Help you succeed in Job Interviews

1. Develop rapport.
First and foremost, the person you work for must like you and vece versa, since you’ll be spending considerable time together on the job.

In the early part of the interview, concentrate on getting comfortable with the hiring manager and establishing good chemistry. Begin your conversation with small talk, a much overlooked and underrated skill. See if you have anything in common, such as hobbies, schools or mutual acquaintances. Convey your pleasure at being with the hiring manager by smiling a lot and using positive body language. Behave almost as if you were wooing the interviewer.

2. Discover the company’s need.
The interviewer likely assumes that everyone being interviewed meets the job’s basic requirements. Therefore, your objective should be to stand out from the pack by discovering the company’s current problems and addressing them intelligently. Ask questions such as, Why is the position open?, What's expected of the person who will fill it? and What issues or concerns need to be dealt with immediately by the person you hire? Then listen carefully to the answers.

3. Meet the need.
Once you know the company’s most pressing concerns, use your past experience to show you can successfully resolve them. Make a clear connection between what you’ve done in previous positions and potential job requirements. Describe similar problems you’ve solved in the past, using anecdotes that will make your examples come alive. Avoid blowing your own horn excessively, though; implying that you’re a jack-of-all-trades will only create incredulity, not confidence.

4. Take ownership of the position.
Wherever appropriate, act like part of the team by using plural and possessive pronouns when referring to the company or the job. For example, say things like, Where do you see or sales going in the next year?, How frequently do we take inventory? or ìI plan to bring our machine shop into the 21st century.

By putting yourself in the job during the interview, you place the employer in the position of having to fire you if he or she plans offer the job to anyone else. Inertia is on your side. This technique requires considerable skill, confidence and chutzpah, but it makes a powerful impact when done well.

5. Ask questions.
Keep the interview conversational by asking appropriate questions throughout the meeting, rather than just at the end. When you share some of the responsibility for the course of the conversation, you can keep it from becoming an interrogation. Ask smart questions to demonstrate your technical expertise and follow-up questions to display your listening skills, which most companies prize highly.

6. Be prepared.
Even if one of your greatest talents in an ability to think on your feet, avoid going into a job interview cold. Prepare by reviewing your resume, looking for ways to verbally support the accomplishments written there. Try taping one or two practice interviews, preferably with a friend who can ask tough questions. Then, note your mistakes and correct them before you meet with employers.

You should also research the company and, if possible, your interviewer. Use the business periodical index at your local public library to find relevant articles. Who's Who reference guides can provide more personal information about key company executives, and networking contacts can be a treasure of valuable off-the-record information.

7. Ask for the job.
Your goal in any interview is to get an offer of employment. So just like a salesperson asks for the order, say aloud to the hiring manager, "I want this job." You’d be surprised how few people say these simple words to close the deal.