MARCH MADNESS! 10% OFF ON ALL RENTALS! Offer valid until March 31st.

Interview Prep 101 – Acing the Job Interview

You’ve got your resume polished and your verbal selfie perfected. But does a prospective employer see you the same way you see yourself? Is the person sitting across from you even looking for the same character traits you think she is? Here’s how to get inside the mind of a hiring manager and find out what he’s really thinking!

Top 5 Personal Qualities

The top personal qualities that employers say they hope to find in a job candidate are not surprising: confidence, adaptability, dependability, loyalty, and friendliness, according to Chron. It’s important to remember these are qualities that must be demonstrated, not just verbally listed! It won’t do you much good to tell the hiring manager that you’re confident while you are nervously twirling a lock of hair or biting a thumbnail.

The Body Language of Confidence

The most physical of the personal traits you’ll be bringing to the interview, confidence is a quality your body will either make or break. While it’s hard to fake confidence, you can practice—which in turn will actually improve your natural confidence.

How to do it? Practice standing tall in front of a mirror with your shoulders back, and look yourself straight in the eye. Just don’t stare too long or you’ll look like an oddball. Fidgeting and talking too fast can be giveaways, so Inc. suggests practicing with a friend and have her point out any conversational quirks you might be unaware of. And don’t be afraid to leave some occasional silences in the conversation. It shows deep thinking on your part!

Your Answers Can Show You’re Adaptable

Adaptability is the Yin to the confidence Yang. While being comfortable with what you know is a highly appealing character trait, being too confident can come off as arrogant or close-minded. When you are given a hypothetical question in the interview, answer confidently, then stop to consider another angle (say, that of an opposing colleague) and show that you would consider what he thinks as well. This is a great way to demonstrate that adaptability is one of your strong suits!

Let Facebook Show Your Loyalty

You’ve heard the rumors and they’re true: the vast majority (93 percent) of employers will check your social media feeds, Workopolis reports. No need to be nervous—social media is actually a great way to demonstrate some of the personal qualities employers are looking for!

Loyalty is one of the personal characteristics employers hope to find in a job candidate. So, let your social involvement over a long period of time — with the same groups and individuals — show what a loyal person you are. Check out your profiles across platforms—Linked In, Facebook, Twitter—to see if the same groups, people and interests are consistently appearing. You don’t want to look like three different people!

Demonstrate Your Dependability with Clean Profiles

Employers are on the lookout for dependable employees who will not embarrass them down the road, so take the time to clean up your profiles BEFORE sending out your resume. Be aware of these potential downfalls that could hurt your social media profile.

We’ve mentioned this before, but posts that mention illegal drugs, references of a sexual nature, profanity, guns, and irresponsible drinking are huge red flags. So are bad spelling and bad grammar. In fact, those are just as much of a turn-off to those detail-oriented folks in HR.

Be Friendly, But Not Too Friendly

The kind of friendliness employers are looking for is competency with social interactions and an interest in working with others. But there’s a danger in showing too much friendliness in the job interview, Forbes warns.

Hiring managers are looking for someone who can bring problem-solving savvy to the organization, not a person who is out to win a popularity contest. By appearing too eager to be affable, you may come across as a person with no sense of self or someone who is desperate to get the job. If you relax and be yourself, your prospective employer will have a chance to accurately see how you will fit in to the culture of their company.

Practice Interviewing with Your New Friends!

Everyone starting an internship will be in a similar situation, excited and nervous about those first job interviews. Practice your interviews together at one of our three locations across New York City! 

Do you want to apply for this internship?

Send your contact information
  • Hidden
{ "post_title" : "Interview Prep 101 - Acing the Job Interview", "guid" : "https://intrnz.com/?p=4739", "display_name" : "reed", "user_email" : "[email protected]", "Departament" : "", "Company-Name" : "" }

Like this article?

