Putting your best self forward
Christmas is right around the corner and I know how hectic the holiday’s can be with buying presents, family coming in and everyday life! This time can be even MORE stressful if you don’t have a job at all and you are trying to figure out how you will buy presents for all of your loved ones. So many people are unemployed and struggling to find work. I have 5 helpful hints to help you put your best YOU forward in your interview and get the job YOU want.
Presentation
Ever heard the expression, ‘Dress to impress’? Well…you need to! The way you need to dress is the way YOU would want YOUR future employee to dress if you owned a company. What’s more impressive? Nice slacks, a button up shirt, tidy hair and smelling nice. OR stained paints, wrinkled shirt, messy hair and not smelling very fresh. I think the answer is pretty clear. We all know when we wear a new outfit or an outfit we love; we feel AWESOME! We have a little more bounce in our step, we feel good and most importantly you are confident. So when picking out an outfit for your interview think to yourself:
*Would I hire ME in this outfit? Does this make me feel good about myself and help me feel confident?
NOT
* I know I have worn these pants two days in a row, they smell ok; think I can wear them again?
Speech
The way we look is important because as humans we are very visual beings. BUT how we speak is just as important because that is our main way of expressing ourselves. I have met so many wonderful people, with powerful messages but you can’t understand them because they speak too fast or don’t pronounce there words clearly. When you are in an interview you need to speak in a manner that presents yourself in the best light. Sit up straight, speak slow and clear and remember to breathe. More often than not we either get so nervous or excited that we forget to breathe. The result of this is a shaky voice, you will most likely get red and it will come off that you aren’t very sure of what you are saying. And everything your saying in an interview is about YOU so you definitely want to be sure about what you are saying.
Selling abilities
When I used to hire new employees my very first question would be “So, tell me a little bit about yourself?”. I wasn’t asking this so I could hear where they were born or what middle school they went to but more so to hear how they would sell themselves. It was rare that someone would take this opportunity to highlight positive attributes they had and skills that would be beneficial for the position they were applying for. More often than not people brought me their STRUGGLES not their success or their best.
Now, there’s nothing wrong with perhaps stating the situation you are in or maybe some obstacles you have overcome. But follow it up with success stories, skills you possess and what makes you a valuable asset to the company in which you are applying for. You could state how it’s been hard to get a job or that you really need to find something stable but follow it up with that you are hardworking, smart and a go-getter.
When you leave that interview, the boss needs to think to themselves, “How in the WORLD has this person been unemployed for so long and WHEN can they start for my company?”. If you only deliver your struggle, they will most likely think that’s why you have been unemployed because you just have too much going on and don’t put your best face forward. No one gives jobs because they feel sorry for you; make them feel THEY will be sorry if they don’t hire YOU!
Confidence
When you walk into that interview you need to EXUDE confidence. Confidence is contagious. If you walk in standing up straight, shoulders back, head held high; they will have no choice but to see how confident you are. When you think your happening, everyone else around you will too. Even if you don’t feel 100% confident, go ahead and pretend that you are. Look online or on TV at one of your idols or hero’s.
How do they stand? Are they slumped over in a Dior gown? Are they not looking people in the eye when shaking hands? Are they conducting an interview and talking down all of their skills and accomplishments?
NO WAY!
So if you aren’t feeling your confidence, fake it till you make it. Eventually your confidence will come to surface and you will be unstoppable.
You
Most importantly, bring YOU to the interview. It’s a given that you will physically be there but bring who you really are. So many people think that just because they are dressing nice and refining there speech, that they can’t be themselves. WRONG. You are the only person that can be you, so show them your personality and your spark. Don’t try and be someone else because if you get hired and you have been pretending to be someone else, you are going to adapt a multiple personality disorder. Simply, be you, because at the end of the day that’s all you can be and the only person you should be in this life.
So whether you are going on an interview or just wanting to know how to carry on in everyday life, these tips will help. Want to know how I know this? Because I use these 5 tips every single day. I make sure I am confident, looking and feeling good, speaking and presenting myself well and being my authentic self. If you try these five simple tips, I promise you won’t regret it.
Have a great week!
~Ava
Quote of the day:
“If you are not selling the real you to people you’re only selling yourself short.”
-Unknown
By Ava Wick, a contributing blogger for JenningsWire.
