Interviewing Techniques Not Taught to College Graduates

At first, interviewing can seem hard and intimidating. Don't fret. There is no reason to be intimidated when interviewing. You are interviewing the interviewee as much as he or she is interviewing you. If you are passionate about the particular industry in which you are interviewing, you'll love working there and it will show in the interview.

However, if you are not too passionate about the job, that will show too. Though, this is a good thing. If you are not 100% into the position, you won't be successful. Nobody can. This should be rule #1 during the job hunt. If you are having trouble finding work, do not take a corporate job until you find something better. If you do, potential employers will find it odd that you want to leave your job so quickly and they should. Most importantly, you won't be happy. This is not a "I'll come to love" situation either.

With that being said, here are some tips which your competition is currently not doing:

1. Come to the interview with three sheets of paper. Every sheet should have your college logo and a logo of the company in which you are interviewing with. The contents should be as follows:

Document 1: Do a 1 page write-up of the history of the company. Make this entirely factual. No opinions. At the top of the page, write "I always like to know the company with whom I am interviewing with."

Document 2: List the 10 most important things you learned in college. Be brief, but reference the class and professor you picked this up from. They should be listed in bullet points, no paragraphs. Again, corporate and university logo goes on the page.

Document 3: Write down the skills you hope to learn while at the firm. Again, no opinions such as "this firm is great." Be honest and write what you want to learn from this job. Title this, "What I want to get out of my career both professionally and personally. " Bullet points and college / company tags are included as well.

2. If you don't know the answer to something. Be forward and say, "If you don't mind, I feel as if I don't know enough on the subject, however if you will allow me to email you after I've thought about the questions, I'd really appreciate it." Make sure you follow up with the actual answer via email.

3. When the interviewer does the "do you have any questions?" bit, you say the following, "Before I ask any questions, I just want to make it clear that I am looking for a career not a job." This is music to an employer's ears.

4. What questions should I ask the interviewer?

Question 1: "What type of person is going to be most successful in this position?"

Question 2: "What intrigued you about my resume?"

Question 3: "Both professionally and personally, how would you describe ____________ (CEOs name)?"

Question 4: "From my research (and use hoovers.com) the company did x amount of revenue an y amount of profit, what are your current goals?"

Question 5: "What actions can I take to convince you that I am right for this job?"

5. Two sayings which you should slip in during the interview.

"I do want to make it clear that I am not interviewing for just any and every job."

"I know many people will ask you for hard numbers, but I'm not as concerned with the salary. I am more concerned as to where I can go with this organization."

6. Closing statement:

"I want to thank you for the interview. Knowing you are interviewing a good amount of candidates, I can't beat them in every area. However, where I lack, I offer enthusiasm, a willingness to learn and hard work.

My closing statement: I don't want you to remember this document. I want you to remember the concepts. Speak with conviction and passion. If you remember it, these techniques won't work. Also, to reiterate what I mentioned before, I beg of you to not to not to take a corporate job which you are not passionate about. Nothing good will come of it.