Job Interview Techniques and Tactics That Give You The Edge

Even the most positive-minded job seeker will find it difficult to ignore news that unemployment is soaring, and jobs are few. If you are one of the millions of people trying to get hired today, then it is time to raise your job interview skills to a higher level. You need to become an expert in the best job interview tactics available to give you an edge over the competition. Applying for a job is not a game. These days, we all need to buckle down and look at the job hunt with a keen and strategic eye.

 
Let us assume – for the sake of this article – that you are one fish in a pool of two hundred others who have applied for a position. Let us also assume that you are being granted an interview. 

First of all, let’s get the obvious out of the way, and further assume that you and your one-hundred competitors already know the basics: dress appropriately, brush your teeth before the interview, don’t chew gum, have additional copies of your resume, etc.

Now it’s time to make YOU stand out. We need a way to ensure that your prospective employer remembers YOUR interview above all the others (in a good way), and that YOU are the best fit for the position and the company?

Here are a few job interview tactics that will have you looking like a winner the moment you enter the room. You will begin by learning about the company, the key personnel, and what makes it tick. It doesn’t matter whether you have 30 years of expertise under your belt, of if you are a high-school student looking for your first part-time job, you need a solid understanding of what the company’s needs are and how you can meet those needs.


To be sure, your research will be more extensive if you are applying for a full-time computer programming position than if you are applying for a part-time after school position at the local ice-cream shop. Nonetheless, you will need to do this research regardless of the job level if you want to be the top candidate.

So, your first step is to locate and study the company website, and be sure you understand its mission, goals, and needs. In the case of a large company, study any reports you can locate – annual reports, earnings reports, etc. 

Next, it’s time to let your fingers do the walking through the internet, newspapers, and trade journals for press releases and articles that are positive and upbeat about the company. Print one out (or clip one from the paper), and put it in a folder.

Then, spend some time writing out some important points that you learn from their website. Try to connect these points to how they might apply to the job you are interviewing for. Then, formulate relevant questions that can connect the job to something you discovered during your research. This way, when it is your turn to ask questions (i.e. when the interviewer asks if you have any questions), you are prepared with a thoughtful response. 

When you enter the interview, the first thing to do (after being greeted and introduced), is to hand the interviewer the folder with the article or clippings that you found on the company. Explain that you found some great articles about the company, and thought they might like copies for their public relations file or reception area in case they didn’t already have a hard copy.

Right away, you come across as someone who is already part of the company. You fit in. You are a good match.

When it is your turn to ask questions, you are already prepared with a couple of relevant questions since you did your homework. For example, you might say, “Yes, I do have a question. I noticed in the company’s annual report that you recently launched an excellent outreach program to high schools throughout the state, encouraging young people to pursue careers in engineering and science. To what extent would my position be involved with that program?”

Again, even a young, entry level applicant can do this: Let’s say you are the high school student applying for the part-time ice-cream shop job. 

If there is nothing already written or published about this particular shop, you can take a photo of the store on a beautiful day, print it out, and bring it to the interview saying, “I took this photo of the shop last week on that sunny day, and thought you might be able to use it on your website/brochure/etc…” 

How many other high-school students applying for that job will do this? I’m guessing that you will be the only one who puts this much effort into getting a job.

No matter where you are in experience, this level of preparation and discussion shows the company that you are already looking at how to solve or address its needs. You are already showing that you are part of their team.

I hope that you can see how this type of preparation goes far beyond what most other job applicants will be doing!

 

By Kathy Tremblay