You’ve just landed an interview for your dream job. Congratulations! Now all you have to do is hold your nerve and give yourself an opportunity to shine. Having fluffed my lines under pressure a few times, I know it’s no fun. Here are my top tips for handling job interviews with ease and confidence.
1) Act like you’ve already got the job
I’m not encouraging you to be presumptive here. But let’s say you’re interviewing for a Marketing Director position. You need to answer the interviewer’s questions as if you already have the job. What do I mean by that? Well a common mistake job candidates make is to answer questions from the perspective of their current role. This is appropriate when talking about past events of course. But when you’re asked ‘what would you do in this situation’ what the interviewer really wants to know is, if we give you this job how are you going to handle it? It’s the future version of you they’re interested in, not the here and now. So instead of launching into your answer right away, ask yourself, what would the new head of marketing do? Respond as if you are that person already and you are much more likely to impress.
2) Deliver a compelling case
When you want to persuade someone to take a particular course of action – like hire you for example, you’ve got to create a compelling case to make them say yes. Don’t rely on your sparkling personality to seal the deal (although that’s important too). You need to lay the groundwork before you head into your meeting. Think about accomplishments you’re really proud of. Make sure the examples you choose highlight your strengths and the value you have to offer and when you recount them, focus on the actions you took and the results of those actions (this comes from the STAR approach, read more here). You need to sell the interviewer on the benefits of hiring you. It also really helps to think of yourself as a product.
3) Don’t forget to breathe
When the pressure is on, you’re feeling anxious and you need to do a lot of the talking, it’s easy to get a little out of breath. We tend to take shallow breaths when we’re anxious which makes us feel worse, but if you focus on breathing into your stomach instead it will have an instant calming effect. Here is a great article from Zen Habits about how to calm down and breathe.
Those are my top tips for handling job interviews with confidence.
How do you keep your cool in high pressure situations?
But there’s no need to stress out about writing your resume.
Not unless you’re making one of these five mistakes.
1) It doesn’t address what employers are really looking for
Before you write a single word go through the advertised job description in detail. Check the criteria they have listed and tailor your resume to those specific skills. Typically employers will look for relevant qualifications and experience as well as attributes such as communication, relationship management, analytical ability and strong organisational skills. Make sure you cover these off on the first page of your resume.
2) It doesn’t show what you can do
The other important thing to get across to potential employers is the value you can bring to the role, which is why it’s so important to include achievements in your resume. If you’re having trouble coming up with examples think about the outcomes you help to deliver, whether that’s additional revenue, cost savings or process improvements. If you can’t think of specific examples then try reframing your responsibilities to highlight how you benefit the company.
3) It’s too wordy and doesn’t get to the point
There are no hard and fast rules about the length of your resume. The most important thing is to make sure it reflects your skills and expertise. Having said that you need to make sure your points are concise and the reader doesn’t have to wade through a tonne of irrelevant information to understand what you do. I recommend you use a formal template and don’t get too creative with layout. Use bullet points where possible and make sure paragraphs are short. Not sure about your layout? Here are 275 free resume templates to choose from.
4) You’ve listed every position since you left high school
A lot of people believe they have to list out every job they ever had, but the truth is potential employers don’t much care what you did 20 years ago. There are exceptions but unless it was really impressive it’s best to stick to the past decade. Similarly, jobs you held for less than a year generally shouldn’t be included unless you’re a recent graduate and you don’t have much experience. Be strategic with the positions you include. If you’re worried about leaving gaps in your work history you can list every role in a career summary.
5) It’s got qualifications you don’t have
I’ve seen a lot of people include qualifications they never quite got around to finishing. I understand the urge to include a diploma or degree you were only a few credits away from completing but if that was back in 2004, the chances you will ever finish it are slim. Best to leave it out.
What do you struggle with when it comes to your resume?
When you’re feeling overwhelmed it’s easy to fall a little out of love with your work and start feeling tired and resentful.
After a recent busy spell I’ve learned there are better ways to cope than mainlining café lattes and making paper airplanes out of your to-do list.
Here are 5 ways to bring back the love.
1) Pay attention to the way you start your day
I used to think I was happy to be woken by my 2 year old, but it turns out I’m even happier when I get a blissful half hour to myself before he even stirs. Getting up extra early to practice yoga or have a cup of coffee in peace has made a big difference to the way I feel about my day. I also try and avoid reading or listening to the news first thing because I rarely hear any happy news on there. If yoga is not your thing you could try going for an early morning walk, visiting a café for breakfast, listening to your favourite music. Whatever it is that makes you feel good, build it into your morning ritual. The benefits will stay with you all day long.
2) Use EFT to have amazing days
EFT (emotional freedom technique) is a tapping technique that stimulates meridian points – kind of like acupuncture without the needles. I’m not sure exactly what the science bits are but I do know how effective it is as a mindset changer. There are EFT videos for every conceivable fear or issue. I’m a huge fan of Brad Yates so I recommend you start with this one on having an amazing day.
