First, you’ve got
the nerve wracking process of interviewing. I get so nervous, I actually just
want to throw up. The research about the company, preparation for potential
questions and getting all ready doesn’t count for much when you actually get
there. But preparation gives you the sensation that you have done what you
could to get the job before the actual interview. Preparation helps you relax
so you can come across more like yourself, rather than some sttttutering
stranger that babbles some words out of your mouth.
In the interview itself,
it all comes down to chemistry. All the jobs that I’ve had have been given to
me because of the chemistry that was there to work with those people. There are
100 other people who can probably do the same or better, have the same experience
or better, they have to choose somehow.
You laugh, you make
jokes, they laugh, you raise your voice or lower it. You point and “act” a
funny scene. You go off script and they don’t even get to write down all the
answers to the “set” questions. You go past the allocated time. You have things
in common. You and those people match. Just like a relationship.
There are a few
things that also help in this process.
- Dress smart. That’s
your first impression nailed and establishes you as a professional.
- Smile, smile, smile.
Not like a freaking mad hatter, but as a relaxed individual who is there for an
informal chat.
- Get a dialogue
going. I know they are there to ask questions out of you, but if you can get
the right answer and slip in a question at the end of it, that’s when you
establish rapport.
- Don’t be thick. All
of the above only applies if you actually have the intellectual ability to do
the job. You may not have the experience of the skills yet, but a smart person
CAN learn.
Any employer will
long-term permanent hire someone who is going to fit in the team harmoniously,
is smart and has the ability to learn and adapt rather than someone with loads
of skills and experience, but not as nice and friendly as someone who doesn’t.
The moment you leave the
interview, you will know if you’ve got it. Just like at the end of a date, you
get a kiss, arrange for the next date etc. At an interview, things can’t go
exactly that way. But you will know if they like you from their smiling(I like
you, I want to see you again smiling or I am trying to be polite, but have no
interest in ever seeing you ever again smiling), their non-verbal
communication, from their interest in you. You will know it in your gut.
Every interview that I’ve got, I
knew I had it when I walked out of there. Not in a cocky way. Because you never
know for sure, until they call you. And the waiting makes me throw up again,
that’s how nervous I get. But for me, if the interview feels like I was having
an interesting chat with a friend and not an interview, that’s the sign.
2 rounds of interviewing later…
I am looking forward to working
with T, who is going to be my manager in a few weeks. He makes me feel relaxed
and he makes me laugh. He likes me too. I could tell that from the first 5
minutes with him. Just like a
relationship. Because we are all human, not robots. Because you can have great
working relationships with people. And it’s the people that make a workplace.
It’s the people that make you want to
get out of bed in the morning. Thank you for having me in your team T. You won’t
regret it - I am going to be great.
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