By: Nicole Hitch

To some this article may seem like common sense, but you would be surprised how often much of the following gets overlooked and how many job seekers seemingly can’t be bothered to put forth the effort to follow up once they have been interviewed.  I stress over and over to the candidates I work with, the importance of following up after an interview; phone interview or in person interview, it does not matter, the follow up is the piece that keeps the flow of building the relationship with the hiring manager/company going.

You know how they say that sales is all about building relationships and knowing the product right?  Well interviewing is no different, except that the product is you and it is your job to do the best job you can to build as meaningful of a relationship with the interviewers (who are the buyers) as you can…  Now we are not talking BFF type or lovey-dovey type relationships, but a get to know you, respect you, and show interest in the company/position and that you can make a positive difference in both, type relationship.

Following up (if done correctly) helps to continue to create rapport with the person who interviewed you;  it shows that you are interested in and serious about the position/company,  you pay attention to details, you have good manners and can write articulately, it gives you another opportunity to reiterate how you will be able to help the company by using your fantastic skills and it also sets you apart from many of the other people who are also interviewing for the same position because many of them will skip this step.

I have outlined below the basics of the follow up and what you need to do during and after the interview to be prepared to follow up.

During the Interview

• If it is a phone interview be sure to get the correct spelling of the interviewer’s first and last name prior to the interview either from the recruiter/HR person who set up the interview, or if you know the name, but are unsure of the spelling, you can always check LinkedIn or Spoke, and if either of those steps don’t work, don’t hesitate at the end of the interview to ask for the correct spelling.
• If it is a face to face interview, be sure to ask each person interviewing you for a business card at the end of your time with them (if they don’t offer one at the start), if they don’t have one, be sure to write down their name so you can follow up with the HR/Recruiting contact to get the correct spelling.
• Regardless of if it is a face to face or phone interview, be sure to ask the interviewer when you should expect to hear of their decision.  This will help give you a time frame on when to follow up again once you have sent your thank you note.

Immediately following the Interview

• Take the time as soon as you get back to your car/bike/bus or whatever to write down everything you can about what you talked about and with whom during the interview.  This will help you personalize your thank you notes when you sit down to write them.

Within 24-48 Hours of the Interview

• Write a rough draft of the thank you note and then have another person you trust to look over it to make sure you didn’t miss any grammatical, spelling or punctuation errors and also to make sure it sounds good, then write your final draft.   This is one area where mistakes can be extremely hazardous, so be sure there are NO spelling, punctuation or grammatical mistakes!  If you are sending the thank you via e-mail, it should be sent within 24-48 hours of the interview, if you are mailing the thank you (either hand written or typed and printed), you should have it in the mail within 24 hours of the interview.
• If you are mailing the thank you note, address the envelope as follows:

Company Name

Attn: Interviewer’s First and Last Name

Address

City, State   Zip

• If you are unsure of what to say in your thank you note, Google “interview thank you letters” and you will find tons of sites with suggestions.  DON’T cut and paste any of the templates and only choose to change a few words!  Use them as a guideline and put your own words in.  Try to tailor each thank you to the individual you met with and connect it to things you spoke with them about during your interview.  Make them professional with a personal touch.

Now if you want to truly get that job and set yourself apart from the crowd follow these steps.

• Get a hand written thank you card in the mail within 24 hours of your interview.  If your hand writing is so bad even you can’t read it, then maybe type one, but I always prefer to get a hand written thank you in the mail because it shows the person made a little extra effort. Besides, who doesn’t like getting nice mail???
• Personalize every thank you!  Even if you met with ten people during your interview for one position, each person should get their own thank you note and it should be different than the ones you sent to everyone else… tie in things you spoke about with that person.  Make a connection with them so they remember you.
• Make sure in your thank you letter that you show your appreciation for the interviewer’s time!!!
• Once you have sent your thank you letter, mark your calendar on when you will follow up again.  This will depend on when the interviewer said they plan to have a decision.  If they say they plan to have a decision by the end of the week and you haven’t heard anything by the end of the week, mark your calendar to make a telephone call on Monday to follow up.  Don’t call before, because you will come across as desperate and as having poor listening skills.  If you don’t have a time frame for when the decision will be made, mark your calendar for 1 week from your interview date to make the follow up phone call.  If your interview was scheduled by a staffing firm, the thank you note is all you will have to do, because they will do the rest of the follow up for you.
• Look at every interviewing opportunity as a networking opportunity, you never know where or when you may be looking for another job and who will be hiring, so make sure that in all of your interviewing and follow up you are always polite, positive and professional (no matter what!!!!)!
• If you have sent your thank you notes, done your follow up call and haven’t heard back for several weeks, assume you did not get the position and move on.  Give yourself closure so you can move forward with all other opportunities with a positive mind set and knowing you put your best foot forward.

