Welcome back to the Gentleman's Gazette in our series on interviews.
In today's video, I discuss eight steps on how you can land a job interview and ways
to prepare yourself for interview day.
I know this is basic but, you're more likely to find a job that you're actually connected
to, that you're truly interested in than if you just go for the money.
Ideally, you should look for something that actually interests you and excites you but
that;s not always possible because sometimes you just need to pay the bills.
If that's the case, look for something within your pay range that meets your professional
goals and the paycheck you want.
To start, you should ideally, create a list of target companies that you think have something
to offer to you, that really excites you.
Once you've got that down, the second most important step is to network, network, network.
What exactly is that?Is it okay to sign up on LinkedIn or Facebook to talk to people?
No, you guessed it!
It's not.
Networking is so important because it often times helps you to get jobs in the long run.
Networking creates a personal connection with the person and they truly believe that you're
interested and on top of that, they may even consider you before the job even opens so
they can sometimes even write a job description just for you.
When you're new, I suggest you start with LinkedIn to seek out people that are somewhat
connected to you and in the fields you want to be in.
Once you'e identified those people , send them a message and invite them, to meet them
for coffee or for lunch.
It's important that this is a personal meeting where you can meet them one on one and ask
questions about the job.
You can also ask all the questions you could never ask your interviewer, about the climate
they have within the company, the opportunities or simply things that suck.
It's important that you're genuinely interested and that you will let them know that you appreciate
the time they took out of their busy day to talk to you and answer questions.
On top of the insights that you get from this conversation, they may even refer you to other
people they know that can maybe help you more because they're more in line with what you
want to do.
After the meeting, just send a quick thank you note and tell them thaty ou aprreciated
their time and that you look forward to seeing them again, this will go a long way.
Step number 3: Once you've identified the job you want, you've done some networking,
it's time to do your homework.
Specifically, that means you take the position and you do specific research.
Who's the hiring manager?
Two, what skills does the position require?
And three, what do you have that makes you an ideal or maybe even overqualified candidate?
Also, it's time to do some research about the company history, what they do, where they
come from and you can even check out sits like glassdoor where you'll learn about salary,
conditions that you work on, deadlines and the company culture.
If you work in a company where you have people around you that push you and make you happy,
work doesn't feel like work and it's much more enjoyable.
On the other hand, if a company culture sucks, it can be really terrible for you to work
there even if you like the job per se.
Step number 4: Keep the cover letter pure and simple.
Do you need one?
Not necessarily but think about if you want to sell something, you don't just go to people
and sell it right away, you have an introduction and then you sell something.
It's the same with your resume.
You want to have an introduction, it's important to keep it brief.
maximum of one page, be clear, make sure there are no grammatical errors and adress the people
personally with their name.
Make sure everything is correct.You definitely want to showcase your enthusiasm for the position
and highlight why you're a good candidate.
Step number 5: Your resume must be specific.
The resume is the first in-depth impression somewhat gets on you, therefore it's important
that it's perfect.
What does that mean?
Keep it to two pages, max because nobody wants to read more than that.
Start with your most recent and the most relevant experience for the job on the top and then
go down step by step.
make sure to list all your jobs so there are no gaps or people might wonder what you've
done or whether you've been unemployed.
Being honest but it's important to highlight your achievements.
This is the chance to put yourslef and sell yourself in a positive light.
Don't just say "I'm a hardworking person that is organized and performs under pressure"
instead, come up with a specific project where you can show that you increased your revenue
by an X much and you came in under deadline by that many days.
That's much more convincing and believable.
Always look at it from the interviewer's perspective.
The best indicator for future performance is past performance and so you haveto show
them that you did perform in the past.
You really have to be as specific as you can and always narrow it down to three questions.
If you can answer those, employers will love you.
Number 1: Tell them how you would make their company more money because bottomline of any
business is they want to make money and they want to return investment on your salary.
Question number 2 is, how can you save your employer money?
Because at the end of the day, if you save the money or you make more, it's more money
in their pocket and it's what they like.
The third question you have to answer is, how can you help to increase customer satisfaction?
That's important because happy customers are repeat customers and once you've acquired
a customer who remains happy, they come back and spend more money with you and just better
the business.
So even if it's maybe difficult in your position to highlight how you make money or save money,
there's definitely a way for you to show how you can increase customer satisfaction.
Also keep in mind that the resume should be clean and concise to read.
That means, there has to be enough white space, don't clutter it.
Step number 6 is Pay attention to font and readability.
Don't go smaller than a 12 font and ideally have some white space in between the lines.
Maybe go to 1.15 or 1.2 distance between the lines so it's easier to read.
Also make sure you have white space on top and try to create bullet points.
Don't write in full sentences, make it easy to read because otherwise, people will get
bored and you don't want that.
Step number 7: Be ready for the first contact.
Sometimes, recruiters call you ahead of time because they know you're not entirely prepared
and they want candid answers.
For you that means, as soon as the resume is submitted, you should be ready for the
interview.
Be well prepared ahead of time to answer these possible phone calls because that's when you
really can shine.
Step number 8: Congratulations!
You got an invitation to an interview.
Make sure you bring the right stuff.
Make sure to always bring two pens because one may break, you always want to have one.
Bring your ID, bring two copies of your resume or more if you know more people will be in
the room.
Bring the job listing with you.
With that being said, stay tuned for more interview tips and if you want to know how
to dress, check out our What to wear to the interview video, here.
Good Luck with your interview and I hope you land the job.