Interview Skills That Attract Offers

An interviewer's mission is to assess your qualifications compared to the other candidates interviewed. Asking you questions is their way of accomplishing that mission. Preparing meaningful responses in advance is your way of impressing the interviewer.

Be prepared to talk about your skills, competencies, qualifications and accomplishments especially as they pertain to the specific opening. Know how to state your likes and dislikes, your strengths, weaknesses and goals succinctly and fluently.

Especially know how to convey the value you bring to the table - the strengths, unique gifts and marketable assets that are distinctly yours. If you want to stand out in the huge ocean of candidates that represents your competition, you must be prepared to state how you differentiate yourself from the crowd.

You must be able to respond appropriately to the question of why you left your previous position, assuming you left voluntarily. No matter how challenging your supervisor was or how grueling the workload, you must frame your response in a positive light.

Make sure you do not discuss salary. Interviewers are aware of average job salaries and want to be sure you are in the ballpark. However, their knowing your salary history or requirements can disqualify you or lock you in to compensation that does not match your worth. If asked, you can simply state that your salary is negotiable.

While your answers will help the interviewer assess your skills for the position at hand, it's how you respond that more importantly determines your overall fit with the company. Personality is ninety percent of the battle. You may answer a question in a qualifying way, but your attitude could be telling them no.

At the outset, you must establish a rapport with your interviewer and maintain the chemistry between you throughout the meeting. You could be the most qualified candidate for the position, but the person with whom the interviewer feels the most comfortable gets the offer.

Be prepared to ask your own questions - about the position itself, the company and opportunities for your own growth. This allows you to quickly assess the viability of your pursuing the position further. An interviewer may like you, especially because of your questions, and want you to continue through subsequent interview stages; however, you may decide the job is not for you.

Come to the interview dressed appropriately, and on time. Your handshake needs to be firm but not gripping. Eye contact must be maintained throughout the interview. Sit upright in your chair and try not to shift your posture too much. Remember, you're there to sell yourself; before the interview is over, make sure you ask for the offer. Fully prepared, you will come away a success.

Copyright © 2005 TopDog Group All rights reserved.

David Richter is a recognized authority in career coaching and job search support. He has spent many years in recruitment, staffing, outplacement, counseling psychology and career management spanning most industries and professions. David founded TopDog Group in response to the needs of job candidates to have a higher quality of career coaching and support available on the Internet. David understands the mechanisms for success. He has formulated specific strategies anyone can use to secure interviews and receive offers. His extensive knowledge and experience sets David apart in this field, allowing him to offer a wealth of information and a vast array of tools, resources and strategies not found anywhere else. He has shown countless job seekers how to differentiate themselves and leverage their potential to the highest possible level, making a real difference in their careers. David holds both a Bachelors and Masters degree in Electrical Engineering and a Masters of Arts degree in Counseling Psychology. David's website address is: http://www.procareercoach.com


