Interviews can be intimidating, but with the right preparation you can get great results. Here are some general tips to get you focused and ready to go!

When Interviewing:

Plan Ahead – Do your homework! Research the company online and offline and the position if possible. Review your work experiences. Be ready to support past career accomplishments with specific information targeted toward the company's needs. Have your facts ready!

Role Play – Once you have finished studying, begin role-playing (rehearsing). Get a friend or family member to interview you.

Maintain Eye Contact – Maintain eye contact with your interviewers. Show how much you want the job with your interest. Lean forward and be interested in what your interviewer has to say. Don't daydream.

Be Positive – In particular, avoid negative comments about past employers. Spin negative situations into a positive event.

Adapt – Listen and adapt. Be sensitive to the interviewer's style. Pay attention to the details: how the interviewer is dressed, the office furniture, and general décor. Paying attention now will give you helpful clues to assist you in tailoring how you present yourself.

Relate – Try to relate your answers to the interviewer, the company, and the position you are applying for. The company wants to know why they should hire you, but they don't want you to boast, relate your skills and experience to how they will benefit the company.

Encourage – Encourage the interviewer to share information about his or her company. Demonstrate your interest. Ask questions about the position, what challenges are generally encountered in that position, if advancement and interest in expanding one's skills is encouraged, etc.

One thing to keep in mind is to always be yourself. Just as embellishing a resume can get you in trouble, being someone else during an interview can set unreasonable expectations for both parties. Be the same person you would be if you were already hired and it was a year from now.

Resume Tips

• Always keep the reader of the resume in mind. Make the layout clear, concise and attractive. Separating sections with lines is most helpful.
• Don't limit yourself by making a Career Objective section. If your objective doesn't fit the open position, they won't look further at the resume. Instead, use a Career highlights section that emphasizes your strengths-feel free to bold-type certain things you want to stand out.
• List your job title before your company name. Most recruiters are looking for the roles you fulfilled rather than the companies you worked for. Make it easy for them to find.
• USE BULLETS. Recruiters have to scan hundreds of resumes. Bullets are much easier to scan through than paragraphs. There is nothing unprofessional about bullets.
• Don't mention political or religious affiliations in the Personal section. The recruiter may be turned off if they are a Democrat and you list the Young Republicans as an affiliation.
• Definitely mention hobbies or interests. If a recruiter shares one of these, they may be more drawn to your resume.
• Whenever possible, illustrate an increase in job responsibilities within a certain job. This shows you were an asset and were moving up in the company even if your job title wasn't changing.
• Include a 'significant accomplishments" section for each job. This will pop out to a recruiter as things you did above and beyond your standard duties.
• Describe your experience with action verbs (Developed. Coordinated. Worked with. Participated in..Led efforts to.) These portray a go-getter. Don't simply list the job duties for that position. The recruiter probably already knows the job duties. They want to know what made you stand out as an employee.
• For your cover letter, again use bullets, this time to highlight specific qualifications that were listed in the job posting that you have. Most cover letters aren't fully read, but the bullets will make those things stand out.
• Use only white, light gray, or cream color paper. Use the best quality paper you can find. The envelope should match the resume and cover letter perfectly.
• SPELLCHECK, SPELLCHECK, SPELLCHECK (even a slight mistake can get your resume tossed)
• Follow up with a call or email after sending a resume. If you don't have a specific name, simply call the company and ask for the person doing the hiring for the specific job. Even if you are sent to voice mail, leave a message. This shows you are efficient and interested.

We hope you find these tips helpful in your search for a great position.

Always keep in mind that each interviewer will have a different style; pay attention to the interviewer, listen keenly to the questions asked and provide to-the-point answers. It's great to be friendly but you also need to be efficient and effective with your communication.