Best of luck to you in your job search and as always if you have any questions or comments, please feel free to leave a reply below or e-mail me at nhitch@bluewaveprofessionals.com.

I found this interesting article in the Reader’s Digest about things candidates should be aware of (both good and bad) when heading into an interview and decided to re-post.  Some of the points I definitely disagree with and are unethical and in fact are things that job seekers cannot control but should definitely be aware of.  However, many of them are also good reminders and come back to doing your homework prior to the interview.   I have highlighted in red some of my favorites that I think are great points.

Condensed from Reader’s Digest Magazine, April 2011

These are all tips from HR individuals from across the US on what to do and what not to do in an interview.  Food for thought.

1. “It’s amazing when people come in for an interview and say, ‘Can you tell me about your business?’ Seriously, people. There’s an Internet. Look it up.” –HR professional in New York City

2. “A lot of managers don’t want to hire people with young kids, and they use all sorts of tricks to find that out, illegally. One woman kept a picture of two really cute children on her desk even though she didn’t have children [hoping job candidates would ask about them]. Another guy used to walk people out to their car to see whether they had car seats.” –Cynthia Shapiro, former human resources executive and author of Corporate Confidential: 50 Secrets Your Company Doesn’t Want You to Know

3. “Is it harder to get the job if you’re fat? Absolutely. Like George Clooney’s character said in Up in the Air, ‘I stereotype. It’s faster.’” –Suzanne Lucas, a former HR executive and the Evil HR Lady on bnet.com

4. “I once had a hiring manager who refused to hire someone because the job required her to be on call one weekend a month and she had talked in the interview about how much she goes to church. Another candidate didn’t get hired because the manager was worried that the car he drove wasn’t nice enough.” –HR professional at a midsize firm in North Carolina

5. “Don’t just silence your phone for the interview. Turn it all the way off.” –Sharlyn Lauby, HR consultant in Fort Lauderdale, Florida

6. “If you’ve got a weak handshake, I make a note of it.” –HR manager at a medical-equipment sales firm

7. “If you’re a candidate and the hiring manager spends 45 minutes talking about himself, the company or his Harley, let him. He’s going to come out of the interview saying you’re a great candidate.”  –Kris Dunn, chief human resources officer at Atlanta-based Kinetix, who blogs at hrcapitalist.com

8. “Make sure you’re nice to everyone, especially the admin person at the front desk. If you’re not, we’ll hear about it.” –Michael Slade, HR director at Eric Mower and Associates, a marketing communications agency

9. “We do understand that sometimes your cat really is sick, or maybe you really did have stomach problems the morning of the interview. But we probably aren’t going to believe you.”  –Rich DeMatteo, a recruiting consultant in Philadelphia

10. “Never tell us you were fired from a job. Your résumé will automatically go into the trash. In 90 percent of the cases, depending on the reference immunity laws in your state and your former company’s policy, we have no way of finding out.” –Cynthia Shapiro

11. “Know how to pronounce my name, even if you have to call and ask the receptionist before you come in.” –Senior HR executive in New York City

12. “One time I said to a candidate, ‘Tell me a little bit about yourself.’ An hour and a half later, I was afraid to ask question No. 2.” –Sharlyn Lauby

