1. Networking – You should be networking at all times. Networking while you are interviewing will do two things. 1) Since you are still interviewing and have started a new job, you want to keep the ball rolling in a positive direction. You can never have too many connections. Think of it this way, if you make a connection and end up starting to work for the Company you are interviewing with, then your new connection can answer career specific questions or even be another mentor for you. 2) Networking is a positive action and when interviewing there can so many ups (interviewing) and downs (the waiting game for other interviews and debrief meetings to occur internally) that adding another positive to your repertoire will help your mentality.
2. Continue Applying to Other Jobs – Until you not only receive an offer for a job, but actually start a job and complete your initial 90-day probationary period, you should absolutely continue to apply to other jobs that you have an interest in. I have seen it happen where a new hire starts to work and after the 90-day probationary period, the person is let go. Think of this time as the way for a Company to kick the tires on your performance and see if it matches their expectations. Additionally, many companies do not offer health insurance and other benefits until after the expiration of the initial 90 days. After you pass the 90-day point and are continuing to work for the Company that hired you, it is ok to cease the “active” applying to job opportunities. It is better to be safe than sorry and continuing to apply to job opportunities until you pass the 90-day point is a form of an insurance policy on yourself.
3. Be Positive and Active on Business/Professional Social Media Accounts – Being positive and active on a professional networking social media account like LinkedIn is another positive you can add to your mindset. “Liking” or “Commenting” in a positive way on one of your connections announcements of starting a new job lets that individual and your network see that you are a positive person that isn’t always in the business of self-promotion. The last thing you want to do in the interview process is to bring the Company you are interviewing with negative publicity that could cause them a loss of customer sales or even worse, a loss of future sales.
4. Complete Job Offer Worksheet – Completing the Job Offer Worksheet (link to it on website) that is in both the 1st and 2nd Editions of The House of You (link as well) or available separately will give you the ability to select and rate the parts of the job offer that rank the highest in your eyes and insert in each section what you would accept from a job offer. Furthermore, when you receive a job offer, if you already completed the Job Offer Worksheet you can take some of the emotion out of receiving an offer by already having documented what are acceptable job offer elements ranked and their corresponding answers. For example, the base salary component could be your top area of importance and a base salary of $50,000 is acceptable to you, then when a job offer comes and the base salary portion of the job offer is $42,000, you already know you won’t accept because it is your top category and the offer of $42,000 is less than the $50,000 you filled in on your Job Offer Worksheet.
5. Read - One of the differences between you now and you in a year from now is the knowledge you gain by the blogs/books/articles. Reading is also a way to give yourself a competitive advantage from others that may apply to the same job you do. What do I mean by this? I mean that if you read you have a deeper file cabinet in your brain that you may be able to refer to in the interview process. You could have read an article about a particular technology on the uptrend over the next several years, which so happens to be part of the product offering the Company you are interviewing with has. And you can refer to this information in the interview process and that just may be the unique characteristic that puts you over the top in receiving a job offer versus not. You may never know if that put you over the top, but adding a positive comment or reference in the interview process that directly relates to that Company will never be taken in a negative way by Human Resources or the Hiring Manager.
6. Be Gracious – The adage of treat others the way you wish to be treated relates to a person’s mindset when going through the interview process. This entire blog is about giving you’re the best chance at earning a job offer through the interview process. And Company’s want to hire positive people, not people who are negative or half glass full individuals’, so being gracious definitely falls in the being positive category we are looking for. When a person is gracious and completes an act of kindness that can be as simple as opening a door at the grocery store for a person walking behind you or paying for someone else’s haircut or meal at a restaurant, the positive act lights up the feel-good receptors in the brain. Feeling good is many times synonymous with being positive, so that is something we definitely should strive for during the interview process. All things being equal (education, experience, etc.) a positive job candidate outweighs a negative job candidate 100% of the time. So next time you have the opportunity to be gracious, whether interviewing or not, be gracious because it will soon become a habit that will reap you rewards in your life.
7. Clean Up Your Personal Social Media Accounts – Nothing can be more negative than bringing negative publicity to a Company, whether that be by a customer for negative customer service or a job candidate as I referred to in #3 above. The real point here is to put yourself in the best position to not only earn a job offer at the end of the interview process, but to maintain longevity at the Company for as long as the job and Company align with your professional goals and aspirations. So, take down those spring break photos of beer bonging on the beach of Cancun, Mexico on your personal social media sites. And take down those controversial comments that are controversial to earning a job offer. My rule of thumb is that if when you look at a photo or comment you have to think about whether you should take it down, then just take it down to be on the safe side. Why? Because Human Resource representatives and Hiring Managers WILL seek out your social media accounts, not to be nosey, but to evaluate whether what is posted on your social media accounts aligns with your Resume, your interviews to that point and whether those postings most importantly, either align or do not align with the values of the Company you are in the interview process with.
The author of this blog is Justin Alan Hayes, architect of The House of You and the leading Expert on career preparation, advancement and achievement, including how to maximize your collegiate career and inspiring others to make their dreams come true.
The House of You (https://www.thehouseofyou.com/shop/), has the most epic career preparation, achievement and advancement books available, titled “The House of You'“, which is being used inside and outside of the classroom by Professor’s, students and student athletes across the world, along with Professional instructional materials, cases, and resume consulting.