6 Steps to a Great Interview Delivery

IP is over the quota
IP is over the quota

When you prepare for an interview for your career after college, don't leave your delivery on the table!

Let's focus on the importance of developing a great interview delivery.

Why? Because it helps an interviewer get a better sense for not only what you know, but who you are, and what it will be like to work with you. The initial interview is the first chance you have to give the employer a "whole person impression" of how you will fit into the organization and contribute to the team.

To give yourself the best shot at leaving a great impression, practice your interview delivery. Here are 6 steps you can take to do that.

1. Write the script.

Of course before you begin to practice your delivery, we'll presume you've done all the work you need to have focus, energy and passion around the preparation of your interview content.

Now you get to use that content to deliver authentic responses about your offer to the employer. Tell them how your passions, interests and abilities intersect with their business need. Prepare for the expected interview questions, including the all time great, "So, tell me about yourself."

Have a few people review and give you feedback. Allow yourself time and space to develop your messages. A good delivery is meaningless if you don't have the content to back it up. Preparing for both will prevent you getting tripped up in the interview process.

2. Warm-up your vocals.

Every great singer warms up the voice before they perform. Here's your chance to train your interview vocal cords. Read aloud what you have written... many times. Once your voice consumes the words, adjust phrasing and inflection to sound more like "the professional you."

This will embed your stories in your mind, help you respond in a confident tone and facilitate your ability to recall your messages easily when you are interviewing.

3. Revise, words and voice.

OK, now you've written it and spoken it. How is it all flowing? Listen to yourself from the perspective of the interviewer. What conclusions is she drawing, can she follow your train of thought? Get feedback from friends, family or faculty. Others often make observations that may not be obvious to us.

What are you doing well and how can you expand on that? What feels odd to you, and how can you improve it? Is your message effective and concise? Is your delivery engaged and professional? If not, keep revising.

Edit your stories and your delivery as you hear how to improve both the content and the telling.

4. Groove your swing.

I knew a baseball player who went to the garage and swung the bat 300 times each night to groove his swing. Without actually hitting any balls, he was training his muscles and reflexes to prepare for a game day situation.

Do the same for an interview. While driving, raking leaves, in the shower, in front of a mirror, practice speaking your responses and telling your stories aloud.

Get your friends or other adults to ask you practice questions. Conversely, practice asking questions of the interviewer. This preparation builds your muscle memory for the interview process.

5. Master your non verbal cues.

Facial expression, voice tone, timing and gestures all influence your delivery. Notice how your inflection, pitch and facial expressions change and settle as you practice your responses. Smile, practice eye contact, attend to your posture. Banish any gestures or mannerisms (like chewing your nails or twisting your hair) that don't belong in an interview.

Focus on what feels authentic, like the weight of the bat settling perfectly in your hands. Keep working on the parts that don't feel quite right. This will help you get comfortable in your role as interviewee.

6. Get a visual.

Now that you've got your plan together, make a video of yourself. Ask someone to pose as a faux interviewer. Asses your poise, your delivery and your messages. What are you noticing?

Scrutinize your video from the interviewer's perspective. Is this the way you want to come across? What conclusions would they draw?

What do you notice about how you appear or sound? Are you smiling at the right times? Do you look interested? How is your voice, your posture, other gestures? Eye contact? Do the words feel and sound good to you? What do you need to change?

Continue refining your message and your delivery, and adapt as you need.

Practicing your interview delivery will take more time and energy. It is time well spent. You'll feel more confident, and you'll help the interviewer know far more about the amazing young adult sitting in front of them than just the answers to your questions ever would.

What Every Employer Wants: Achievement Or Experience?

IP is over the quota
IP is over the quota

At a time when the job market is experiencing its most toughest period for a generation, speaking from a jobhunter's perspective, it is in these times that you need to ask yourself or you should be asking yourself 'what is most important to an employer?'. Well to kick off, worth considering that every employer or business has two main functions, and I was recently reminded of this fact by a successful internet entrepreneur friend of mine. A business in its simplistic state is primarily there to make money while reducing as much cost. And so what side of the coin are you on? Worth thinking about before your next interview perhaps.

However, the main point behind this article is that in a week when one of the largest and most valuable companies in the world, Facebook, current value of $100 billion dollars, achieved in less than 10 years! Has now just made a purchase of $1 billion dollars for a relatively unknown silicon valley startup, called Instagram, founded in October 2010, less than two years ago, by two Stanford University graduates, it does beg the question what is mostly wanted by employers: achievement or experience?. In short, I would say both, but that is a kind of sitting on the fence stance, and so if I had to make a choice between the two, I would say 'achievement' gets the nodge slightly ahead of experience.