13. “How soon should you send a thank-you note? The next day seems a little desperate. Wait a week, and I’ve probably interviewed a bunch of other people and you can remind me again how great you are.” –Cynthia Shapiro

14. “When it comes to getting a job, persistence does not pay off. Checking in once or twice is fine. But if you call and call and call, you’re not going to get the job, because you’re annoying.” –HR manager at a medical-equipment sales firm

15. “Sometimes we’ll tell you we ended up hiring someone internally—even if we didn’t—just to get you off our back.” HR representative at a Fortune 500 financial-services firm

16. “If your former supervisor hated you, don’t give me his direct line for a reference. Instead, give me the number to HR. Most of us will give out only the dates of your employment and what your title was.” –HR professional at a midsize firm in North Carolina

17. “Yes, we do look at your credit as part of our background check. And if you’ve got a bankruptcy or if your credit score is below 650, you’ll have a hard time getting a job. [But] background checks are expensive. Sometimes we bluff, get you to fill out the form, and don’t even run it.” –Cynthia Shapiro

Another awesome event for developers to share and learn. This one is a 2 day event Saturday and Sunday October 9th and 10th, 2010. Twin Cities Code Camp 9 will be held at the University of Minnesota;
4-192 EE/CS Building
200 Union Street SE
Minneapolis, MN 55455

There is a huge variety of topics that have been proposed to be covered such as Introductions to Open Source, Introduction to Programming on Google Andriod Platform, CSS for ASP.Net Developers, Evolving .Net, Creating Unlimited User Experiences with Silverlight 4.0, Ruby for the Web and jQuery Plugin Development just to name a few. The list is very long so if you want to read more, please check out http://www.twincitiescodecamp.com and if you want to register for the event please go to http://tccc9.eventbrite.com/
This is a free event for attendees!

To all of the local developers out there, here is a great opportunity to network with some fantastic individuals and learn as well. The 2010 Minnesota Developer’s Conference will be on Wednesday, September 29, 2010 at the Sheraton Bloomington Hotel; 7800 Normandale Blvd., Bloomington, MN 55439. Registration begins at 7:30am and the event goes until 4:30 pm. Cost is $150 per attendee which includes breakfast, lunch and snacks. This event sells out every year so if you are interested be sure to get your ticket right away.
There will be 5 different tracks at the conference all with fantastic speakers.  The 5 tracks are:

1. .Net 4.0
2. Silverlight
3. Patterns & Practices
4. Smart Phone
5. Interactive

Please visit http://mdc.ilmservice.com for details and registration.

Author: Peggy McKee
Author Website: http://www.career-confidential.com

References are so often an afterthought, but they shouldn’t be. The people you will rely on for a great job reference should be on your mind at least once a month, even if you are not currently looking for a job. A great reference can make a huge difference in the success of your job search. For instance, I once had a great candidate that my client company was not excited about. The candidate perceived that there was a roadblock and had one of his references call me to proactively tell me about this candidate. That is impressive. And that is what gets you the job.

What not to do:

1. Don’t give me (the recruiter) or your potential employer a reference who can hardly remember you, or who can’t be relied on to call back.

2. Don’t give me your college roommate. I want a work reference…a relevant reference…a GREAT reference.

What to do for a great reference:

1. Make certain that your reference can see you in the job that you are looking to get….(I had one lady tell me that all she could say about my sales candidate was that she was very good in her laboratory – very meticulous). Great. That same lady could have said that the candidate showed a lot of leadership, was very persuasive and thrived in interactive meetings. What a difference that would have made.

2. Prepare your references: “Hey, Joe, So-and-so may call. This is the type of job that I am pursuing, so this is what they’re looking for. This is very important to me. Please call me once you have talked with the reference checker, and thanks for all your help.” Asking them to call you will make the reference more responsive to the “reference call” and then he will give you a heads up about how the process is moving. Remind your reference of what amazing things (specifically) you did for the reference when you worked there. Help their memory along….

