The 3 Things Every Employer Wants
Can you do the job?
A lot of this has been worked out during the ‘CV sift’. If you demonstrated your ability to do the job as part of your application and are called for an interview, you’re half way to answering question 1. But not having all the right skills is not necessarily a show stopper. Aptitude trumps experience, because questions 2 and 3 are way more important.
Do you want to do the job?
This is a two part question. Do you want to do this job? For this company? No-one ever got hired because they’d applied for every job in town. There are no extra points given for desperation, quantity of applications or length of time looking. What gets you ahead is a passion for this job and a genuine knowledge and interest in working for this organisation. Make sure you do your homework!
Can they tolerate you?
Although this is question number 3, in terms of priority, this is top of the heap. Being the right person for the team – or for the company as a whole – is the key ingredient to acing the interview. Does that mean you have to look a certain way? Have a special (secret) handshake? Or wear a particular brand of shoes or suit? Not at all. You need to come across as easy to work with: Flexible; Kind; Friendly; Helpful; Interested; Happy. If you’re unsure how to ‘be’, think of your perfect work colleague. Visualise their personality. Their temperament. Now model some of their traits.
Disclaimer: this is where I point out that faking it to get that job is pointless. If you are a square peg, you will be desperately unhappy (and unsuited) to a round hole job. Much as you could ace that interview, ask yourself; for 8 hours a day, 220 days per year, for the next 4(?) years…. do I want it?
