7 Things You Should Always Do

Hi, I’m Jack Dunigan of thepracticalleader.com, and this is our YouTube channel lessons in superlative leadership. We’re in the middle of a series on how to get that job that you want and the things you need to do. In this episode we’re going to learn the seven things you should always do at your job interview. Let’s take a look.

Well let’s go over what we’ve covered in this series so far. If you’re just joining this series with this episode then I encourage you to go back on my YouTube channel, which is probably where you’re seeing this, you might see it on our website at thepracticalleader.com, or you might even encounter on our Facebook page, but if that’s the case you can get all the previous episodes in this series at www.thepracticalleader.com, click on the tab in the menu that says job interview and that will take you right to the resource of all of the episodes we have recorded so far and the transcripts. So take a look.

Here’s what we’ve done.

• We’ve talked about how that finding a job is full of ups and downs. I wish that it wasn’t, but it is. There’s opportunity, there’s failure, there’s hope and then sometimes there is a dashing of that hope. But you will get the job that you want, it’ just a matter of working the system and getting everything ready so that you make the best impression on your boss that you can.
• Which brings us to this and why you need to research the company, that was the second episode in this series.
• Third how to plan to make an outstanding first impression, and that’s the next thing that you need to do and you don’t want to leave it to chance, you need to plan, this is a performance. Perhaps the performance of your life to get the job that you want, so you need to plan this audition from start to finish so that you make an outstanding first impression.
• Number four, how that your social media accounts are your real life resume. In that episode I went into detail on how companies that you’re working for, if you sent them a resume at a time, have checked your social media accounts, they’re looking for something and that episode will tell you what they’re looking for and what you need to have there.
• And that’s followed up with what you need to do to make sure your social media accounts don’t sink your chances of getting the job that you want. You want to make sure that you clean those things up really well, because it is your real-life resume, and in that episode I tell you how to do that.

So in this episode today we’re going to talk about the seven things you should always do at your job interview.

Number one, be prepared. That means don’t wing it. Don’t just hope that it goes well. But looking at the episodes that I’ve gone through so far, and the ones that are yet to remain, we are showing you how you shouldn’t wing it, you need to be ready to answer any question, and you need to be ready to justify and to promote yourself as the right person for the job. Do your research. You can be certain that your potential employer has done theirs about you. You want to do your research about the company, and we talk about the questions you can ask in a future episode, and your research will show you what some of those questions could be. And you need to prepare examples of how you will answer questions, as much as possible you never want to answer a question from a job interview with simple yes or no, you want to be able to explain, elaborate, to intensify the reason why you’re the right person for the job. Number one thing you’re going to do at a job interview, be prepared.

Number two, listen attentively.

• Okay, leave your phone in the car. Don’t bring it in with you, it is too distracting even if you put it on vibrate tendency to try and look at it and check it is a major failing among particularly young people. Leave the phone in the car and
• Pay attention to what the interviewer is saying, pay attention to what the interviewer is doing, pay attention to what’s going on around you, listen attentively.
• Don’t start thinking about what you want to say or how you respond while the interviewer is speaking, that causes the mind to begin to drift and you will almost certainly miss something important that you should have been paying attention to if you were listening attentively.
• And finally, focus. Do everything you can to pay close attention, look at the interviewer, watch what they’re doing, look at their face, look at their eyes, pay attention, focus in on what’s going on right there at that point in time.

Number three, be yourself. We advocate, and we have some material we’re going to be offering to you here in just another week that will help you really, really, really, really prepare. One of the main reasons why we think you should prepare is so that you can be natural in what you’re doing, you don’t want to sound rehearsed, you don’t want to sound like you’ve memorized the script somewhere. You may have memorized certain things, but you don’t want to sound that way, you want to sound natural and comfortable in your surroundings. Because preparation and practice add confidence and poise to your presentation, and you want to look like you’re a person of confidence even if you’re terrified, even if you’re nervous, even if you’re worried, you don’t want to portray that, you want to portray that you are a person of poise and confidence.

Number four, ask appropriate questions. Prepare a list ahead of time. Now, don’t worry, in the materials that we’re going to make available to you in another week or so, and in future episodes we’re going to help a little bit on this. But in the materials we’re going to have a good, good preparation for you of questions that you would ask ahead of time. You want to make sure that you’re ready to ask at least one question, so preparing a list ahead of time will help you do that. Do not ask about wage or salary or benefits at the first job interview, if they call you back for a subsequent interview that would be more appropriate, but do not ask about those things at the first one. I know you want to know, I sat on job interviews I wanted to know, but it’s just not appropriate to ask those questions at the first job interview. Ask questions that will frame the reasons why you are the right fit for the company, don’t worry we will elaborate on this soon.

Number five, find out what the next step is once the interview is concluded. Always ask what’s the next step? So, you’re done with the interview, the interviewer is thanking you for coming and maybe they don’t say anything, it’s quite appropriate, this question is very appropriate, what’s the next step? You want to know what they’re going to do. Do they have more people to interview, will they be calling people back, will they be notifying everyone, and probably not by the way, will they be notifying only those that have made it to the next round of interviews, which is most likely the case, but ask what is the next step in this process of finding this job. Listen closely to the answer so that you can know what to do, because it’s going to reveal to you how and when you should follow up, and you should indeed follow up.

Number six, always say thank you. Say thank you right there because it shows respect, appreciate the time that they have given you for the interview, it shows appreciation for the opportunity to interview for this particular job, it shows that you are a polite person, it shows that you have the right attitude for working for that company, and truly great people are truly grateful people. Let me read that again, truly great people are truly grateful people.

And finally number seven, always follow up. The interview is not over when it ends. I like to stay in touch and follow up with you in a week or two, I want to see how the process is going, where I stand in this, how do you prefer that I communicate with you, by email or by phone, and do that. If they say email, don’t phone them, if they say phone, don’t email them. Do exactly what they say, and then if it is by email send a personalized thank you letter for each person that you meet, do not send a generic letter. I attended a writers group meeting this past weekend. It was my first time being there in about eight years and in a long time, and I signed in as a new person, which is what they said I should do since I hadn’t been there a long time, and had a good meeting. It was really well done, nicely run. The next day I got an email from the group president and you could tell it was a generic letter because there was a blank spot for them to put in when the next meeting is, and it was blank, they hadn’t gone through and followed up. So I know you think you’re going to use a form letter, but unless you are really careful and really diligent, and really pay attention to detail, the opportunity for error is so great I do not recommend form letters. Compose a personalized thank you letter for each person that you meet. Now, if that is done by email that’s fine, if not, try and find the mailing address for the company and the person that you meet with, their mailing address should be available somewhere, and then send a snail mail, send a letter to them as a demonstration of your appreciation.

Alright, so let’s talk about now, let’s look at this list once again, the seven things you should always do at your job interview.

1. Number one, be prepared.
2. Number two, listen attentively.
3. Number three, be yourself.
4. Number four, ask appropriate questions.
5. Number five, find out the next step.
6. Number six, always say thank you.
7. Number seven, always follow up.

Listen, I appreciate hearing from you, leave your comments in the space below, take a look at our website thepracticalleader.com. In the next episode in the things you need to do to get that job that you want is next week. We’ll talk to you then.