Be able to state your own worth
Invariably, the subject of money will come up during the interview. From your employment application, resume, extensive questioning, the interviewer will have a pretty good knowledge of your past salary history. He or she will now want to know what your salary requirement is and why it is what it is. When you're asked about your salary requirement, you must be able to state your worth. You must not equivocate or use such expressions as, "It would be nice to get X amount of dollars," or, "I was hoping to be paid such and such." Your statement should be, "Based on my knowledge, experience, and track record, my salary requirement is X dollars." If the company tries to negotiate you downward or offers you a lower amount, reject it. If they want you, they'll usually pay you your asking price.
Sound companies don't nickel-and-dime people they want to hire. In fact, the opposite is generally true. They will want to ensure that they're offering enough-not only to attract you but to bring you on board with a highly motivated attitude.
Welcome change and forget about job security
Don't ask the interviewer questions about benefits, layoffs, turnover, or any other subject that indicates you're looking for security. If those things are important to you, then ask someone else in the company. It's fairly easy to gather that kind of information over the phone, simply by calling the personnel department. Instead, indicate a high level of confidence in yourself as a person more interested in change and challenge than anything else. The applicant who fares the best is the one who displays more concern about the company's welfare than about his or her own welfare. Pay, benefits, and other aspects of jobs are byproducts, not prerequisites, of success; they don't motivate the truly productive worker. Rather, the job and its challenge are the driving forces. Throughout the interview, you'd be better off to indicate a strong need for change and challenge. Forget about job security; it's an illusion, anyway. The only real security is your own ability.
Develop rapport quickly and get rid of the interview jitters
The more quickly you create a warm, amiable feeling between you and the interviewer, the faster you'll be able to be yourself. If you fail to develop rapport quickly, you'll probably be nervous and unable to express yourself as well as you might when you're more relaxed. Naturally, most people will be somewhat anxious going into an interview.
This is normal and to be expected. If the nervousness persists, however, it can be detrimental to the outcome of your interview. The more self-assurance you project, the more credibility you'll establish. For example, if you're telling the interviewer how well you accomplished a certain task or how you met a difficult objective while you're acting in a manner indicative of a low level of self-confidence, then your words won't ring true. Your credibility will be a question mark in the interviewer's mind.
One way to overcome the interview jitters is by thorough preparation. You've already taken a step in that direction by reading this. The next step is to discover as much as you can about your interviewer, the job vacancy, and the company. In preparing, you may actually reach the point where you will be looking forward to the interview. If you've done your homework, you will be anxious to get in there and do your stuff.
Don't confuse a job interview with a guidance-counseling session
On more occasions than I care to remember, I've started out to interview a job candidate and have ended up providing guidance counseling.
In today's job market, most positions are specialized. Employers are seeking people who can fill specific requirements. The easiest way for a candidate to get knocked out of the box is by expressing a preference for a position other than the one the interviewer is seeking to fill. One candidate said to me, "Although Fm interested in your accounts payable position, do you have anything open in advertising?" Another said, "It's true that I have a solid background in marketing, but lately I've been leaning more and more towards public relations. Do you have any openings in your public relations department?"
Obviously, if you express a preference for any job other than the one you've been brought in for, you can forget it. The employer is looking for the one person who not only meets the specifications but expresses a solid, genuine interest in putting all of his or her attention, energy, and enthusiasm into the position for which he or she is interviewing.
On another level, I have interviewed people who simply did not know what they wanted to do. So many times I've heard the question, "Well, what you have got open?" I've been afraid to answer for fear that I'd find a candidate on my hands who would apply for any job that happened to be open. Such candidates give the appearance of not thinking through their career goals; they are not likely to be hired for any meaningful position.
You must present yourself as one who views the open position as the only job of interest to you. If you're applying for a secretarial position, then you're not interested in being a receptionist or a clerk typist or a key punch operator. You're a secretary; you want to work as a secretary, and nothing else is acceptable. Your stated objective and unwavering career interest will demonstrate to the interviewer that he or she is interviewing a prospective employee with success potential. Why?-because you know what you want, and you're willing to devote yourself to achieving it.