Indeed, if I was recruiting a candidate for a job, which I have had to do in the past, I would want someone who has good experience but coupled with achievements, as opposed to someone who just simply had lots of years of experience. The 16th century french essayist, Michel de Montaigne said 'The value of life lies not in the length of days, but in the use you make of them'. Similarly, if I had the choice of two surgeons, one with 20 years experience and the other with 5 years experience coupled with the successful carrying out of 10 heart surgeries, I know which one I would go for.

Reading the story behind the dramatic rise of Instagram, the photo sharing app which allows users to upload and share their personal pictures online, and the instant fortune it has given to the founders as well as investors who got in early on, shows the significance and impact highlighting your achievements on your CV or in conversation with a prospective employer could have on your chances of finding work. Now, you may not be in line for a windfall of ?250 million pounds as the founder of Instagram, Kevin Systrom, 27, is about to earn from his idea, but nonetheless, this mindset of focusing on achievements can certainly go a long way to helping you land your dream job.

Strengths Profiles Can Enhance Your Job Search

IP is over the quota
IP is over the quota

A lot of people are stuck in their job search today. If you find yourself there, rest assured you're not alone. Most successful job searches consist of at least 4 steps including strengths assessment, industry research and targeting, resume building and interviewing. A good psychometric profile can help with each of these steps, even if it just helps you discover where your biggest challenge is and get some help.

There are a number of terrific strengths profiles available today. The DISC Profile may be the most used strengths indicator by businesses world-wide. Close behind, might be Myers-Briggs and Strengths-finder, which was developed by the Gallup Organization a little over a decade ago. I like Stand Out, a new instrument developed by the Marcus Buckingham Company as well. Values Index is another that may add some helpful insight. Each of these instruments can be very useful.

The first way a profile or strengths indicator may help is in identifying the best potential job match. Even if you're at the place of being willing to take a job doing anything, you'll be better off in the long run if you have a clear idea what your natural talents and non-talents are and how they match up with specific positions. While not fool proof, most of the mentioned profiles can be useful when debriefed with a skilled job coach that is familiar with the specific instrument.

For example, sales work is potentially a good match for those scoring high in the "I" dimension on DISC. High "Extraversion" on Myers-Briggs, "Woo" on Strengthsfinder and "Influencer" on Stand Out might point in a similar direction. A high score on the "Economic" dimension in the Values Index might be a natural fit for commissioned sales work where there is no ceiling on income.

Can you be successful in sales without these attributes or traits? Perhaps, but sales usually involves meeting a lot of new people. If you find this activity draining or even terrifying, it might become a barrier to both job success and satisfaction.

The second way a strengths profile can be helpful is to suggest specific steps in the job search process itself that might prove either natural or very challenging. As I said earlier in the article, most job searches include at least 4 steps including strengths clarification, industry research and targeting, resume writing and interviewing.

If you scored high in "Input" on the Strengthsfinder Profile researching potential industries and companies to target will probably come easy for you. A high score on the "C" dimension in DISC will probably indicate the same. The Myers-Briggs "ISTJ's" and "INTJ's" are often the best researchers while the "Connectors" in Stand Out should excel at this job search activity.

If you do find yourself to be challenged in a particular step of the job search, it might be helpful to get extra coaching, training or practice with that step. In some cases you might even want to find someone to do most of that step for you. Most job searchers find that at least one of the steps forces them to work from a non-talent.

The third way a strengths profile could help is with interview strategies. All of the profiles I mentioned will help you understand other people better and that's a very useful thing on a job interview. Most people communicate easiest with those who possess a similar style. Matching pace, detail and warmth or expressiveness can really help build rapport.

DISC may prove the most useful on this job search step because at an introductory level everyone fits into just 4 types. That makes it easier to get your mind around and use it in an interview. The 4 Types are "D" for Directing or Dominance. "I" for Interacting or Influence. "S" for Steady or Stable. And "C" for Careful or Conscientious.

Behaviorally, High "I's" and High "D's" usually prefer shorter answers with less detail and a faster pace. If your interview is a dominant "S" or "C" they will tend to talk slower and give you more details. This is an invitation to do the same.

High "D's" and High "C's" tend to be cooler and less emotive. High "I's" and "S's" tend to be warm and friendly. Just knowing this can help you avoid fear, discouragement or offense when interviewing with a cooler type.

For most people this can be a lot to remember in an interview. But if you can just remember to match the interviewers rate of speech, that can help your chances of building rapport and getting the job.

For more information or help with a job search or career development go to: http://www.thestrengthspathcareer.com/ or http://www.thestrengthspath.com/