Tips to Guide you Through the Face to Face Interview

Face to face interviews intimidate a lot of job seekers. It is at this point of the process where the true nerves and anxiety come into play. We stress. We stress about what we wear, what they may ask, everything. However, this entry will not take your stress away, however what it will do is take the stress and make it useful powerful energy into the process. Follow these steps to face to face interview success:

Confirmation. 24 hours prior to the interview take the time to send an: Email, Tweet, or Facebook post. Do a confirmation of meeting with the employer. Keep it brief and say something along these lines:

Dear (Name),

I wanted to take this opportunity and confirm our meeting tomorrow at (time), at your location (address). Has your schedule changed? Is there anything in addition you would like me to bring? I have prepared a set of questions for our meeting, and am anxious to review this opportunity together. If you need anything prior to tomorrow. Please call me at (number) or email me direct, here.

Thanks

A quick confirmation shows your preparedness and eagerness to move forward. By giving the employer a heads up to the fact you have questions and items you want to discuss, shows how thorough you are, and continues to plant the impressions you want to leave.

- Dress. How you dress is important. Now, each company sets a different tone. From business professional, business casual, and everything and anything in-between. Some candidates have driven to the location, to see what the employees where to get a better feel. Not a bad idea if you have the time. Error on the side of professionalism. Understand the industry you’re in, you know what people wear, however do not take business casual liberties yet, you are not an employee.

Dress in what empowers you and makes you comfortable. You will focus less on your exterior, fidget, or feeling of self-consciousness, and allow you to focus on what is important. Dress for you, not them. I don't know why this is a big bone of contention with job seekers. Just make sure it is prim, straight, clean, and pressed and you are ready. Move on to what is important.

· Words. PLEASE nothing kills the momentum more than cliché after cliché after cliché. It is frustrating. The person listening is frustrated. So when people get nervous they use bad sayings and clichés:

"I will give you 110%, I am the ultimate team player, At the end of the day, I always turn negatives into positives, I come to work with my game face on, there is no I in team, I am not going to lie to you, the truth be told, I like to work outside the box" and the list can go and on and on. Look, you don't need to be a wordsmith or linguist, however, clichés do not differentiate you from other candidates.

You must be strong and confident in the words you use. Powerful adjectives, short statements of purpose, connect the dots. Their job is NOT to know what you think. Their job is to react in the affirmative to what you are saying. Win them over. Let's look at a couple:

- Instead of Sales or Telemarketing use the phrase: Business Development.

- Instead of managing multiple locations use the phrase: Logistics Coordinator.

- Instead Secretary or Assistant use the phrase: Executive Liaison.

- Instead of Customer Service use the phrase: Customer Development & Retention.

Control. You control the tone and conversation from the moment you arrive. You are not there to hope, you are there to get. Get the job/career you desire. The stronger and more in control you are, they will be to. Remember this:

"People claim to be leaders, but most often they want to be led." Lead them. If you are applying for a position, you ask as many questions as you want. You need to discover information. You can do this without coming off as arrogant or aggressive. Just as you did in the telephone interview portion, now is the time to ratchet it up. Examples:

I am curious (name) what led to our meeting here today? Did something in particular stand out?

If you could be presented with the perfect candidate, what would that person look like?

How many people have interviewed for this opportunity? Why are you still looking?

Is there anyone else to interview with, or this the final step in the process?

I could go on for pages. However in all the instances above paints a very specific picture as to what they want and don't want in an employee. Once you have this information you can weave then or throughout the interview:

· You know (name) it reminded me of what you said in the beginning, I am certain that my background and success in Customer Development & Retention fits what you are looking for perfectly. Would you agree?

Look, remember the person will see that you are listening, and they cannot go back on what they said. Will they call themselves a liar? NO, and by getting them to agree in the affirmative that you got the skills, guess what that's right you are stacking win-win on win-win! You are in control, guiding the conversation, and getting the result you desire.

Conclusion. At the end, you have to muster the courage to now ask for what you want. That will be part five of the five-point job seeker series. Getting what you want and how you want it. See you next time. Don't forget, Get My Mom and Get My Dad a Job have launched a brand new site: www.GetMyVetaJob.com This site is for active and retired service members and their complete guide and tools to getting the job they want and need!