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5 Tips on Interview Prep With Thea Kelley

5 Tips on Interview Prep From Thea Kelley by Mark Anthony Dyson

When it comes to landing a job, interview prep is just as important as your resume. Hiring managers interview hundreds of candidates throughout their careers; they can spot your lack of preparation from a mile away.

Thea Kelley is an experienced career coach and the author of Get That Job! The Quick and Complete Guide to a Winning Interview. Recently, she was kind enough to speak with me and offer her advice on interview prep:

1. Be Real

Many job candidates prepare for interviews as if they’re bracing for the impact of a car crash instead of getting ready for a conversation. Hiring managers can sense how guarded you are when you walk into the room, and it doesn’t make you look good.

Kelley says it’s important the interviewer “feels like they’re connecting with [you] as a human being.” In addition to letting your guard down, avoid talking as if you’re some kind of job-seeking machine.

“Phrases such as ‘I possess the ability’ – who talks like that?” Kelley ponders.

2. Keep Your Language Simple

It’s okay to use a little industry jargon to demonstrate your knowledge, but don’t deliver memorized soliloquies or use large words that are unnatural to you. If you can answer a question using smaller, simpler, more direct language, do so.

I like using a recorder with coaching clients so they can hear their tone, vocabulary, and grammar and take corrective action if necessary. Every aspect of your delivery will face scrutiny in an interview, so pay attention to it all when practicing.

3. Display Your Emotional Intelligence

“Emotions can be beneficial for job interviews,” Kelley says.

Telling stories rather than dryly answering questions allows you to showcase your passion, enthusiasm, and even a little appropriate humor. This makes it easier for the interviewer to envision sitting next to you for eight hours a day.

4. Relax

Kelley points out world-class athletes who earn millions of dollars take the time to learn relaxation techniques. You, too, can benefit from practicing relaxation techniques before an interview. Kelley suggests using visualization to “imagine yourself in an interview and being authentic.”

5. Be Memorable; Tell Vivid Stories

Stories connect candidates to interviewers in ways that data can’t. They foster relationships and conversation, rather than inquisition. Storytelling is also a valuable way to work your own questions for the interviewer into the conversation.

Kelley says a list of attributes is not enough to demonstrate your fit or expertise. You must be able to show how your experience is relevant. Offering the interviewer vivid and specific examples makes your qualifications real and convincing.

Don’t just interview to pass a test. Interview to make it real, capture the interviewer’s imagination, and connect with them.

The article came from excerpts from my interview with Thea below:

This article was originally published on Recruiter.com!

About Mark Anthony Dyson

I am the "The Voice of Job Seekers!" I offer compassionate career and job search advice as I hack and re-imagine the job search process. You need to be "the prescription to an employer's job description." You must be solution-oriented and work in positions in companies where you are the remedy. Your job search must be a lifestyle, and your career must be in front of you constantly. You can no longer shed your aspirations at the change seasons. There are strengths you have that need constant use and development. Be sure you sign up to download my E-Book, "421 Modern Job Search Tips 2021!" You can find my career advice and work in media outlets such as Forbes, Inc., Fast Company, Harvard Business Review, Glassdoor, and many other outlets.

by Mark Anthony Dyson

Job Interview Just As Ella Fitzgerald Improvised

Job Interview Just As Ella Fitzgerald Improvise by Mark Anthony Dyson

We, the performer, speaker, actor, or emcee inhibits our performances by our errors. Job seekers can learn from this because many are afraid of making an error. We want a do over. We can correct resume mistakes, and change our answers to job interview questions if it inadequately serves us. If you have ever performed on stage, you are told while learning this craft that if you make a mistake, keep going. Your audience is often unsuspecting and likely forgiving of any mistake.

Allow me to digress a moment.

In the last few years, I’ve listened to a lot of Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughn, Billie Holiday, Traffic, Blind Faith, Cream, Cannonball Adderley, and Miles Davis lately. I don’t know what it is about these artists (not to mention James Brown) but I tell you, all of these artists are resilient in their own right. We can learn from all of them about getting up from failure or even yet, turn “…plow shares into a swords.” All of them were heavy improvisors.

Ella Fitzgerald did this once, and turned a mental gaffe into gold.

Ella Fitzgerald is called the “queen of jazz vocals.” In a recorded concert in 1960, she was to sing “Mack the Knife,” a pop and jazz standard that everyone in the audience knew. Listen carefully to the recording. You can hear her voice her doubts about knowing the complete song. A job interview is a performance, and the interview success is a result of a great performance. A savvy job candidate is well aware of this.

One job interview is as stressful as a concert performance.

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No matter the diligence of preparation, there are moments that can result in making mistakes. Mistakes do not have to be costly. Any error can be corrected in a way that is unnoticeable. Ella’s performance clearly suggests the same effort will help you deliver expectations the audience desires.

Ella Fitzgerald is called the “queen of jazz vocals”. In a recorded concert in 1960, she was to sing “Mack the Knife,” a pop and jazz standard that everyone in the audience knew. Listen carefully to the recording. You can hear her voice her doubts about knowing the complete song. A job interview is a performance, and the interview success is a result of a great performance. A savvy job candidate is well aware of this.

One job interview is as stressful as a concert performance. No matter the diligence of preparation, there are moments that can result in making mistakes. Mistakes do not have to be costly. Any error can be corrected in a way that is unnoticeable. Ella’s performance clearly suggests the same effort will help you deliver expectations the audience desires.

