JOB/CAREER
Another interesting attitude and approach I have seen is when someone—meaning a job candidate—enters the room in a cocky manner, sits down with his/her arms crossed and starts the conversation by just saying, “Sell me.” When this has happened I have told these people politely that there is a mismatch, because I know for certain they should not be involved in any job process. These are examples of what is to be avoided in a first meeting. What’s key is to practice not only questions and answers, but also the format and structure of possible job interview situations—meaning how to get to the point and sell yourself convincingly and quickly. Being prepared and knowing how to get to the point fast relates to all walks of life. And you can do so only when you know what you want. There’s a common technique for quickly summarizing yourself, called the elevator pitch, which is an excellent practice tool. You need to know how to sell yourself in the time it takes between when the elevator door opens until it closes. This means: who you are, what you want, and what is special about you or the service you can provide. By nailing this, you are prepared to meet any future job opportunity anywhere you happen to be, which may not necessarily be in an office. It could be a random opportunity in a social setting, such as at a seminar, social event, in a store, on a street corner, etc. The purpose is to create so much interest that you will be invited to a more in-depth meeting at a later time. The elevator pitch is also the backbone of your presentation in a face-to-face sit-down meeting. But in this case, the time frame I like to go by is anywhere from one to five minutes. It could be more, but the main thing is to be flexible according to your potential future employer’s time. If he/she has only one to five minutes, then you better make sure to cover everything necessary in that time frame. The key is to always nail what is important. Questions most commonly asked during a job interview Here are the eight universal questions usually asked during a job interview, followed by how to effectively answer them:
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