Here is the etiquette she practiced before, during, and after her interview at the hospital.
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Author: Jimmy Sweeney
Job Interview Secret Gets You Hired Fast
Arrive ahead of time. Always arrive at least fifteen minutes early so you can catch your breath, go over your notes, and freshen your appearance before walking into the interview room.
Maintain eye contact. Looking a man or woman in the eye when speaking is not only polite and a good business practice, it's also a way to share a little love—in a professional way. It assures the other person of your sincerity and genuine interest.
Listen well. Take in what the interviewer is saying. Avoid jumping ahead to what you're going to say next. Have a small notepad handy so you can jot down an important point. You may refer to it later—showing the interviewer that you paid attention and that what he or she expressed mattered to you.
Say thank you. At the close of the interview, be sure to shake hands and express in warm words your appreciation. Don't just dash for the door, happy to have the ordeal over with! People who express gratitude will not be forgotten because they are so rare in our culture. A day or so after the interview send a personal thank you note in your handwriting. People who show a little love always win—professionally and personally. Become one of them.
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Author: Jimmy Sweeney
Job Interview Secret Gets You Hired Fast
• Keep in mind the hiring manager is a person—just like you.
Meet and greet him or her with a firm handshake, a friendly smile, and eye-to-eye contact. These first few moments can make or break the interview. Don't discount them just because they are routine gestures whenever you meet someone new. People can tell immediately if you are sincere or merely going through the motions. Are you the genuine article or a cardboard cutout? Make this experience count for yourself and for the other person. Then you can settle into the interview with peace of mind.
• Present your best self so you will leave a favorable impression that will linger.
Dress appropriately for a professional interview. This means a suit or sport coat and slacks and polished shoes for men and a dress or jacket and skirt or pants for a woman. Press your clothes the night before and choose accessories that are simple and tasteful. Avoid flashy jewelry, dangling earrings, gaudy belt buckles and so on. You'll want the hiring manager's attention on you, not on your accessories.
• Show up prepared to persuade the employer that you are the one for the job.
Be ready to share practical and specific examples of your ability, skills, and experience. Instead of talking in generalities about your character traits (responsible, compassionate, decisive, friendly), display those attributes by sharing a 'true story' from your career, education, or personal life that illustrates them.
Refer to a time when you resolved a critical problem. Did you step in and handle a crisis or settle a conflict between two employees or make a last-minute decision that determined an important outcome? Provide a word picture for the hiring manager to envision. This will help determine whether or not you are the ideal person for the job.
• Close the interview with a hearty 'thank you' and follow up with a written note of appreciation.
One of the most neglected phrases in the English language is 'thank you.' People are remembered for their expression of gratitude—and they're also remembered for not expressing it. The process that takes you from job interview to job placement flows over the bridge of gratitude. Don't neglect this important step—the one that will help you "ace" the job interview—the first time.
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Author: Jimmy Sweeney
Job Interview Secret Gets You Hired Fast
It's easy to get caught up in the holiday buzz––shopping, wrapping, baking, visiting, partying! And it's also a way to escape thinking about the job interview that's just around the corner—maybe even right in the middle of all the feasting and fun. You may be tempted to put it off, change the date, and delay preparing for the moment you walk into the interviewer's office.
On the other hand, this is an excellent time of year to interview for a job. Why? Because people are typically in a cheerful mood, full of 'good will toward men' (and women) and eager to extend a helping hand and a hearty handshake to friends and strangers.
This is your opportunity to return the favor by approaching the hiring manager with a sincere smile, a firm handshake, and solid answers to questions that will help him or her move your name to the top of the list of people to consider for filling the job opening.
Here's how to make the most of a job interview during this merry and happy time of year. Set aside a few hours to be alone with your thoughts and goals and desires for your new job. Then use the following six keys to unlock your future.
Key #1: Polish Your Resume
Check for typos and long-winded sentences or inaccurate information. Read. Read. And read it again. Then ask a trusted friend to read, read, and read it again—making any necessary spelling corrections or wording before printing a final copy.
