JOB INTERVIEW ADVICE

This is for all of you who are in or are entering the job market. Imagine that you are at a job interview. After the opening handshake and greetings, your potential employer says: "Tell me about yourself."

Here's some good professional advice that I got and want to pass on to you.

Preparation: Before the interview,
* do research on the internet and elsewhere to learn as much as you can about the company you are interviewing with.
* cement into your brain the name of the person that you will be talking to so that it will be on the tip of your tongue and ready for you to use frequently as you talk to her or him.

Answering the "tell me about yourself question":

* DO NOT TELL YOUR LIFE STORY.

This is what you do:

Your answer will be two minutes long.
Prepare it and time it. Two minutes. No more.

The structure of your two minute answer:

Part 1: 15 SECONDS: State your name (the interviewer may already have forgotten it) and describe the kind of role you are seeking to fill in your next job -- not the specific job title.

Part 2: 45 SECONDS: Tell the part of your life story that highlights accomplishments that demonstrate the skills that are relevant to the company you are interviewing with.

Part 3: 45 SECONDS: Talk about the company you are interviewing with and what you admire about their mission, products, services. State what you know about how they operate and who their customers or clients are. THEN TELL THE INTERVIEWER HOW YOU CAN HELP THEM.

Part 4: 15 SECONDS: Call your interviewer by name again and conclude with an open-ended question about the company. In this way you take charge of how the conversation continues. This is better than sitting there passively waiting for the interviewer's next question.

I hope this is helpful. If you want to practice this 2-minute routine with me, I'll be happy to play the personnel officer role with you and give you feedback. Good luck.