3. Collect references throughout your career.
* Stay in touch. You can’t expect to get the incredible reference that you are looking for if the reference has not heard from you in 5 years. This is all part of the networking process. Every 4-5 months, drop them an email or call. Ask them if there is anything that you can do for them…..Help others, they will definitely help you!
* Before you exit a company, ask your current boss for her personal email and phone number. Stress that you want to stay in touch and could you use her for a reference in the future. Then stay in touch.
* When someone who can speak to your skill sets announces that they are leaving for greener pastures…ask them if you can have their personal email and phone number. Explain that you really enjoyed working with them and you want to keep in touch.
* Link up with old contacts and get new contacts on LinkedIn. Create a great LinkedIn profile and join sales groups. Participate in discussions. Collect these references.

Article courtesy of the Recruiting Blogswap, a content exchange service sponsored by CollegeRecruiter.com, a leading site for college students looking for internships and recent graduates searching for entry level jobs and other career opportunities.

By: Nicole Hitch

When I asked what readers may be interested in reading, the questions of what new technologies are currently being implemented locally within the Twin Cities came up. So in response, I put together a survey and I will share in a two part blog (Due to the amount of information.) the results of that survey. I hope this helps those of you in the technical community help keep your finger on the pulse of what types of technologies others locally are using. If you haven’t and would like to still take the survey, please don’t hesitate to, I would love to hear your feedback and will gladly share any new findings in another blog post. Click here to take the survey. Also, a huge thanks to all who participated in the survey!

Part 1 will include the industries represented and what new technologies are currently being implemented in local companies. Part 2 will look a year and five years down the road at what new technologies are expected to be added. Enjoy!

Of those that completed the survey, the following industries were represented:

Advertising, Branding & Marketing
Aerospace and Defense
Business services, software, predictive analytics
E-Commerce
Education
Engineering
Financial Services, Banking, Insurance, Investments & Mortgages
Health Care
Information Technology
Medical Device

What types of new technologies are your company currently implementing?

Here is a list of the responses sorted by industry.

Advertising, Branding & Marketing – CSS, Flash, PHP, .Net
Aerospace and Defense – High Speed Computing Clusters
Business services, software & predictive analytics - VMWare, Microsoft .Net 3.5, IBM Websphere
E-Commerce - ATG, VMWare, Hibiscus, Websphere, .Net
Education - .Net Frame Work 4.0, Load Test, VMWare, 10G Infrastructure Encryption Technologies
Engineering - Virtualization, Service-oriented architectures, message-oriented architectures, user-centered designs, autonomous tracking
Financial Services, Banking, Insurance,Investments & Mortgages – InRule, ATG, Windows Workflow, .Net 3.5, VS2010, SQL 2008, VM Servers, TFS2010, BizTalk, and Hibiscus.
Health Care - .Net 4.0, transporting of HIPPA data
Information Technology – Oracle Middleware solutions, SharePoint 2010, Office 2010, Netbook/Redfly devices for mobile integration, HTML5, Data Center Design, Server Virtualization, Desktop Virtualization, Storage Virtualization, iSCSI/FCoE Storage Networks, MS Server 2008 R2, MS Exchange 2010, MS SQL 2008, VMware vSphere 4.0, VMware View, Citrix XenApp, Citrix XenDesktop, Citrix XenServer, Brocade Fibre Channel and Ethernet Network Equipment, 10 GbE Networks, 40 GbE Networks, 100 GbE Networks, 8GB Fibre Channel
Medical Device – Microsoft Office Communicator Server 2007 R2/2010, Microsoft Exchange 2010, Microsoft SharePoint Server 2010

I hope you have enjoyed Part 1 of this survey information and look for part 2 next week.  As always if you have any questions or comments, please don’t hesitate to leave one below.

Dear Reader,

As you read the title, you may be thinking, “I thought Blue Wave Professionals does IT and Engineering placements/staffing,” and yes, you are right we do.  However, from time to time, we run across great sales people looking for new opportunities and thought that this blog from Career Alley might be helpful to those folks as well. I hope you enjoy this post and find it helpful.

