While a good resume and cover letter can open the door to a job opportunity, a strong interview is often the most significant step in the hiring process. Job seekers that truly desire to land a job should move beyond interview basics, such as dressing professionally and arriving early for an interview, to implementing techniques that will set them apart from other applicants.
Here are 5 ways you can make a lasting positive impression at a job interview:
1.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Refer to your resume and cover letter&nbsp;&ndash; Most employers receive numerous resumes and cover letters for job openings. While they may have selected you for an interview, this doesn&rsquo;t mean they will remember everything about you. Use the interview as a time to refer to information on your resume, such as work history or major accomplishments, to help refresh interviewers&rsquo; memories. Then elaborate on a few of your more significant roles and achievements, even explaining how these experiences relate to the job for which you&rsquo;re interviewing.
2.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Do your research and apply it&nbsp;&ndash; While it&rsquo;s important to conduct research about an employer to understand their history, successes and challenges, doing the research and talking about the information you learned is simply a first step in ensuring interview success. It&rsquo;s even more important for you to demonstrate that you can apply that research. For example, if you&rsquo;ve found that the employer is experiencing a consistent problem, come up with ideas for how you&rsquo;d plan to solve it. Perhaps they&rsquo;ve released a new service or product. Share how you&rsquo;d market it or improve existing services. Ultimately the goal is to show that you&rsquo;ve already considered how you can make a difference as an employee.
3.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Prepare questions and answers&nbsp;&ndash; The interview is the time for both you and an employer to determine if you are a good match for one another. As the job seeker, this means you should be prepared with both questions and answers to demonstrate your interest in the position and how much you fit the role. Ask very specific, meaningful questions relating to things discussed in the interview. You can also ask about articles you&rsquo;ve read about the employer or industry insights, as this is another way to demonstrate that you&rsquo;ve done your research.
In addition to developing questions to ask the employer, prepare answers to common interview questions. This will help develop your confidence and eliminate silence or long pauses during the interview. While interviewers may not ask the exact questions you prepare answers for, it&rsquo;s likely you can apply the answers you&rsquo;ve prepared to similar questions they ask.
4.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Decide if and how you&rsquo;ll disclose a disability&nbsp;&ndash; If you have a disability, discussing it during the hiring process or after being employed is a personal choice and is not a required. However, it can be beneficial if sharing details about your disability would help a potential employer make reasonable accommodations to improve the hiring process or help you better perform the job functions. Remember that you can disclose a disability at any time, even during an interview. If sharing during an interview, it&rsquo;s important to also remain focused on demonstrating how you are qualified to perform the essential job requirements.
5.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Don&rsquo;t forget to say thank you&nbsp;&ndash; Offering appreciation at the end of an interview isn&rsquo;t enough to help you make a lasting impression with an employer. Sending a &ldquo;thank you&rdquo; shortly after is a great way to show your continued interest in a position and even to address or follow-up on matters from the interview. For example, if you&rsquo;ve thought more about a question that you didn&rsquo;t have a strong answer for during the interview, share your answer in the thank you note. Or, simply reiterate why you feel you are the ideal fit for the position. Although written notes are not very common, sending both an email immediately following the interview and a written note in the mail soon after will certainly set you apart from other applicants.
Making a lasting impression at an interview takes preparation and practice but implementing these tips can definitely help you land the job you desire. For more tips on how to make a lasting impression at a job interview,&nbsp;contact the CareerCircle team.
Contributions to this blog were made by Andra&eacute;a LaVant of Solutions Marketing Group.&nbsp;

Stand out in job interviews with these 5 tips to make a lasting impression and boost your chances of success.

5 Ways You Can Make a Lasting Positive Impression at a Job Interview

Just as it is important to prepare for an in-person interview and/or career fair, it is also important for job seekers to prepare for online career fairs. Online career fair interviews are generally conducted within a short timeframe, which means job seekers must quickly make positive impressions with prospective employers.
Here are some top tips to help you prepare for an online career fair interview:
1. Update Your Resume&nbsp;&ndash; Ensure that your resume is easy-to-read, concise, and up-to-date with recent employment experience and added skills and activities. Additionally, have an electronic version ready to submit to recruiters (in PDF form to avoid digital re-formatting concerns).
2. Research the Companies&nbsp;&ndash; Prior to the career fair, access the list of employers and research to determine which interest you. Learn as much as you can about these companies and their open job positions, including accessing their websites and social media. Think of questions you&rsquo;ll want to ask and the skills you have that align with the companies and the open positions. This will save valuable interview time and help you appear better prepared.
3. Create a Calendar Reminder&nbsp;&ndash; Sometimes when you don&rsquo;t have to travel anywhere, an online event can slip your mind. Set multiple calendar reminders, both days and hours before the event begins. Keep in mind any differences in time zone and adjust accordingly. You can attend our career expo on any device with an internet connection, including your smart phone.
4. Prepare Your Pitch &ndash;&nbsp;Your elevator pitch is important, so spend time determining how you will introduce yourself. Try to include your education, skills, and future goals. This should still be short and to the point, addressing the job you are seeking, why you would be a good fit, and how hiring you would benefit the company.&nbsp;&nbsp;
5. Dress Professionally&nbsp;&ndash; Although recruiters won&rsquo;t be able to see you, dressing as though you are in a live interview will help boost your confidence and help you focus.
6. Test Your Technology and Environment&nbsp;&ndash; In addition to preparing your resume, ensure your Internet connection is functioning properly and that the environment is distraction-free. This means trying out the exact location you plan to be for the interview.
7. Drop Off Resumes and Leave a Note&nbsp;&ndash; If &ldquo;lines&rdquo; become long, we provide an option to drop off your resume and leave a note for a company. Take advantage of this feature and make sure you use your elevator pitch as part of the note. All notes and resumes are provided to the employers at the end of the event.
8. Request Next Steps and Contact Information&nbsp;&ndash; As you conclude your interview, ask about next steps in the process and how you can stay in touch. Some companies do have policies about providing their individual information, so don&rsquo;t be offended if they cannot share it with you.
9. Send a Thank You&nbsp;&ndash; If a recruiter does provide you with contact information, or you&rsquo;re able to find it online, be sure to follow-up as soon as possible with a thank you note/email to express your gratitude and further express your interest. This also serves as a good time to remind the recruiter about who you are and your qualifications, as recruiters meet many candidates at online career events. Even if a job is not currently open, a thank you note is usually remembered and noted with your information.
Contributions to this blog were made by Andra&eacute;a LaVant of Solutions Marketing Group.&nbsp;