More Resources

Writing A Resume That Gets You Noticed
As the old saying goes, "you never get a second chance to make a first impression." In today's business world, of course, that first impression usually does not come from a face-to-face conversation, but from whatever you can tell your future boss about yourself on paper: your resume.
Retirement: Is It A Career Change Option?
Retirement might be the answer when you ask yourself "why do I want to make a career change" and you decide that what you actually want is not so much a career change as to stop what you've been doing altogether.This may be a good choice for some - those who can afford it - but not necessarily the right choice for all.
Stand Out From the Crowd with Simple Marketing Methods
Although today's job market can be very competitive, many job seekers overlook simple techniques that will catch potential employers' attention. Apply these eight ideas to stay ahead of your competitors and get hired now!1.
Why Choose A Professionally Written Resume?
Good question, considering that nowadays you can find manyuseful resources to help you write your own resume(including many located at http://www.impressive-resumes.
A Career With The FBI
Do you have what it takes to become an FBI special agent? Do you have a sincere desire to enforce federal laws and investigate crimes?This job requires hard work and can often times be dangerous and stressful. You'll undoubtedly be in close contact with crimminals and victims of crime.
Telecommuting Resumes
Your resume needs to outline your skills and experience, as most know. What some may not know is that employers want to know what you'll bring to the table.
The Group Interview
Sometimes, when going on job interviews, you might end up in a situation where you are in a group interview. A group interview is where you are being interviewed along with several other candidates for the job.
Retiring in Paradise
I have to admit that I'm starting to slow down a bit. I am definitely in my final career - and quite comfortable working a 40 hour schedule.
Defining Success Your Way!
In my career advising practice, I often find that my clients are not clear about what success means for them. Our society defines success primarily around three elements: power, money and fame.
Free Resume Examples: Untold Wealth In 10 Minutes!
Doesn't every job search start with Google?Way back in another lifetime, I was looking for a job after one of my startups failed. Conveniently, everything went to pot in early 2000.
Dynamic Interviewing Practices
The pre-hiring process can be a challenge. If you're reading this article, you are finished with the pre-hiring process and are looking for tips that will guide you through the interview.
Cracking the Connection Code: Networking for the Introverted
We've all heard it before: "Just get out there and network!" If it was that easy, we would already be doing it. So why is it so hard? Well, you're an introvert, aren't you? Enough said.
How to Track Your Right Career
Are you lost in the wilderness when it comes to choosing a career? Once, we knew the way. As children, we played at different roles, but some became our favorites.
Use Job Search Hacks to Get Hired Faster
Job searching alone is like hitchhiking a scary ride with an unknown stranger on a 180-mile long deserted, no-exit road with hopes you'll make your destination. When you lack time or expertise to plan career moves carefully, sometimes the loss of ground is not apparent until years later.
The Five Most Common - And Most Avoidable - Résumé Errors
Writing an effective résumé can certainly be challenging. There are numerous rules and none of them apply 100% of the time.
The Global Work Marketplace - The Revolution Of How Work Gets Done
Will cubicles be a distant memory for today's workforce? Will the expense of office space and the tremendous burden of employee benefits be a thing of the past for modern day businesses?The reality is, for thousands of people, this change has already occurred. Internet based 'Service Auctions' now abound where businesses can post their ongoing jobs or one-time projects to a global market of freelance professionals, a.
What You Should Know About A Medical Billing Specialist
Whether you are a person who is thinking about becoming a medical billing specialist or a company looking for a medical billing specialist, then this article is for you. There are several things that you should be aware of in the medical billing industry and I will walk you through them so that you will have the background information that you need to help you make a decision that will best suit your needs.
The Recruiting Truth...Time Is Not On Your Side
In today's marketplace things are constantly changing and so are the needs of just about each and every organization. Whether your company is growing organically or inorganically, whether your company is growing domestically or internationally or for one reason or another you just have pain, your organization must be in a position to attract top talent and attract it quickly! But attracting it is only the first part of the equation.
Interview Tips, How to Get the Job You Want
Enter into a state of relaxed concentration. This is the state from which great basketball players or Olympic skaters operate.
Goal Setting - Road Map To Achieving Your Career Goals
Goal Setting & ResearchYou can only set informed career goals if you acquire plenty of information about the career choices open to you. This will require research which can be conducted online or through a local library.

More Careers & Employment Information:

