking trail again only to find that your interview technique is letting you down. You can’t put your finger on why you’re failing at the last hurdle. Your resume is sound and is securing your advancement to interview stage, yet when it comes to the face to face meeting, you seem to crumble and struggle to show off your credentials. When you receive that inevitable, “Sorry, but…” phone call you want to give up the whole job hunting thing altogether. Don’t. You need to keep persevering. Take a look at these reasons why you might not be securing your dream job.
You Waffle
The art of being concise and succinct is an undervalued one. This is only a skill you tend to require in bucket loads when you head to interview. All too often interviewers, as part of the recruitment process, ask a simple question such as, “Why did you apply for this position?” to expect a simple answer. They don’t want to know your career history, strengths, weaknesses, what you like for breakfast and what your baby daughter’s sleeping habits are. You need to remain focused and think about the rule of three as you answer. Don’t go off on a tangent and think of three key points you want to get across. It may be that the company fits your ethos, you have the skills needed to excel at the job, and you want to gain more experience in an up and coming company. That’s it. Done.
You Are Applying For The Wrong Jobs
There’s nothing wrong with being ambitious and trying to seek a promotion. However, make sure you’re pitching yourself to the correct job openings. If you’ve been a marketing assistant for the past eighteen months, don’t expect to leap into the shoes of a marketing director position anytime soon. It might be wise to get yourself on the books of a staffing firm to increase your exposure to different employers and different types of jobs. If you don’t mind not having a permanent role, you could gain more valuable experience on a range of short-term contracts. This way, you appear flexible, adaptable and unafraid of shifting environments.
You Speak To Fast
Everyone gets nervous when they head off to interview, but it’s important that you don’t allow your nerves to get the better of you. You tend to find that your heart will be beating at double its normal rate and you speak at a terrific rate of knots. This makes you hard to understand and you’ll appear incoherent. Every company wants calm, measured and purposeful individuals not jabbering wrecks. Every time a question is asked, take a couple of deep breaths before you answer, try and relax and clarify your thoughts. Only then should you begin to speak slowly.
Finding your dream job is one thing, securing it is quite another. Follow these three tips, and you could find that your next interview is the one that will allow you to progress your career.
