According to a study of recent employers “Salesmanship” is the most talked about deficiency during interviews with recent college graduates. This being said, my first advice is locate some interview coaching and practice this component. Many things create a positive and successful interview, including proper research of the company and industry, presenting you well and being confident. Yet salesmanship, the act of asking for the job, is an absolute must!
One of the employers I work with has a need for two software engineers per year. His company is a national player in business to business sales within their industry. He is located in rural West Virginia, which means that his talent pool is not very deep. He recently conducted interviews with six candidates he found via a recruiter. After he conducted the initial interviews, he called the recruiter and offered to hold a free interview coaching workshop because none of the candidates were effective in selling themselves. Fortunately for one of these candidates, they will be getting an offer because this company needs to badly fill the position. In a market with a deeper talent pool, this candidate would not have been so lucky.
When interview coaching on salesmanship, the recommendation is to express that you want the job. In addition to making it clear by explicitly expressing this, also demonstrate your interest through the research you conducted and the resulting questions you ask. Share what you learned from the company website, or from the recent articles, blogs, press releases, etc. Employers want to know that you are specifically seeking them out and not just interested in “a job.”
Display confidence with a firm handshake, eye contact and a smile. As a college graduate, you are not expected to have all of the typical interview answers. You are expected to be prepared with the reasons they need to hire you over the other applicants. Interview coaching also helps to prepare your demonstration of how you are going to perform the duties of the position and help the organization continue to grow and prosper.
One last piece of interview coaching advice for you is to collect business cards of everyone you come into contact with. Follow up with hand written thank you cards to all parties expressing your gratitude to make their acquaintance and your enthusiasm to work with them. This makes a powerful and lasting impression.
