2) Making Yourself Stick: Your 1st Impression
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Make Your First Impression Count
I have spoken with hundreds of recruiters and a majority agree that they know if they’re going to hire you within the first 5 minutes.
5 minutes is all you get!
Think about it; that’s barely enough time to get past the initial handshake, small talk, and the standard “tell me about yourself” question. Your first impression needs to WOW the interviewer so that she will want to hear the rest of what you have to say. It takes an awfully long time to erase a bad first impression, so make sure you do everything in your power to make a good one.
When a person first meets you, you want them to feel your Humble Confidence. Humble Confidence is the point where people feel you know what you’re talking about. It is when people feel your strong presence and are confident that you can do things right and take charge. However, before you cross into arrogance - which is when you give off the feeling that you’re better than everyone else - you need to add a dash of humility. You need to demonstrate that you are willing and eager to learn from the company and the person you are interviewing with. It’s all about the way you carry yourself. Speak with sincerity, truly ask and care about what the other person does, show your value by teaching them something new, and most importantly, acknowledge them when they teach you something new.
Smile
Who would you rather hang around with: a person who is always happy or a person who is always sad? Obviously it’s a no brainer, but we often forget the simplest and most intuitive things when we get nervous.
People who don’t get jobs, don’t smile.
Smiling is intuitive. We all know that we should be wearing one so that it seems like we’re having a good time. The problem is that nerves get to us, we tighten up, and our smiles fade to a very serious tone. So let me just stress the importance of smiling until you have one plastered on your face at all times while recruiting.
Smiling makes you feel personable and friendly while making your stories and interview answers much more appealing. Professionals make recruitment decisions based on their emotions, so you want to leave them a happy and friendly impression. Practice with a friend until you give off a positive and friendly feel during all of your interview answers.
The Handshake
Another standard practice that often gets overlooked. A limp handshake shows that you’re unconfident, nervous, and gives the interviewer the feeling that you would not be a good person to put in front of a client. A handshake that is too firm shows arrogance and is seen as a challenge. You want the interviewer to like you, and if you crush his hand, he’ll instantly start off disliking you.
Your handshake should be like your confidence - firm and welcoming.
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