The job market is a tough place, especially for new graduates waving degrees and diplomas and looking to make a bold new name for themselves. However, the current climate has made for a uniquely flexible desire for a versatile new workforce that can handle the rigors of working from home while collaborating with clients and coworkers professionally and efficiently without missing a beat. No matter your industry or expertise, the dreaded interview process still presents a major hurdle for those prone to nervousness.
Take Care of Your Body
This might seem skin deep, but maintaining a healthy lifestyle is incredibly beneficial for your energy and happiness. This includes eating healthy and exercise, but also working in a skincare routine. Taking control of your skin, whether you have an oily skin type or yours is pesky combination skin, proper hydration with daily moisture and a basic pore cleanser go a long way to boosting your mood and self-confidence. A healthy face feels great, allowing you to put your best foot forward when it comes time to crush an interview.
Know Your Equipment
Practicing with the equipment you will be using before the interview is a great way to present yourself as a knowledgeable and professional employee going forward. If your career requires extensive use of a software package or particular audio or video hardware, you should take the time to master its use. In addition, all corporate spaces today make use of video conferencing, remote meetings, and a range of technical solutions from Bluetooth to multiple displays. Understanding these technical requirements will prepare you for both the interview process and the job once you’ve landed it!
Master the Redirect
Questions framed around exposing your “biggest weakness” have become the bane of a job seeker’s existence. These types of questions are traps, rather than thinking about what you do poorly, try to understand how you can redirect the interviewer away from these negative questions. Change: “I get distracted,” into: “I am a frequent multi-tasker that approaches problems in a dynamic way. I perform best under pressure and often find stressful, challenging environments more interesting and conducive to my work style.” By redirecting these questions, you show yourself as a proactive thinker that always tries to get ahead of the problems that lie just beyond your team’s visibility but also allows you to sidestep questions that seek to extract potentially damaging information.
Reframe “Day One”
Rather than understanding the first day on the job as “day one,” you should change your approach to work and mentally prepare yourself for the interview as this first day. Be bold—if you don’t see yourself in the position the interviewer won’t either! By thinking of the interview as your first day, you can relax in the lead up to the big moment and perform at your best.
Dress for the Job
Thinking of the interview as day one is a great way to reframe the interview process for your benefit, but the last step to completing this new focus means dressing for the job. You might have heard that dressing for one step above on the corporate ladder is the standard for interviewing, but you don’t have to overextend yourself to impress. Finding women’s work clothes doesn’t have to be an endeavor, shopping around at an outlet or finding bargains off-season from your favorite brand functions as an easy workaround to target those expensive price tags. Additionally, buying bargains and frequenting your local tailor can give you the perfect, fitted, and professional look without splashing out on expensive high-end pieces that are made to measure and cost an arm and a leg.
Preparing for an interview doesn’t have to be a daunting task. Understanding the role and keeping yourself healthy, happy, and competitive go hand in hand, allowing you to knock it out of the park every time you schedule a sit down with a new prospective employer.
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