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April 20, 2011
Mastering That Interview
 Landing a job interview isn’t as easy as it used to be. But once you’re there, you know you’ve got limited time to make an impression. Besides donning your best suit and bringing your latest resume, how do you prepare?
“Be ready to discuss your thoughts and what you would do [if you got the position],” says Kate Benson, managing director at research and investigating firm Martens & Heads. “Don’t be afraid to show your thinking, ideas and strategic abilities.” Benson also suggests mentioning what you bring over your competition.
Most of all, “Don’t be afraid to talk about how great you are – this is the only time you can really do that without being considered an egomaniac,” adds Benson.
But proceed with caution. “Women often wait for the interviewer to cut them off, uncertain of how much information is necessary,” says Forbes. They advise keeping answers concise and letting the interviewer speak at least 60 percent of the time.
Be honest about past mistakes. Being defensive can make you seem weak and not as open-minded. Use specific examples that highlight skills you learned from errors.
Body language can be a deal breaker. Experts suggest making eye contact and listening attentively to show you’re confident, sincere and competent.
Bonus PINK Link: Check out more tips to rock that interview in our online exclusive.
By Muriel Vega
"You have to have confidence in your ability, and then be
tough enough to follow through." Rosalynn Carter
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Comments
Overqualified? That's me.
After teaching college English classes for 13 years, I finally decided to take a break from teaching. The burnout was awful, and the pay is very low. (Teaching truly is a "helping profession" job, and so many teachers at all levels need long breaks once in a while so they can gain perspective on what they're doing and how they might improve. The pay in my area and at my schools was so low that I had no choice but to teach the entire year, with no break longer than a couple of weeks.) Teaching people to write is like teaching them to breathe; we assume everyone can write well, it should be a natural skill, but it's not. I realized a while back that I can explain the complicated and make it simple for people ages 18-70, and that I really have seen improvement in even the worst writers over a 16-week semester...and if I can do that, teach people to do what seems impossible, then I can do just about anything else, too.
I'm highly creative and can write, present, and create e-learning solutions all day long, but so far have had no bites from any prospective employers. So while I search for another non-teaching job, I'm doing a little bit of freelance commercial writing work, and finishing the novel I've been writing for four years. I may also return to graduate school in the fall for an M.S. in technical writing. I've addressed my seeming overqualifications in my cover letters, but I'm not sure whether they've even been read, or whether employers see me as a glorified secretary.
We must define and address these inequities
I began Academic Women for Equality NOW (http://awenow.org) this past March to address these issues. This web site examines a rich, longitudinal data set collected by the Association of American Medical Colleges. Our goal is to transform these data into easily understood report cards for each college of medicine reporting data. Women now make up approximately half of graduating MDs, yet lag far behind in senior and leadership positions.
The same is true in other areas of academia, and I am looking for women who want to perform similar analysis of other fields. If you are one of those women, I can be reached by email or comment via the AWEnow site. On twitter, follow @AWEnow.