1. Staying Power
We explored the impact of staying power in a story here and it cannot be overstated how important it is to be able to demonstrate a consistent career history; especially for senior level positions.
Employers invest a lot of time and money in their staff and won’t want to make that investment if they fear you will leave after 18 months.
If your CV shows that you have
a good solid track record of staying with an employer for a considerable length
of time you will get your first tick from potential employers.
2. Clarity
Employers love people that are
clear about what they want.
Speaking to an applicant that
can tell you clearly what they are looking for in a company and a job is
reassuring and makes decisions easier.
Someone that is clear about what they want is likely to stay with the
company longer (assuming that the company provides what they want).
When someone is not clear
about that they want it does not inspire confidence.
As part of our Dream Career
Project we developed an exercise that will help you get clear about what you
want in your career. You can access it
here.
3.
Preparation
It follows that people that
are clear about what they want are also well prepared candidates.
Well prepared candidates
generally perform well at interview stage because they have a clear picture in
their mind of how they want things to go.
They research the company and the people that will interview them, they
know how they will answer certain questions and the questions that they will
ask themselves.
Good preparation demonstrates
commitment to the opportunity and shows employers a sense of control and
professionalism.
4.
Honesty
This does not mean not lying!
In a sense it means showing
your human side during an interview.
Employers are not expecting you to be perfect and they are not looking
to “trip you up”. They are looking at your
weaknesses but more than that they are looking at how you respond to the challenges
they present.
A good honest discussion about how you deal with a certain weakness
gets the conversation on an emotional level and allows them to really connect
with you.
If you choose to gloss over
something (i.e. being dishonest!) you are missing the opportunity to make that
connection.
5.
Gratitude
Repeat after me “Thank you for
the opportunity, I enjoyed meeting with you today”.
Employers are giving up their
time to interview you and they are people too.
The least you can do is thank them, it will go a long way.
In reality most people are grateful but some get caught up in the moment and forget to properly thank the interviewers. A simple but potentially costly mistake to make, don’t make it!