Key #2: Plan Ahead
Set out your clothing, shoes, and accessories the night before so you can dress without stress and arrive early. Ladies, leave dangling earrings at home, and men, empty your pockets so you won't be tempted to play with your coins. A business suit or sport coat and trousers for men and a pants suit or skirt and jacket for women are always in good taste. This might seem obvious but many people appear in a professional setting in jeans and sandals. That's fine if you're competing for a job as a swim coach!
Key #3: Know the Company
Find out as much as you can ahead of time. For example, what is the organization's mission, its products and services, and how about customer and employee relations, and vacation, retirement, health coverage and salary ranges? You may not be able to get all of this info, but a bit of homework ahead of time can make all the difference.
Key #4: Prepare Real Life Examples
Write down some real-life examples from your current or previous employment, volunteer work, or community service. If you're someone who solves problem quickly and equitably, and has a way to overcome conflicts with difficult coworkers or customers, be sure to mention this during the interview. Always answer a question with an illustration from your experience. SHOW rather than merely explain.
Key #5: Think Before You Speak
Take your time answering a question. Don't let a nervous flutter cause you to blurt out an answer you'll later regret. On the other hand don't boast about yourself. Keep a humble honest demeanor. Be yourself. If you made a mistake somewhere along the line, it's fine to admit it. Then tell what you learned from it. This will show you're human and teachable.
Key #6: Follow Up With a Thank You Note
Whether or not you're offered the job at the end of the meeting, be sure to send a handwritten 'thank you' note as soon as possible. Display your thoughtfulness as well as your eagerness to keep in touch. Even if you don't get the job, you'll want to remain true to yourself. Never give away your power just because things didn't go your way at that moment. Make a good impression by being kind, honest, and professional and you may be the one the hiring manager calls when another position opens. It happened to a friend of mine and it can happen to you!
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Author: Jimmy Sweeney
Job Interview Secret Gets You Hired Fast
Getting called in for a second job interview is gratifying but also nerve-wracking. Just the fact that you have made it to this stage in the interview process means that you are definitely one of the top handful of candidates for the job, which is very good news. However, at the second interview level the competition is that much tougher, and the questions that you will receive at the interview are likely to be a lot tougher to answer. Unlike the first stage, which looks to see if you are qualified, the second stage of the job interview process wants to make sure that you are the most qualified. As a result, the questions that you encounter are likely to be a lot more focused and pointed than the first round.
Since you know that will be the case, the first thing that you want to do is prepare for the second job interview inn a manner that is also more focused and pointed. Specifically, you want to find out the areas of greatest interest to the second interviewers and make sure that you are especially prepared to answer questions about those subjects and topics. This will require that you do a little bit of networking and asking. At this stage in the interview process, you should have made some sort of contact with someone at the company who you can use as a resource or ally in your job search. Perhaps this someone is the HR representative who has been working to schedule you for interviews and giving you feedback on your progress. Alternatively, you might know someone at the company already, or have had a first interviewer express a willingness to help you as your candidacy moved forward.
Here are a few tips to you nail your second interview:
Be sure to subtly and politely leverage whatever contacts you have made in the company as you prepare for your second interview. Though you can't expect someone to put an extraordinary amount of effort to help you, there is no reason why you can't ask the HR representative for some feedback on what areas the first interviewers thought were strong and what areas were not as impressive. In a similar manner, there is no harm in asking your contacts what elements are most important to the people you will be speaking to for the second interview. Don't try to sound like you are seeking an unfair advantage or inside information, but don't be afraid to ask honest questions about what you can expect at the next level.
Once you've reached the second job interview, don't change your style and responses too much. Your interview strategy got you into the second interview, so must be doing something right. Just like in the first interview, during your second interview answer questions with references back to the experiences and successes of your career and life so far. Also, follow the lead of the interviewer. By the time you've gotten to the second interview, you will be dealing with a higher level of executive. It's possible that he or she will want to see you in a more informal, relaxed kind of way and you should be prepared to do that if you are directed.
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Author: Jimmy Sweeney
Job Interview Secret Gets You Hired Fast
Wouldn't it be simpler and easier if you could count on a hiring manager to get right down to business and ask the one question that is probably uppermost on his or her mind? "What can you do for our company that no one else can do as well?"