Share on Facebook
Share on Twitter
Share on Linkdin
Share on Pinterest

Leave a comment

Terms And Conditions

The applicant…
  • Is interning in New York City for the summer as part of or related to the Applicant’s college or university school programs of study
  • Is not currently subject to any disciplinary sanction from Applicant’s college or university that would bar Applicant from residing in residential housing at Applicant’s college or university or elsewhere
  • Has not been convicted of any crime in any state of the United States or in any foreign country, and there are no criminal charges pending against the Applicant. The Applicant hereby authorizes Pace to perform a criminal background check relative to the Applicant and further authorizes Pace to certify the results of such criminal background check to Pace.
  • Has no medical or psychological condition(s) that should prevent the Applicant from safely residing in Pace housing.
  • Has health insurance or other financial resources that meet the requirement for access to health care. If you cannot meet this requirement, you will not be able to proceed further with this application.
  • Has been fully vaccinated against COVID-19, including a booster vaccination shot.
  • The Pace Student\Intern Applicant certifies the truth and accuracy of all statements, warranties, and representations made in this application. Pace reserves the right to immediately cause the removal of the Pace Student\Intern from Pace’s residential housing if it learns that any statements, warranties, or representations made by the Applicant in this Application are incomplete, inaccurate, false, or misleading. In the event of such removal, the Pace Student\Intern shall not be entitled to a refund of any fees paid to Pace or Pace.
  • Understands that Residential Life/ Summer Conference Housing reserves the right to reassign an assigned space for the purpose of construction, health, management, safety, or emergency
  • Understands that accommodations for families or children will not be considered. Please refer to local hotels for options.
  • Agrees to comply with all applicable New York City, New York State, and Federal laws including drugs and alcohol
  • All interns must sign an Intern Housing Agreement and familiarize themselves with the policies and procedures of the institution. All Interns will be held accountable for all policies and procedures outlined within the guide. Residential Life reserves the right to terminate your housing for failing to abide by any of said policies and procedures.
intrnz.com LLC is committed to protecting your privacy

Data Collection and Use of Cookies

We collect general, statistical information about visitors to our site for the purpose of facilitating communication and conducting business between intrnz.com LLC and the users of the site. Under no circumstances do we share information about visitors with external organizations. intrnz.com LLC also makes use of cookies to improve our visitor’s Web experience. A cookie is a piece of data stored by a Web site on a user’s hard drive, which contains information about the user. intrnz.com LLC employs cookies to keep track of user names and passwords, as well as to personalize your experience. You can set your browser to decline or accept cookies, though if you choose not to accept cookies, some parts of the intrnz.com LLC site may function less efficiently.

Security

intrnz.com LLC provides a secure server to protect your information from being viewed by an outside user.

Surveys and E-mail

intrnz.com LLC may request information through surveys, which users may choose to participate in on a voluntary basis. Information gathered may be used for marketing and promotional purposes or to notify you of new content, among other uses. If you e-mail us with questions or comments, we may use your personal information in order to respond to you. We may also share your information with a third party to assist in our response. We may file your comments for future reference, or we may discard the information after we have reviewed it. Under no circumstances do we share information about visitors with external organizations.

Interactive Features

While intrnz.com LLC strives to protect users’ personal information and privacy, we cannot guarantee the security of any information you disclose online through interactive features such as forums, message boards, chat rooms, or similar services. Please keep in mind that you disclose information at your own risk.

Links to third-party sites

This site may contain links to sites owned or operated by parties other than intrnz.com LLC. intrnz.com LLC does not control outside sites and is not responsible for their content. Inclusion of links to an outside site does not imply any endorsement of the material on the site or, unless expressly stated otherwise, any sponsorship, affiliation, or association with its owner, operator, or sponsor.

Exceptions

In certain circumstances we will release specific information about you or your account to comply with any valid legal process such as a search warrant, subpoena, statute, or court order, or in other special cases, such as an attempted breach of the intrnz.com LLC security, without notice to you.

Copyright

This site and all information and images within it are copyrighted, unless otherwise noted. U.S. copyright law protects all materials on this site. All rights reserved.

Disclaimer

The information on this site is provided “as is,” and no representations or warranties of any kind are made regarding it. Our policy is not to be applied in any manner contrary to applicable law or governmental regulation. intrnz.com LLC reserves the right to make changes to this policy at any time. Please check this page periodically for updates.

Tell Us About Yourself!

Ready to learn more? Fill out the form below and we’ll put you in touch with a Housing Advisor to answer any questions you have.

Add Your Heading Text Here