Once upon a time when jobs were plentiful and human resources people were clamoring for talent, it seemed employment candidates were less concerned with their appearance and the impression they made. Thi9s was maybe not as true with senior executives who by nature understand the importance of that first few seconds of engagement, but IT types, creative types, and others just didn’t seem to care as much. They were good at what they did, went the common ethic, so who really cares what they look like and how they behaved?
But oh my how times have changed. Nothing like an economic meltdown to remind employment candidates there is a whole lot of competition for all too few jobs. Making a good impression is not only the smart thing to do, it’s vital. All right, so now you have to admit it, your mother and your sixth grade schoolteacher were right about making an impression. You have to look good,and smell good. To some this is more obvious than to others,I’m afraid. You have to be engaging and express confidence without being cocky about it.
Karl Rozemeyer wrote an interesting article in The Ladder. He takes the combined advice of Broadway actor, John Treacy Egan and Acting Coach, Jodie Bentley and provides tips on how to behave at a job interview. Some of it may be obvious, but some of it is less so. In all, these tips serve well to galvanize your thoughts and capabilities so that you can make the best presentation possible. They talk about poses and postures, nervous behavior, keeping your feet on the floor, and a whole bunch of other things that will assist you in making a better impression at your job interview.
Of course, all this is wonderful and much of the advice will not only give you the competitive edge, but it may help you surmount obstacles caused by shortcoming in skills sets. Everybody wants to work with someone they like. But always bear in mind that few people will work with people who have issues on their background checks. If the HR preemployment screening program turns up negative or questionable information, regarding your background history, then all the charm in the world may not get you the job. You can wear the nicest clothes, have your hair just so, but if you lie about your education verification or fail to state you have a criminal record in your background, then most employers will end it right there.
Employers now may want to monitor your social network pages, so make sure you do not have derogatory information about past employers or bosses. Don’t w rite anything who display pictures that you may later regret. And if you do have a criminal record, than admit it up front. There are a fair number of employers who will overlook past indiscretions, provided you have cleaned up your act and have demonstrated behavior suitable to their company culture. But lie, and you are done for. A company conducting background checks as part of its preemployment screening program will turn up those little tidbits, being a little College intercession shoplifting where you picked up those sunglasses or tanning lotion totally by mistake and were convicted, anyway, or the time you went gun in hand into the grocery store and demanded the money, all as a prank. As least that’s what you told them right up until they shipped you out to jail.
Violence in the workplace, isn’t tolerated. Any criminal history of violence, and chances are you won’t be one of the finalists. Jobs are too hard to come by, and no employer wants to risk a violent outburst.
But if you are like most employment candidates, relatively sane, a true college graduate, with no real issues, a nice small and an engaging personality, you will have the competitive edge. Follow the advice in Karl Rozemeyer’s article. It may make all the difference.
One reply on “Making a Good Impression at Job Interviews”
Merely want to say your article is as tonishing. The clearness in your post is simply impressive and i can take for granted you are an expert on this subject. Well with your permission allow me to grab your rss feed to keep up to date with future post. Thanks a million and please keep up the gratifying work