Preparation, preparation, preparation

Ella attempted to learn the lyrics on the way to the concert on a flight from Stockholm to Berlin. There wasn’t time for a lot of preparation. As stated before, she voiced doubts that she was not confident about the lyrics. We know the downside of the lack of preparation for a job interview, but even the job candidate who is well prepared can forget details or be thrown off by an unexpected question or response. Keep in mind that most interviewers are looking for a misstep, and are looking for disqualifying behavior. It is better to prepare thoroughly than half-heartedly, which you can apply to your job search as a whole.

Practice, practice, practice

Ella did not practice “Mack the knife” much. Perhaps she was over confident in her natural abilities, although you would have thought that the song needed sufficient because:

1) Everyone in the audience knew every word of the song

2) It’s a lengthy song

Most people do not practice the question and answer portion of the job interview when that is the part needed the most. Even those employed should interview a couple of times a year to remain job search ready. What to ensure interview success? Be intentional about practice and receiving quality feedback.

Practicing will help you prepare for the unexpected question. This will challenge you to rely on the preparation efforts, and may exploit weaknesses, if any by not preparing enough.

Make a mistake? Keep going!

It was apparent by the sixth verse of “Mack the Knife” that Ella forgot the words. If you listen to the recording, she not only continues, but also she was just as enthusiastic in delivering the performance as ever. When you are at a job interview, and you make an error, it is not the end of the interview. In fact, you can circle around later and ask to clarify your answer by stating, “I would like to clarify an earlier answer to a question you asked earlier.”

Your talent matters, but performance matters more

By the middle of the song, it was clear Ella completely forgot the words, yet the performance was stellar. Practice has another positive element if done regularly. You learn different ways to express your best attributes and answers. Yes, interviewers care about the right answer, but await to hear a unique perspective. That is your voice, like Ella’s improvisation, never heard before as a memorable performance. Your voice is a powerful one when you ask for any opportunity. The quality is not based on how loud and clear, but how direct and clear. The job interview is the best place to showcase your

voice, the integral part of your brand.

Ella, Ella, Ella ended strong

Let’s say Ella felt humiliated by forgetting the words to the most popular song in the world at that time. People still cheered, the critics still raved, and Ella won a Grammy for best vocal performance. People will forget how you began when you finish confidently. Thank you notes for any meeting (hand-written and email) are strong finishers in any meeting bringing you closer to employment such as one-on-one

networking meetings with someone you met online, or someone who went out of his or her way to meet a need as a result of an event, or a panel of interviewers (or an HR person screening you).

Your job search must include a strong job interview strategy to ensure interview success. Practice will challenge you to research and develop a keen awareness of your strengths. Once you do that then interviewing will come naturally and frequently. It is difficult to prepare for that one unexpected question or line of questioning.

If you are unsure, then hope you can tap into your inner Ella, and improvise like she did.

About Mark Anthony Dyson

by Mark Anthony Dyson

What Says I’m Clueless to An Employer

Everyone is familiar with the blank stare that says, “Clueless!” An employer intuitively sees your lack of experience. The nonverbal cues of uncertainty speak louder than a whole conversation. An employer’s doubts quell an affirmative decision, leaving you bewildered and unemployed.

There are times to think deeply about your answers; you should want to be as precise and confident as possible. The way you communicate dullness overall is a dead giveaway that you are in over your head. The body language, the eyes, the tone of voice, and the depletion of certainty in what you say serves you as the dead duck in the pond. The employer sees right through it.

Some job seekers take unnecessary risks thinking they can play the perception card by dressing up their resume and putting blue lipstick on what they’ve done without considering what it sounds like to an employer. As I’ve recently talked about bad career advice that job interviews are “about perception” is an all-time worse.

Taking Too Long to Think

A thoughtful answer is acceptable, but a slow one that inspires the wolves to howl to speak volumes. The unpreparedness is your fault, and you should rehearse interviewing with a coach. Get help anticipating questions that will help you to sharpen answers.

Unanswered Questions

If you don’t want to answer a question, be honest about why. Other than not answering inappropriate questions, your answers should reflect how your skills fit the job. When it’s your turn to ask questions in formal and informal interviews, be sure that you address the inadequate answers to questions you felt were. Leave no stone unturned when it comes to giving complete solutions.

Insufficient Proof

When all of your banter and hype about your terrific job lacks merit, such as documentation, facts, or at least quantified cost/time results, can you demonstrate the impact your performance has? The lack of preparation could be embarrassing when you answer, “I don’t know.” It is unlikely you will get NOT get a second chance.

Ummm…Uhhh

Lots of these fillers diffuse any confidence that you want to demonstrate. It is time to hit up your local chapter of Toastmasters. Sure, you qualify, but a couple of Um’s and Uh’s with pauses usually will undermine an impressive candidate.

False or Exaggerated Claims

I agree that employers will not be able to check the facts of your presentation, but if your answers and explanations lack plausibility, this can be a problem. Even worse, if there is a hunch that there is an exaggeration, you won’t get a callback.

Take preparation seriously during the job search process. You can use the lingo, sound expert, and explain the process, but who are you fooling? Coaching is a viable option for anyone that needs to brush up on interviewing or networking. Practicing and coaching equip you better. A professional impression in all phases of networking and hiring is essential to success.