Interviewing at Mister Sweeper – Be the Best Version of You

Dress for Success

Plan out choices that fit the organization and its culture, striving for the most professional appearance you can accomplish. Remember that it’s always better to be over-dressed than under-dressed and to wear clothing that fits and is clean and pressed. Keep accessories and jewelry to a minimum. Try not to smoke or eat right before the interview and if possible, brush your teeth or use mouthwash. Career counselors will tell you that when you look good and feel good, you perform better.

Arrive on Time, Relaxed and Prepared for the Interview

There is no excuse ever for arriving late to an interview. Short of a uncontrolled event, strive to arrive about 15 minutes before your scheduled interview to complete additional paperwork and allow yourself time to get settled. Arriving a bit early is also a chance to observe the dynamics of the environment.

To help make sure you are on time, the day before the interview, pack up extra copies of your resume and reference list. If you have a portfolio or samples of your work, bring those along too. Finally, remember to pack a couple pens and a pad of paper to take notes. Finally, as you get to the office, shut off your cell phone. (And if you were chewing gum, get rid of it.)

Make Good First Impressions

First, stay calm to avoid triggering stress hormones which cause all kinds of bad psychological and physiological things to happen. To avoid the risk of getting upset about something, do not take phone calls, check your voicemail, open your email, or look at your social media messages. Do your best to limit thinking about outside issues by focusing on what you are going to do and say, how you are going to act, how you are going to greet people, how you are going to introduce yourself, how you are going to communicate your value proposition, etc. Visualize success and stay focused and positive.

Next, communicate passion for the work. You will accomplish this through what you communicate. People who are passionate about their work are almost always high performers who go above and beyond to achieve success, both for themselves, and for the company – and your resume and your stories will reinforce this message.

Be Authentic, Upbeat, Focused, Confident, Candid, and Concise

Once the interview starts, the key to success is the quality and delivery of your responses. Your goal should always be authenticity, responding truthfully to interview questions. At the same time, your goal is to get to the next step, so you’ll want to provide focused responses that showcase your skills, experience, and fit” with the job and the employer. Provide solid examples of solutions and accomplishments” but keep your responses short and to the point. By preparing responses to common interview questions, you’ll ideally avoid long, rambling responses that bore interviewers. Always attempt to keep your interview responses short and to the point. Finally, no matter how much an interviewer might bait you, never badmouth a previous employer, boss, or co-worker. The interview is about you” and making your case that you are the ideal candidate for the job.

Ask Insightful Questions

Visualize and practice, practice, practice. Create a “parking lot” of potential questions and develop your list of standard, non-standard and killer interview questions while you are conducting your research. Rehearse your answers until you are comfortable. Practicing your answers increases your confidence. Even if you are not asked the exact questions you practiced, your rehearsed answers will be invaluable to respond to whatever questions are thrown at you.

You will also find that the preparation in advance will help you create powerful statements and supporting examples that you will want to get into your interview responses – whether you are asked the right question or not!

Remember the Importance of Body Language

While your interview responses are important, poor body language can be a distraction at best or a reason not to hire you at worst. Positive forms of body language include smiling, eye contact, solid posture, active listening and nodding. Negative forms of body language include slouching, playing with a pen, fidgeting in a chair, looking off in the distance, brushing or playing with your hair, touching your face, chewing gum, mumbling or talking too quietly, etc.

The key takeaway here is that you need to overcome nervous, anxious feelings and demonstrate high levels of confidence. Here is a very practical strategy if you have not already heard of this before. Find a private place such as in a restroom, on a different floor in the building or in the parking lot if necessary and practice a “powerful, non-verbal position in private”. The science behind this practice is fascinating and can be learned by watching Amy Cuddy’s TEDx presentation here.

Sell Yourself and then Close the Deal

The most qualified candidate is not always the one who is hired; the winning candidate is often the jobseeker who does the best responding to interview questions and showcasing his or her fit with the job, team, and organization. You are going to have to sell yourself. You must differentiate yourself as “better” than the other candidates. And to make it more challenging, grading will be on a curve; meaning, even if you nail all the required and preferred qualifications, the unwritten requirements, the soft skills will likely be the differentiators. This is why your research and thoughtful approach are so important!

Thank Interviewer(s) in Person, by Email, or Postal Mail.

Once the question-and-answer segment is over, but before you leave the room, the conversation usually comes to an end. This is your last chance to make an impression, so be clear and precise – this may well be how the interview panel remembers you. Think about giving a one or two minute “pitch” which recaps why you are so interested in and so perfectly suited for this role specifically. Make it good. Practice this in advance.

Send a Thank You note the same day. Next, if you have not done so already, add any company-related phone numbers to your contacts in your phone so you do not unintentionally ignore an unrecognized number. Don’t ruin your communication track record by being unreachable once the Interviewer or Recruiter tries to call you.

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