You've probably heard the maxim oft repeated by realtors that the three things that count the most when selling a house are location, location, and location. Haldane Advisors share a similar maxim with their clients. Indeed, the three things that count the most when selling yourself in a job interview is preparation, preparation, and more preparation. The homeowner can't change the location of his or her house to make it more marketable, but you can do everything to make yourself more marketable in a job interview.
Preparing for job interviews is some of the hardest work you will ever do. But the payoff—not just a job offer—but the right job for you, is your reward. And what happens if you don't prepare adequately for your job interviews? You don't get the job offer? Probably not getting the job offer is one result, but that's just for starters. The negative ramifications are far more numerous and pervasive than just not being offered the job. In addition:
- You waste your time going to the interview
- You waste the interviewer's time.
- You nullify any likelihood of being considered for any other position at a later time by this interviewer or this company.
- You create a situation in which negative comments about your interview (translate: negative comments about your skills, knowledge and abilities) are networked to other employers who may be of interest to you in the future.
So the truth is that you cannot afford to take shortcuts on any of the steps necessary to prepare for each and every job interview. If the interview is not worth enough to you to put in the necessary time to prepare adequately, then the job is not worth getting. If the job is not worth getting, why waste your time and the interviewer's?
Preparation will be a frequent theme running through this entire book. For if you are well prepared in every aspect of "interview readiness" you are at least 90 percent of the way to getting a job offer before you even leave home! Even though it is the actual interview that most people are apprehensive about, your hardest work is done prior to the interview. From preparing examples of effectiveness, anticipating questions the interviewer is likely to ask you, preparing questions you want to ask the interviewer, to preparing your interview image—these are just a few of the areas in which you need to be well prepared. If you have prepared thoroughly, you can walk into your interview relatively calm and completely confident. Just as the most important work a basketball player does is before he runs onto the court or a concert violinist's hardest work is prior to walking onto the stage, the most important part of your winning the job offer is done before you walk into the interview!
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