Follow this link for some helpful tips that could and/or would land us our dream job.

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To all the people who are afraid to joke around;
In my opinion if the boss is a boring, humorless person who doesn’t appreciate your optimistic personality, you do not want to work there!

Go find another place with a better atmosphere, its better in the long run. And remember, don’t change yourself for anybody but yourself.

BIG SMILES! x

@Seeking Lemonade – yeah, thank you notes are treated as an irritation where I work also, and at previous employers. They get glanced at and then go straight in the garbage/email recycling bin. That may be industry-specific, I don’t know (white collar jobs in construction). I’ve never sent one. I also find the jokes advice a bit bizarre. Rolling into the interview cracking knock knock jokes would be weird, but a quick funny line about the bad weather or great coffee shop downstairs is totally appropriate ice breaking behaviour. We’ve rejected candidates who display no sense of humour. They wouldn’t fit in.

@Jessie #7 – Great advice regarding being too early. Managers do not like being rushed into interviews or feeling like they have to accommodate your schedule. Sitting in reception with everyone walking past and sizing you up can only make you nervous anyway.

Always ask questions. Someone did mention that you are interviewing the company as well. Keep that in mind, and make sure the answers the interviewers give you is something you want to hear, or a place you would like to work.

My coworkers always tell me that they liked when I asked them about the best and worst things about the company. One of my coworkers said “LUNCH!”

In the end, they hired someone they like eating lunch with, and I sit with ALL the people that interviewed me every day in the cafeteria. It’s a great match.

To those looking for jobs, it’s tough, but don’t give up. You’ll get the job you want.

Tips I would add:
- A cover letter that discusses your specific competency for the job shows that you have looked into the position a little bit and thought about what it would take to do the work. Plus it helps you sell yourself. Major minuses for cover letters that are too informal or have spelling and grammatical errors, especially if written communication skills are listed as a requirement for the job.
- Quick responses to any requests via e-mail will score points.
- If you have jobs that were really just physical labor/minimum wage and have no bearing on the position you’re applying for, do not put them on the resume unless you’ve got nothing else in your past. Adding jobs where you were a groundskeeper and your skills included weeding and cutting the grass are not really helping you sell yourself unless you’re applying for something relevant.
- I find stylish resumes that are in PDF format to appear quite polished.
- I always ask the questions “what is your greatest strength/greatest weakness”? Cliched but if a person does not know how to answer those questions in a way that helps to sell themselves, then I subtract points. For example, “my greatest weakness is that I work too hard/am too focused on my career” is the classic answer to the weakness question. A more creative answer that involves a ‘strong’ weakness is even better. I once asked this question though on a job that required a lot of autonomy, and the applicant answered that she could be very immature at times. The rest of the interview was great so I wanted to hire her anyway, but that answer really gave me pause. Don’t give a real weakness, but if you give a real weakness, at least don’t let it be one that really bears weight on whether you can do the job!

I have also done my share of interviewing people for positions I am trying to fill.

There are two things I would add.

1) Be confident. This means know the value you bring to an organization and how to apply it. Don’t sell yourself short, but don’t oversell yourself either. Nothing says hire me more than genuine confidence in your ability to do whats asked of you and then some.

2) Smile. Not like a blooming idiot but a sincere smile on introduction and during the plesantries as well as at the conclusion. No one wants to work with someone with a bad attitude and a simple smile goes a long way to express a good one.

Another thing, be prepared to be tested. I have asked potential applicants to solve a hypothetical situation to see how they react and also to see how much “out of the box” thinking they can bring to the table.

Make some contacts within the place you want to work, you’ll land that job!

So let me add one item before the start of your 12 item list:

0. Make sure the position you’re interviewing for is really open to all applicants.

1. My mindset is “Why would I want to work for your company?”
I learned this from the book Feeling Good by Dr Burns (?). Humbly of course, no arrogance but you must play it right. Sometimes we get caught up in wanting the job so much. We need to be cool and show them that we are interviewing them too.

2. Ask questions that will peak his/her interest. For example, at an interview with the Software Giant, I asked about their market share. This added another 30 minutes to the conversation becasue he wanted to tell me how they intend to beat the competition. I honestly thought this was the moment he made the decision to offer me the job. Also offered me the topmost end of the salary range.

3. Branding: You want them to remember you. They will, if you are different. You really have to work on this one. One interviewer asked me what my hobbies are. BINGO! They will surely remember you by what you say (unless of course your hobby is eating or watching movies). Even better, probe (if it comes up) into their interests and find what you have in common. I mentioned that I like photography. He then proceeds to tell me about a project that they did etc…

Use the above with caution. Enjoy!

And just #19 alone (asking questions) will make you seem more confident, because you will come across as a person in a position to make choices. (And I agree with an earlier poster that questions can help you avoid disasters!)

I had a manager once who told me that he automatically disqualifies anyone who sends a thank you note after an interview.

I do agree with some previous commenters:
- a joke is good if appropriate
- sometimes a suit is inappropriate

I have been a hiring manager and interviewed many people. Sometimes during an interview I have asked people if they have any good jokes to see if they have a sense of humor. People with no sense of humor are usually not wanted where I work. (Don’t tell me it is because I need people around who would laugh at my jokes )

About what to wear: one time many years ago I made arrangements to go on an interview for a job. Trying to find out what to wear and not be too over-dressed or under-dressed, when I ask to hiring manager what to wear, she said: “clothes”!

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A couple of comments:

#8 Clean up your online presence – This is often easier said than done and my advice would be to keep it clean initially.

#21 Practice, Practice, Practice! Have a friend interview you, interview yourself in front of a mirror, videotape yourself, go on other real interviews

I learned my lesson while back when I took a job at a coffee shop run by, as I described it to friends, “a bunch of hippies.” I waited a good 20 minutes for the owner to be ready for the interview, and the entire conversation she was unfocused and inattentive. She didn’t seem to have any real questions for me. While discussing the position and its duties I got the impression she didn’t really know what she was talking about. I ended up taking the job because I’d just moved to a new city and was nervous about finding work, and left six months later because I was miserable. The frustrations of the interview were the same frustrations I experienced as an employee. If I was in a better situation, or faced a similar choice today, I never would have taken that job.

I do disagree with #9, though. It should read “only make jokes if the interviewer is receptive to them, and then keep them clean”. I’ve always joked around a bit at interviews, provided the person interviewing me displayed a sense of humour of their own.

#7 should be “dress for the job you want”. While I do tend to err on the side of being conservative, in some industries, it may be inappropriate to show up in a suit. Research the company and find out what would be appropriate for them, and then clean it up a bit for the interview.
Incidentally, for my last interview I wore what would be considered “formal business wear” but I had bright blue hair. Now I have my best job ever.

I send thank-you notes, and while it may not be the final determining factor to hire me over someone else (though it was in one case), my bosses always comment positively on it. YMMV depending on the industry; I work in a molecular biology laboratory.

Tell about a time when you worked with a team.
Tell about a time you had a deadline.
What is one of your weaknesses? (Be honest, but don’t put yourself down either! Try to give it a positive spin.)
Where do you see yourself in five years?

(I got asked that last one and I was caught totally off guard. I ended up blurting out “Working for you guys!” Kind of silly, but hey, I got hired!)

I think #2 should read “Be 5 minutes early” because it’s better for you to wait a few minutes than it is to have them waiting for you at all.