Prepare for online career fairs with these top tips: update your resume, research companies, and test your tech.

How Job Seekers Can Prepare for an Online Career Fair

From virtual workplaces to gig work to robots, the past decade has seen major shifts in the world of work. With these shifts, the skills employers once valued in their employees have also evolved.
While education and training continue to play a critical role in helping job seekers land their dream jobs, most recent research shows that&nbsp;<a href="https://www.investopedia.com/terms/h/hard-skills.asp" rel="noopener" target="_blank">hard skills</a>&nbsp;may not be the primary skills needed to help you land or keep a job in this new decade. In fact, a recent LinkedIn&nbsp;<a href="https://news.linkedin.com/2019/January/linkedin-releases-2019-global-talent-trends-report" rel="noopener" target="_blank">survey</a>&nbsp;shares that 92% of talent professionals and hiring managers believe strong&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nationalsoftskills.org/">soft skills</a>&nbsp;can help you stand out from the crowd (see our post,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.careercircle.com/blog/post/7-essential-soft-skills-for-getting-and-keeping-a" rel="follow">7 Essential Soft-Skills for Getting and Keeping a Job</a>).
No matter whether you&rsquo;re in a job you love or currently pursuing new opportunities, here are 9 essential job skills that will help you excel:
<ol>
<li>Creativity&nbsp;&ndash; Every day new technologies and ideas emerge that allow employers to deliver new products and services. Employers want people who can take these new things and come up with creative ways to help increase productivity and profitability.</li>
<li>Flexibility&nbsp;&ndash; Today&rsquo;s employers deeply value employees&rsquo; willingness to quickly shift and try new ideas and ways of doing things. With rapid advancements and constant access to information, strategies and systems that work one day may not work the next day. Employees who succeed are able and willing to shift focus and learn new skills swiftly and without complaint.</li>
<li>Critical Thinking&nbsp;&ndash; With access to so much information, successful employees must be able to make logical, well-thought out judgements. Rather than accepting everything you see or hear, it&rsquo;s important to ask questions and think through arguments before developing conclusions about any work-related matters.</li>
<li>Leadership Ability&nbsp;&ndash; Leadership doesn&rsquo;t just apply to high-level executives. Employers want employees that take initiative and make decisions that benefit others. Whether it&rsquo;s motivating your team, supporting co-workers, being a role model, or even displaying self-confidence, consider your leadership ability and seek out opportunities to strengthen areas where you need to grow.</li>
<li>Problem-Solving&nbsp;&ndash; Technology can&rsquo;t resolve every problem. In fact, for the many problems that technology solves, often even greater needs for solutions arise. This means employers need employees that can help them think through issues and come up with ways to address them.</li>
<li>Cultural Intelligence&nbsp;&ndash; More and more employers are making diversity and inclusion a top priority in their hiring strategies. This means employees must be willing to embrace differences regarding race, religion, age, gender, sexual orientation and disability.</li>
<li>Collaboration (includes Virtual Collaboration)&nbsp;&ndash; Today&rsquo;s workplace requires employees to interact and work together consistently. Also, with continual transitions to virtual workspaces, employers are looking for people who can not only work together in-person in physical offices, but who can also be productive and engage with others as a member of a virtual team.</li>
<li>Tech Savviness&nbsp;&ndash; These days, there are very few jobs that don&rsquo;t require technical skills. Job seekers and employees must not only be aware of existing technology, but must also be continually open to learning how to use new equipment and systems. </li>
<li>New Media Literacy&nbsp;&ndash; In addition to knowing about technology overall, employers also value employees&rsquo; ability to assess and develop content that can be used across existing and emerging media forms (i.e. social media). They want employees that can create content that drives positive business outcomes, which includes increasing profits.</li>
</ol>
&nbsp;
If you&rsquo;re a job seeker with a disability, it&rsquo;s likely that you employ a lot of the job skills mentioned more often than you think. Consider how you manage your day-to-day experiences and how these can be presented as forms of creativity, flexibility, problem-solving and more to potential employers.
Are you a job seeker with a disability looking to land your dream job? Let us help! Reach out to the CareerCircle team for resources and assistance.
Contributions to this blog were made by&nbsp;<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/andraealavant/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Andra&eacute;a LaVant&nbsp;</a>of LaVant Consulting, Inc.

Discover the 9 essential job skills for the modern workplace, from creativity to tech savviness, and excel in your career.

9 Essential Job Skills to Help You Excel

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142 Articles

5 Ways You Can Make a Lasting Positive Impression at a Job Interview

How Job Seekers Can Prepare for an Online Career Fair

9 Essential Job Skills to Help You Excel