- Be Yourself
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- Relax and let your personality show while remaining in the
bounds of professional behavior.
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- Try to exhibit an attitude of respect and self-confidence
without appearing fearful or conceited.
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- Be friendly, warm, genuinely interested and enthusiastic.
- Be Positive
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- Refrain from saying anything negative about past experiences,
employers, courses or professors. Instead figure out what was
positive about an experience and focus on that.
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- Be "up" about yourself, and if you are genuinely interested in
the position, let the employer know.
- Be conscious of your body language and
posture
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- Try to sit forward, facing the interviewer, straight in your
chair, but without adopting an "unnatural" style.
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- Be aware of nervous tendencies.
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- In general, avoid any mannerisms that indicate tension or
nervousness.
- Be aware of slang/sloppy
speech
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- Practice speaking without using common slang such as "umm",
"uh", "like", "you know", etc.
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- Participating in a taped, mock interview gives you a wonderful
opportunity to become aware of any use of slang or sloppy
speech.
- Listen attentively
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- Ask for clarification if you don't understand a point or a
question.
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- Employ active listening skills such as paraphrasing,
summarizing, head nods and smiling to show you are listening.
- Answer questions directly and
concisely
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- Use specific examples whenever possible and try to balance
these examples from various areas of your life experiences.
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- Avoid both one word responses and long, rambling
explanations.
- Maintain eye contact
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- Look directly at the interviewer when he or she is
addressing you and when you are addressing him or her.
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- If there are two or more interviewers, direct your comments to
all and establish eye contact individually.
- Avoid discussion of salary and salary
negotiation
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- Issues of compensation should not be brought up by the
interviewee during the first interview.
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- If it is brought up by the interviewer, you should try to
determine what their anticipated salary range will be.
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- If your expected salary is within that range you can simply say
that the range seems appropriate.
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