Related Articles

How to Think Like a Headhunter to Find Your Dream Job!
In this ever changing world, we need to think out of the box to get ahead. This true for anything you do in life.
Skills Make Labor More Valuable
As you know by now, if you have been a long time subscriber to our weekly E-zine, I'm a very big proponent of activity, labor and discipline. In fact I devoted one of the five major pieces to the life puzzle (in my book under the same name) to the subject of activity and labor.
The Top 10 Reasons to have a Career Coach
Many people in the last decade have experienced for themselves either a layoff or termination. Some of these people affected have experienced outplacement-consulting services.
Day Trading - The Ultimate Work-From-Home Job?
Ever dreamt of giving up the daily grind? Want to strike out on your own and work from home, but don't know what you could possibly do to make a living? Full time Nasdaq trader Harvey Walsh wondered just that, and now he asks "Is day trading the ultimate work from home job"?We've probably all had the same thought at some time or another, as we trudge off towards another day at work - the same work we've been doing day in day out for years - "surely there has to be a better way?" Slaving away to make somebody else rich just doesn't seem right somehow, but what alternative? Setting up a new business, or buying an established one, are both expensive and risky prospects. So how can the disenchanted employee ever hope to make the switch from wage-slave to total independence?Those are thoughts I had almost every day, before I quit the safety of full time employment and decided to strike out on my own.
Why One Word Answers are Bad News at Job Interviews
It takes a lot of time and effort to get invited to a job interview. Don't blow your chances by being misunderstood by the interviewer.
Five Biggest Resume Mistakes You Can Fix Yourself
A career consultant can diagnose and overhaul a troubledresume. But you can check off the basics yourself.
Counteroffers: Should I Stay or Should I Go?
If "resignation" is the word that strikes fear into all employers, then "counteroffer" is the one that strikes fear into an employee's heart. "What should I do? They've matched my offer?"It's Friday afternoon.
Get a Job! Tips for Organizing Your Resume
Whether you're a Vice President of Marketing or a recent college grad, your resume is the 'key' to opening the doors of employment. It is an employer's first impression of you and believe it or not, many hiring officials spend less than thirty seconds reviewing it.
Writing Resumes That Attract Your Perfect Job
Let me introduce you to Ben. He made it happenBen was a comptroller.
How to Make More Job Contacts Faster, through Viral Marketing
Are you in the job market? Sick of every blog-byte cramming down your throat that you have to get out there and network? Feel like your traditional networking efforts have turned into a self-destructive waste of time? Online Social Networking (OSN), a form of viral marketing, is a better way to hook up to opportunity. Done right, it'll do wonders for your self-esteem and warp-speed your contact development.
The 5 Essential Telecommute Résumé Components
1. An attractive layout that is easy to read and follow.
Career Advice On Freelance Writing Jobs
Sometimes the freelance writing jobs available are those that no one wants. Or, they are those that new businesses are looking to fill.
Practice Speaking
For many people, interviewing is not a natural act any more than going on a blind date is. You are asked a bunch of questions about your work.
A Career in Image Consulting
You might have seen them while watching TV shows such as Extreme Makeover, Queer Eye for the Straight Guy, or What Not to Wear. Or you might have heard that Martha Stewart needed them to give her advice on how to look sympathetic to a jury.
Signs of a Healthy Work Environment
There's no denying that a healthy work environment is a top concern for most employees. Review any employee satisfaction survey and you're apt to find this issue among the top five concerns of your staff - sometimes above the issue of pay.
Seminars: Why Are They Popular, and What Advantages/Disadvantages Are There to Attending One?
Seminars dealing with "special topics" have actually been around for decades, and are an older form of marketing and information exchanges, that have seen quite a resurgence of interest in the past ten years.Seminars are simply a group of people coming together for the discussion and learning of specific techniques and topics.
Using Journal to Support Your Job Search
Are you searching for a job? Here are some tips on how youcan use journaling in that pursuit.It is important to know what we are looking for in aposition and company.
Your First Job
"Your first job is an extension of your education"Fresh out of college. Loads of dreams.
Prepare for YOUR Future now --
All Presidential candidates (before and after) make all kinds of promises about YOUR 'social security' when running for the top job. Regardless of the promises, YOU are the one who has to live or die by the future plans made on your behalf.
How Important Is It To Stand Apart From Others In An Interview And How Difficult Is It?
Any professionally trained interviewer can attest these questions are the most asked by people involved with job-hunting. How important is it? Absolutely vital! ? How difficult is it? Not hard at all.