Most interviewers, however, start with questions that fall into three areas: employment experience, workplace communication, and your personality style. Your answers will help determine if you are someone to interview again and/or hire. Here's what you can do:
BE PREPARED
Get ready for any and all potential questions. Then when they come up you'll have your responses at hand. Also, depending on the interviewer you may be asked questions that require a direct answer such as, "How long were you at your previous employment?" or "What were you daily tasks in your former job?"
OR an individual with a more casual style may put his query this way. "Tell me about a day on the job at your previous employment," or "What did like best about your job and the duties you had?" See the difference? You may provide the same basic answers to both but you'll phrase them according to the way the employer presents the questions.
BE RELAXED
Regardless of the approach the interviewer takes, keep in mind that what he or she is really asking is the question in the first paragraph above. "What can you do for our company that no one else can do as well?" By checking you out in various ways, he or she is looking for the answer to that question because it is the one that 'cuts to the chase.' It gets to the bottom line. It brings the interview into focus.
Whatever the question, approach it in a relaxed and easy manner. Think ahead about the categories involved—your experience, your communication, and your personality because they will be the ones that will grab the hiring manager's attention and convince him or her that you're the one who can offer the company exactly what it needs.
BE ON TASK
In a way it's up to you to 'cut to the chase,' too. Avoid getting sidetracked. Stick to the point of why you want this job and why you believe you can be an asset to the company and its mission.
Interviewers are busy people, seeing one person after another for hours at a time. In order to stand out you'll need to stay focused and clear-minded. Keep thinking 'cut to the chase,' to help you offer only those details that will advance the interview to a place where you can tell the employer is favorably impressed with you.
Most company managers are looking for several key traits: passion, attention to detail, problem solving, leadership, commitment, communication skills, and intellectual curiosity.
Before you walk into the interview room pull together some specific examples from your work life that illustrate a few of these characteristics. At just the right time insert them into your answers as a story, including details, dialogue, conflict, and resolution. In other words, what happened, who was involved, and how did you resolve the problem so the outcome was successful?
If you enter an interview with a 'cut to the chase' attitude for yourself then you'll likely find the interviewer will do the same—and offer you the job.
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Author: Jimmy Sweeney
Job Interview Secret Gets You Hired Fast
Many job seekers believe that all it takes for a successful job interview is to:
Arrive early
Dress appropriately
Memorize the company mission statement
Listen carefully
Communicate clearly.
But it's not—enough, that is. There is so much more to a great job interview than these obvious points, important as they are. If you wish to overcome the opposition, stand out in the crowd of job seekers, and win the attention of the person who can help you get the job, then it's essential that you do some mental exercises before you walk into the hiring manager's office.
One of the biggest obstacles you're likely to face is your mind—that part of you that shouts defeating statements such as "You're not the right one for this job and you know it" or "What are you thinking? You're a small fish in a big pond."
If you buy into this thinking, make no mistake; a hiring manager will be able to tell at a glance––before you even say a word––whether or not you're someone who can fill the position. Therefore, take time to spend a few minutes each day during the week before the interview doing a complete mental workout.
High Five!
Prepare yourself by doing the following 'high five.'
#1 Breathe deeply: Sit quietly for five minutes and take deep conscious breaths, thinking encouraging thoughts about yourself and the interview. Notice how your mind relaxes and your pulse rate slows.
#2 Lunge forward: Move your mind in a positive direction. Review your best traits: problem solving, organizational skills, leadership, and compatibility.
#3 Push up: Repeat affirmations about yourself. I, John (or Mary), am capable and confident.
#4 Step up: Walk yourself up the ladder of success mentally. Tell yourself you're the one for the job, you can do it, you will get the job of your dreams.
#5: Shake out limbs: Release the results to the universe. Accept whatever comes, trusting it will be for your ultimate good.
After a good mental workout you'll feel confident, clear-minded, and committed to walking into the hiring manager's office and giving your best.
So prepare yourself now—putting mind over matter––with a solid mental workout that will take you where you want to go—from a great job interview to a great job!
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Author: Jimmy Sweeney
Job Interview Secret Gets You Hired Fast