Sincerely,

Nicole Hitch
President
Blue Wave Professionals

Author Byline: CareerAlley

Author Website: http://Careeralley.com

“A sale is not something you pursue, it’s what happens to you while you are immersed in serving your customer.” – Anonymous

You know the old saying, a good salesperson can sell anything. I’m sure there is some truth to it, but to be a successful salesperson takes a certain personality and skill-set that (in my opinion) can’t be easily taught. It is one of the few careers where you know fairly quickly how you are doing (and if you are not doing well you will not last long). It is also one of the few careers where there are (generally) plenty of jobs (more than most) but they are the most difficult to find. “Where” you may ask are these jobs that are so difficult to find – read on.

Retail:

• Home Depot – Home Depot is know as the Do It Yourself store. They have an established business model. Their careers page is clean and crisp. There are links at the top left hand side of the page for 5 different functional areas of employment, plus one for new store openings (where they will obviously need help). Below this on the left hand side is a search function, followed by a number of additional links to related information. Click the job search box and you will have a number of choices. Of course, you are looking for Sales Associates, but there are also click boxes for Store Managers, Customer Service and Supply Chain. Also, at the bottom of the page they have a link for their career fair calendar. Unfortunately, you must register on the site and check each job type individually.

• Nordstom – What? Hardware is not your thing? What about the soft side, upscale department stores. They have a great careers page. Center page there are three choices: Store openings (they will need salespeople), Career paths (look for sales) and create a profile (sales!). Create your search using the key words “Retail Sales”. There were over 1,000 Retail Sales opportunities when I checked the site.

Other Sales:

• Google – No, you did not read this wrong. Google has an amazing number of sales jobs. Rather than go through their main careers page, the link to the left leads directly to their sales jobs. Center page is the long list of jobs, left hand side are links to Life at Google, locations, student jobs and more. The right hand side of the page has related links.

Resources and Leads:

• Sales, Advertising, & Marketing – This is a listing of leads and resources that will keep you busy for a very long time. Riley Guide’s list of Sales related jobs is an amazing collection of job search sites, executive recruiters, trade shows and the list goes on.

• Salesjobs.com – This is the “World’s largest Sales Employment Site” according their tag line. And, according to the stats on their main page, there are over 200,000 job opportunities on their site. The main page has tabs at the top, but Candidates seems to be the only one that would be of interest. Below this (middle of the page) is a quick search box (using industry and area code). Bottom left hand side is the candidates section where you can upload your resume, login or get advice. Clicking the Candidates tab at the top leads to a page with dedicated resources such as Search, post resume, advice, sales links and more.

• National Association of Sales Professionals – This is an example of a professional organization (this one focusing on sales). In addition to other services, this association also has a career center (one of the tabs at the top of the page). Click on career center and the left hand side of the page is dedicated to Job Seekers where you can post a resume, View jobs, create personal alerts and more. When I clicked on the view jobs link, there were over 2,900 opportunities.

Good luck in your search.

Article courtesy of the Recruiting Blogswap, a content exchange service sponsored by CollegeRecruiter.com, a leading site for college students looking for internships and recent graduates searching for entry level jobs and other career opportunities.

By: Nicole Hitch

Have you ever heard the saying, “It isn’t what you know, but who you know that counts.”?  Well, much of that saying holds a startling truth, especially in the case of the job search.  In this post I’ll cover the what, why, when, where, who and how basics of networking.

What is networking?

According to Merriam-Webster’s Online Dictionary, Networking is “the exchange of information or services among individuals, groups, or institutions; specifically: the cultivation of productive relationships for employment or business.”  So what does that mean for you?  Let’s move into the why next.

Why should I be networking?

Let me ask you: Are you 100% satisfied with where you are in your career?  Do you know all you need to know about what you do?  Do you feel 100% certain that you will never have to look for another job?  Are you completely done growing professionally? If you answered yes to all of the above questions, then there is no need for you to read this post. J  However if you answered, no to any of the above questions having a well cultivated network can help you with all of these things. For example, if you should find yourself surprisingly without a job and in search of a new opportunity, your network most likely will be of great help. (Again, if you have maintained it correctly.)  This brings us to the when and where to network.

