4 Ways to Charm an Interviewer

by Ken Sundheim on December 28, 2011

If someone were to ask me, “What are some things that interviewers want to see or hear from interviewees?”, then I could probably go on all day.

In the interest of brevity and not overwhelming you, here are four.

1. Passion – Passion cannot be faked. Any good interviewer is not only going to want to see interest in their company, but interest in their industry from this person they are interviewing.

For instance, and this may seem like a no-brainer, if you are interviewing for a sales job at a television network, don’t tell your interviewer about your lifelong ambition to be a news anchor.

You should be there auditioning for an on-air role, in that case, not interviewing for a sales position, and the interviewer is completely without fault not to offer you the job, even if you have great sales credentials.

2. Never Be Complacent – This is a crucial one. You must never be complacent, and never allow yourself to be okay with some negative status quo, even if you feel powerless against it.

A good current example is the unemployment level. It is true that the unemployment rate is sky-high right now, and that a lot of good employees are out of work.

But interviewing and getting a job is a fight; however, the more educated and the more prepared you are, the better you are going to do in battle, so to speak. You can never allow yourself to get complacent or dragged down by external forces (e.g., the unemployment level).

3. Guide Your Interviewer – Your resume should serve as your interviewer’s road map. What you have in a resume is an anticipation of questions that will be asked of you in an interview.

Now, you can’t anticipate all questions, but if you write your resume properly, you can essentially prepare for the questions that are going to be asked of you, and set them up to where you look good.

You don’t always have to tell someone you went to community college if you went on to graduate from a 4-year college, for instance. If you know you are going in to interview at a firm that prizes the cache of higher education, thinking about that fact can help put you one step closer to a successful interview.

4. People Are People – Understand that the person you are interviewing with is only a human being. They’re not perfect, they’re not magical, but a lot of people go in and put interviewers on such a pedestal that they end up getting an offer that’s so bad they’re not treated well once they get the job – if they get the job at all.

You want to analyze how interviewers think, how HR professionals think, and use that analysis to get the job you want, the job you’re passionate about, and not the job you’re willing to settle for.

4 Ways to Charm an Interviewer Ken Sundheim CEO of KAS Placement

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