🎧 Smarter Career And Business Moves Podcast

How to Connect with the Interviewer and Get the Job

October 30, 2020 Annette Richmond, MA, Executive Resume Writer Season 1 Episode 20
🎧 Smarter Career And Business Moves Podcast
How to Connect with the Interviewer and Get the Job
Show Notes Transcript

A strong results-driven resume and compelling LinkedIn profile that tell your career story can help get you in the door. Once you get a job interview you need to sell yourself to the recruiter and employer. 

You’ll have a better chance of winning him or her over if you’re able to build rapport, communicate effectively, and end on a high note.  

In this episode, I’ll give you several ways to make a connection with interviewers during the job search process. 

# 1 BUILD RAPPORT

Common Ground 

One way to build rapport is by finding common ground, things that you have in common like:

·         Sports or sports team

·         The arts, visual, film, etc. 

·         Same college or university alma mater

·         Same college major or minor

·         Share volunteer cause

Look for ways to connect as part of your pre interview research. 

Show interest

Another way to build rapport is by showing interest. While conducting your pre-interview research you may find that the interviewer is heading a new initiative or just got a promotion or won an award. 

#2 COMMUNICATE EFFECTIVELY 

Learn to listen 

Maintain focus on the interview - don’t look down at your watch, out the window, at the books on the shelf, etc.

Pay attention

Don’t prepare what you’re going to say while the interviewer is still talking. Don’t let your mind wander – asking yourself questions like “How long have I been here?” or “Who else are they seeing?”

Listen to the words and the music 

It’s not just what they’re saying, it’s the tone. Do they sound interested? Do they sound friendly? When they smile do their eyes light up or is it the perfunctory smile at the end of the interview?

# 3 AVOID MINEFIELDS 

Know your resume cold 

Everything you claim on your resume, your LinkedIn profile, and social media is fair game for the interviewer. Make sure you’re ready to talk about everything you claim. 

Don’t talk too much 

Make sure you’re ready to tell your career story. Know your resume and accomplishments cold. Present them to the interview as a story with a Beginning (challenge), Middle (actions taken), and End (results).

#4 END ON A HIGH NOTE

Most interviewers will end the interview by asking the candidate if they have any questions. Your response will help them gage your interest in the job and company and how much you prepared. 

They don’t want to hear responses like “No, I think you covered everything” or “No, nothing else I need to know” or questions you could have answered yourself by reviewing the company website. 

They hope to hear thoughtful questions about your role (what are you looking for in the person you hire? what will be your biggest challenges in the first 30 days?) and the company (how is the new initiative rollout going?) 

Always be pleasant to everyone you meet. It might be the interviewer, or his boss, you encounter in the restroom 

 

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(Previously recorded, Live Show)

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Annette (00:08):

Hi, welcome to the smarter career moves podcast. I'm Annette Richmond executive resume writer and principal of clear intelligence, resume writing and career services. [inaudible]

Annette (00:32):

Thanks for joining me. In this episode, I'm going to cover how to connect with the interviewer and get the job. A strong results, driven, resume and compelling LinkedIn profile that tell your career story can help get you in the door, but once you're there, you need to sell yourself to the recruiter and the employer. You'll have a better chance of winning him or her over if you're able to build rapport, communicate effectively and end the interview on a high note. That all begins with building rapport. One way to build report is by finding common ground, things that you have in common like sports, or maybe the arts, perhaps you attended the same college or university, or had the same college major. You may also find you share a volunteer cause. My husband and I are active in dog rescue specifically with a nonprofit group called Save a Lab.

Annette (01:30):

I have my work with them listed on my LinkedIn profile, and many people mentioned it to me when we speak. Look for ways to connect as part of your pre-interview research, go beyond checking the interviewer's LinkedIn page and bio on the company's website and do a search online. Search the interviewer's name on Google. You may be surprised what you find. While you're there search for your name as well to avoid any surprises during the interview process. Another way to build rapport is to show interest. That's part of the reason to check out the company's mission statement and their media page. You may find that the interviewer is heading a new initiative or just got a promotion or maybe won an award. It's also important to communicate effectively. The first thing is learn to listen, maintain, focus on the interview. Don't look down at your watch or out the window or at the books on the shelf, focus on the interviewer.

Annette (02:34):

The second thing is make sure that you pay attention. Don't prepare what you're going to say while the interviewer is still talking. And don't let your mind wander. Don't start asking yourself questions like how long have I been here? How many other people are they seeing? Or I have to remember to tell them that I just took a leadership course or whatever. And listen to the words and the music. It's not just what they're saying. It's the tone. Do they sound interested? Do they sound friendly or are they just going through the motions? When they smiled did their eyes light up? Do they smile often or is it just the perfunctory smile at the end of the interview? One other thing I want to mention is a couple of potential minefields. The first one is make sure, you know, your resume, cold, everything you claim on your resume, your LinkedIn profile and social media are fair game for the interviewer.

Annette (03:36):

So make sure you're ready to talk about everything you claim to have done or accomplished. The second thing is don't talk too much. People tend to ramble when they're not prepared. Make sure that you're ready to tell your career story, know your resume and accomplishments cold and present them to the interviewer as a story. For example, once in my career, or once upon a time, there was a problem, a challenge, et cetera. That's the beginning. We solved this problem by whatever it was that you did. That's the middle. And the result was whatever happened, make sure to provide some metrics. That's the end of your story. End each interview on a high note, most interviewers will end the interview by asking the candidate if they have any questions, your response will help them gauge your interest in the job and in the company and also let them know how much you prepared.

Annette (04:40):

What they don't want to hear is no, I think you covered everything, or I can't think of anything or nothing else I need to know. They hope to hear a thoughtful questions about your role. For example, what are you looking for in the person you hire? What will be my biggest challenges in the first 30 days, and maybe also some questions about the company. For example, how was the new marketing initiative or the new product introduction going? If you ask questions that could easily be found on the company's website, they'll know you came to the interview, unprepared that you were the lazy candidate. At the end of the interview. Remember to ask about next steps, send a thank you note to each person that you've spoken with and follow up after the interview. And be pleasant to everyone that you meet. If you're interviewing in person, the person you meet in the restroom may be the interviewer. Be nice to the receptionist too. Many employers ask the receptionist or HR associate how you treated them. Thanks again for joining me today and good luck with your job search [inaudible]

Annette (06:03):

Thanks again for joining us for this episode of the smarter career moves podcast. If you enjoyed it, please subscribe. Thank you. [inaudible].