If you are constantly feeling overwhelmed with work it’s time to take a good hard look at the situation before it takes a toll on your health (been there, done that). When you’re feeling under pressure I find it helps to be curious about what’s really going on.
Start by asking yourself:
What is it about work that is stressing me out? Is it the people, the environment, the crazy schedule?
What can I change to make my work easier or simpler?
What do I need to stop doing?
Be guided by your intuition because chances are, you already know the answer.
4) Clear the crap
I mean literally clear your desk / workstation / kitchen table, wherever you work from. It’s amazing the crap that builds up on there. In the spirit of KonMari (and in the interests of your sanity), it’s time to clear it right off your desk. The more beautiful you can make your work area, the better you will feel about being there. Plus you can’t expect to have mental clarity when you can’t even find a post it.
5) Be guided by your intuition
If you’re having trouble figuring out what to do about work (or anything), I highly recommend this guided meditation by Tara Mohr called Inner Mentor Visualisation. I found this to be a life-changing exercise and it’s one I repeat whenever I have a tough decision or problem to figure out. I think it’s a great tool to help you see a dilemma or issue from another perspective.
If your most significant role in recent years has been full time parent, transitioning back into paid employment can be nerve wracking.
Here are my top 7 tips to make the process less stressful and more successful.
1) It’s normal to feel anxious
When you’re a stay at home parent it can feel like you live on another planet to the rest of the world. Maybe you’re worried about how potential employers will view the gap on your resume, not to mention how smoothly (or not) things will run at home in your absence. It’s normal to have confidence issues during this time. Just remember that your fears about being out of touch don’t necessarily reflect reality.
2) Give yourself credit
You may have taken a career break but you didn’t spend it on the sofa watching Grey’s Anatomy, so don’t put yourself down. Parenting is not an easy job (hello understatement) and you have developed valuable new skills that will benefit you in the workplace. Parents who return to work tend to have a stronger work ethic, for example, not to mention superior time management skills and many employers value these attributes.
3) Audit your skills
List all the roles you’ve had in the past (including full time parent) and the tasks you performed in each one. Now list the skills required to carry out those tasks. Examples might include: caring for others, conflict management and delegation. You may also be good at showing empathy and giving direction (just guessing!). Document everything because you are going to use this list to update your resume later. Here is a list of the top skills employers look for to help you along.
4) Research the market
If you know what kind of role you want, start researching relevant job descriptions to see what employers are looking for. Do your skills match their selection criteria? If not, now is the time to think about acquiring those you lack. You don’t have to enrol in formal training to do this. You might be able to find a free course or webinar online that offers what you need. Check out Open to Study or MOOCS.
5) Network like a motherfucker
Whatever you do, please don’t limit yourself to the advertised job market particularly if you’re searching for part-time work. These roles are hard to come by and not always advertised. Your best bet is to start networking like crazy. Get in touch with people you know, including those from your child’s school, crèche, your parents’ group, friends and neighbours and let them know about your plans. Ask them to keep an ear out for opportunities. Send them an email. Update your LinkedIn profile, connect with your contacts and follow companies of interest on social media. If you can engage with potential employers online it will give you an advantage over other applicants.
6) Update your resume
Review the skills audit from earlier and add these to the first page of your resume. If you want to address your time out of the paid workforce, there are a number of approaches you can take. One option is to include it in the career profile: “I am returning to teaching after spending 5 years as a full time mother and I have stayed up to date with relevant training and industry developments during that time.” If you need to explain a long gap in your employment history, you could create an entry under “full time mum/dad” and list the skills you acquired (e.g. multitasking) or responsibilities held, (e.g. managing the family budget).
7) Brush up on your interview skills
If you haven’t been interviewed in years don’t be tempted to wing it. It will make you feel even more nervous on the day and that can seriously hamper your performance. I recommend that you review some common interview questions online and practice your responses with a friend. Good luck!
Multiple Grammy-award, Brit award and Academy award winning, on her way to becoming a billionaire by 30, Adele.
She opens her mouth to sing and the hairs on the back of your neck stand up.
If anyone loves their job surely it would have to be her.
Yet this is how she describes it.
I get really nervous. It doesn’t feel that comfortable being on the stage with a massive spotlight with people wanting to be entertained. I never think I’m going to live up to it.
And then this.
I love it afterwards. Once the show’s finished, I love it.
It’s rare to hear a performer speaking so candidly about how it feels to reveal your work, and yourself, in such a public way.
I thought to myself, well if Adele’s scared shitless, maybe the rest of us shouldn’t be so hard on ourselves.
I also thought that maybe doing great work was never meant to be fun in itself, whether it’s creating art like Adele, or doing something a little more mundane like the rest of us.
Work is meant to be messy and painful sometimes. That’s why it’s called work. It’s ok to feel frustrated and unsure when you’re doing or creating something you care about.
So maybe it’s time to change the conversation around ‘doing what you love’.
Because what really matters is how you feel when you get off the stage.
As a career coach, I help people to take practical action on their dreams and make them happen. This is my blog and it’s full of advice and encouragement to help you find the right job quickly and with more ease.
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