When and where do I network?

Networking can happen at any time and in any place; at work, at a party, at a conference, on an airplane, in the elevator…. You get the idea.  Just as you can meet new people and make new friends anywhere…wait a minute, isn’t that networking?… Absolutely, that is networking and therefore, networking can take place anytime and anywhere.

Who should be in my network?

Anyone and everyone.  Some examples could include; current and former co-workers, people you have met from professional associations, friends, family, former classmates, teachers, professors, people from your religious or social organizations, your kid’s friend’s parents… the list is endless.  The more people you know and that know you, the larger your network is.  The key is the people you know AND who know you, which brings us to how you build and maintain your network.

How do I build and maintain my network?

First, how to build your network.  This is the part that I get the most questions about, especially from people who are shy or maybe not very comfortable approaching people they don’t know.  The easiest way to start is in a group of people who might share a common interest.  For example, if you are a .Net Developer, join a .Net user group in your area, by doing this you already know that there are going to be people there who have a similar interest and background knowledge as you, making conversation easier.  Once in the room, if you don’t know anyone there, see if you can find someone standing by themselves and introduce yourself knowing that they are going to sigh a huge sigh of relief that they aren’t alone any longer and that they didn’t have to start the conversation.  An easy way to start a conversation is to ask what they do and then listen and ask questions from there.  To be a good networker, you need to be genuinely interested in the person you are speaking with.  After all, you are trying to build a connection with them.  Events set up specifically for networking or have a social/networking period are great ways to start as well because you know that everyone in the room is there to meet new people.

Once you have made connections and are starting to build your network, you are not finished.  Just like all friendships, one must maintain the connections in their network.  No one likes someone who only contacts them when they need something, so how do you keep the connection strong with already such a busy life?  Stay in touch with your contacts.  I like to start this right after meeting someone new.  I typically ask for their business card and then follow up with an e-mail letting them know that it was nice meeting them and inviting them to connect with me on LinkedIn, or following up with something more specific if our conversation went a specific direction.  Other ways to stay connected could be as easy as an e-mail every so often to say hello, letting them know of opportunities that might be of interest to them, if something new happens in your life you can update them, invite them to social or professional events you are attending or know that they would enjoy, with Linked In and Facebook, often times people post their birthday, so pay attention and wish them a happy birthday… the point is stay in touch by being thoughtful, authentic and real.

Happy networking and as always if you would like to know more, have questions or want to discuss any of the information, please feel free to leave a comment or e-mail me at nhitch@bluewaveprofessionals.com.

By: Nicole Hitch

You have been applying for jobs, networking, and trying your best to get your foot in the door for a new opportunity.  The phone rings and you hear the words you have been hoping to hear… “Hello Mr./Ms. _________ we are calling to schedule you for an interview with so and so at______________ company.”  You have your big toe in the door, you have secured an interview…  ok, now what…???  Here are some steps to help you prepare to knock the socks off whoever is interviewing you and have a better chance of making it to the next step in the interview process.

