You have followed every single norm of interviewing. Right from grooming, to the type of clothes you wore, to the thank you letters. You have the right letters of reference and the qualifications and yet following your interview, you have been shown the exit door. Why does your live performance fail to deliver?
Do some introspection and find out what is going wrong. Maybe you are presenting the wrong things. What you think are your strengths may not be what the interviewer is seeking. Take time and trouble to imagine what your interviewers' needs are. Do some research on any specific problems that the company may be having, and then explain to the interviewer how you are going to solve them?
Be the fly on the wall and observe everything around you, without others realizing that they are being observed.
- Treat Your Interview As A Stage Performance
Practice your interviewing skills. Ready yourself as if you are readying for a performance. Play to the camera. Think that your every move is being recorded. Prepare through mock interviews with career counselors and human resource professionals.
Video tape your interview and review it. Perhaps there is less eye-contact. Maybe you are sitting in an ungainly hunchback posture. Maybe your speech is slurred and most of what you are saying is beyond the comprehension of the interviewer. The video will give you a clear picture and help you rectify interviewing mistakes that you may inadvertently may be making.
- Say What The Interviewer Likes To Hear
Understand that your choice of words will make a huge difference to the interview. Make the interviewer feel well turned-out, gifted and proficient. Don’t make it a one way monologue, with answers only about you. Get the interviewer talking, get him talking about his concerns, issues and aims. Then tell him, that talking to him has been an enlightening, enriching experience.
- Explain Why You Failed To Get A Job So Far
The employer will want to know, why you are unemployed for such a long period of time, you need to proactively explain why you've been out of the job market. You can tell him, that the jobs that you were offered were not really what you were looking for and that you did not want to compromise. Say that you’d rather wait than jump into a job that did not bring you contentment and satisfaction.
- Think From The Employer's Viewpoint
Understand that whatever your glorious attributes are, they are all on paper only and not much use to the employer and mean nothing to him. They are worth only to the amount of good they can do for the employer in a particular year. Ensure that your background and skills align with those of the company and are what the company is looking for.
Remember that you get hired by the questions that you ask. Ask the company about the challenges that it is facing and then demonstrate through your talk, how you intend to tackle them. Don’t be vague, mention specific challenges.
Considering that earlier interviewers all ended up in disappointment and you don’t want this going down the same way, ask the interviewers if that there is anything else he would like to discuss, you’d be happy to do so.
If you are still not selected, get the recruiter or hiring manager to provide feedback. Since it is happening time and again, and the company has already rejected you, go back to the interviewer and tell him that you are getting rejected time and again and would he kindly help you and fill you in where you were going wrong. Most interviewers will view your request sympathetically.
