Your Job Interview

So, you've narrowed down your list of prospective employers and sent out your resume to those companies that merge your personal interests with your long-term career goals. A few days later, an email pops up in your in-box stating that one of the companies you sent your resume to - Company X - is impressed with your background and interested in setting up a meeting.

Great! You've cleared an important hurdle before declaring yourself a bona fide employee in corporate America! Your first instinct may to run out and celebrate - get a few friends together to toast to your good fortune and the lavish prestige you expect from your new corporate lifestyle. That's exactly what you should do, but don't forget, at some point you are going to have to reply to the email and set up a time when both you and Company X's representatives can meet. This future meeting is called an INTERVIEW. This is where you engage in a face to face exchange with your potential employer so that both of you can determine whether you will fit in at Company X and whether or not an extended working relationship will serve both interests.

"Uggh," you're saying to yourself. "Do I really have to go through all that just to get a corporate job?"

The short answer is "yes." The days when landing an interview meant nudge,nudge "...we'll see you on Monday," are now a thing of the past. Due to the rapid global expansion and glamorization of cubicle-based corporate work, landing a corporate job is much more tricky than it has ever been. But don't worry!, when you're Faking Smart! you've got the edge on the competition!

"Ok," you're thinking to yourself. "Now what?"

Nothing. Don't do anything at present. Take a night or two to celebrate with your friends, and remember, to reply too quickly to the email shows you're desperate for work at Company X, so sit back and let that email "ripen" in your in-box. Then turn off your computer and take a couple of weeks off. If you need to, apply for that new credit card offer you got in the mail and take that trip to Phoenix you've always been thinking about. Two weeks later, when you're back and ready for work that email will be right where you left it - waiting for you to take it to the next level!

Next post: setting up the interview

KWA