1. Dress to Impress!  You only get one chance to make a first impression.  Because everyone’s fashion sense is different I recommend that you wear a dark solid color suite with a clean and pressed white button up shirt for men and a white blouse or button up shirt for women.  Guys don’t wear a crazy tie, keep it simple, a solid color tie is best.  Your hair should be neat and clean, keep jewelry to a minimum, and your shoes need to be polished and clean.  Also, many people are sensitive to smells and an overwhelming smell can also leave a bad impression.    Keep perfume, cologne, scented lotions, body sprays and aftershave to a minimum, don’t smoke in your suite, and try not to sit in a coffee shop prior to your interview as you most likely will smell like a coffee bean when you walk in and shake hands.
2. Do your homework!  Check out the company website, any press releases, what do they do, are they involved in the community, if so how, have they acquired any companies recently… know about them and then prepare genuinely interesting questions to ask about the company and take notes on topics that you may want bring up during the interview to help you build rapport with the interviewer and show your interest in the company.  When you ask your questions, actively listen to the answers, be genuinely interested in the answers and where appropriate ask follow up questions.
3. Prepare for difficult questions!  There is a plethora of resources with practice interview questions online.  Take the time to practice answering these questions.  You don’t want your answers to sound “canned,” but you also don’t want to leave the interview thinking, “ I should have said this or that about…”  You can also look at my blog entry of practice interview questions to also get some to practice.
4. Prepare your elevator speech!  What is an elevator speech?  It is the reason why any company should hire you.  Come up with about a 30 second bit about your strengths or accomplishments that are tailored to the position you are interviewing for.  This goes along with #3 above, you may get the question, “What are 3-4 of your strengths or accomplishments?” or the statement “Tell me about yourself.”  This is where being prepared with what you bring to the table will enable you to answer these questions with ease.
5. Be confident.  If they are interviewing you, that means there is something in your background on your resume that has peaked their interest.  If you do the 4 above steps, you should be well prepared to answer any questions they throw your way, so be confident in the fact that you are well prepared and in the fact that they are already interested.   When they ask, tell them where you have excelled and what you bring to the table.  At this point it is your interview to either win or lose.  Always go in with a positive attitude and a smile on your face as well.  You’ll be surprised how far those two simple things can go!
6. Basic body language.  Smile! Show that not only are you there to learn about them, but you are friendly and easy to work with/speak to.  Sit up straight!  Sitting back in your chair can show a lack of interest in the interviewer, position and/or company.  Give a good firm handshake, let them know you are there and interested.  Look the interviewer(s) in the eye (this shows confidence)… if it is a panel interview; be sure to make eye contact with everyone when you answer questions to make sure they all feel included in the conversation.  Keep your hands in your lap!  This is for a couple reasons… first, crossed arms does not show interest or willingness, arms touching, crossed or folded in front of you (even on the table) often times comes across as a barrier between you and the interviewer.   The second reason for keeping your hands in your lap is if you fidget when you get nervous your hands are less noticeable and if your hands sweat when you are nervous, you have your pants or skirt to do a quick brush off when you get up at the end or your interview to shake hands so as not to extend a slimy wet handshake. J
7. Let them know you want the job!  At the end of the interview, be sure to reiterate that you are not only qualified for the position, but very interested in joining the team/company!  Managers want to extend offers to people who not only have what they are looking for, but also that they know want to work there.
8. A thank you goes a long way!  At the end of your interview, don’t forget to thank the interviewer for his/her time and then within 24 hours follow up with a thank you note.  Be sure to proof read your thank you note before sending it out!!!!!

Good luck in your next interview and if you have any questions or would like more information, please contact me at nhitch@bluewaveprofessionals.com.

By: Nicole Hitch

For all of those who are interested in a quick list of some practice interview questions, here are some to get you started.   There are tons of free resources online with many, many more practice questions as well!  Remember, the more you practice, the better you get!

1. Tell me about yourself.
2. Tell me why you are interested in our company/this position.
3. What are 3-4 of your strengths or accomplishments?
4. What is your greatest strength?
5. What is your greatest weakness?
6. Where do you see yourself in 5 years?
7. What are you most proud of?
8. What salary are you looking for or what are your salary requirements?
9. Why do you want this job?
10. What do you know about our company?
11. How would you go about establishing credibility with the team?
12. What is your ideal job?
13. What is your ideal company?
14. What are you looking for in terms of career development?
15. Tell me about a time when you had to deal with a difficult co-worker.
16. What do you look for/expect out of a manager?
17. How do you do under pressure or stress?
18. When were you most satisfied in your job?
19. Why should we hire you?
20. What did you like about your last job/employer/manager?
21. What did you dislike about your last job/employer/manager?
22. What is your personal mission statement?
23. How do you want to improve yourself in the next year?
24. Are you willing to relocate?
25. Who has impacted you most in your career, and how?
26. What is your greatest achievement outside of work?
27. What do you like to do for fun?
28. Why are you leaving or why did you leave your present/last job?
29. If selected for this position, can you describe your strategy for the first, 30/60/90 days?
30. Do you have any questions for me?