Create your “basic presentation” which will be used for all of your in person interviews.

Don’t ever go to an interview without having a game plan.  You need to have a basic presentation about yourself and who you are.  What do you bring to the job?  Why should they hire YOU?  You need to be your own cheerleader.  For every interview that you’ll be going on you will customize your basic presentation for that particular job and their job requirements for the position you’re interviewing for.

You want to show the people at that company that you did your homework.  You need to know what their company is all about.  After all, you also want to know why you want to be work there.  That means doing some homework in learning about the company.  Your interviewer wants to know that you know what they do there.  Ask the name of the person you’ll be interviewing with.  If there is a page on their website where they write about the person who will be interviewing you, be sure to make a few notes about them.  Try to find one thing about them that you can talk about at your interview.   That person will be so impressed that you learned a little bit about them!  If they don’t have a web page with that information, you can look on the social media sites to see if your potential future boss is listed there.  Linkedin.com contains a wealth of information.  If you don’t have an account on Linkedin.com, get one.  That’s another way of finding information about your potential employers.  Most people in a managerial position now have a page on Linkedin.com.  Gather your information together.  Find out where your potential boss went to school.  Where did he work before?  Is he relatively new to this company?  This is all great information to have before going in to an interview.

Now that you’ve done your research you can begin to customize your “basic interview” presentation for the company you have a scheduled interview with.  You’ll stand out when you sit in front of the people interviewing you if you talk about them or their company.  Practice that presentation over and over again until it becomes familiar to you.  It won’t vary much since it’s your basic presentation.  You’ll just have to remember a few key things about that company and that person.

Your presentation should begin with 3 statements about yourself that you’d like to convey to that employer.  For instance, you might start out saying:

I am: 

• Diversely skilled
• Highly Trainable
• Dedicated

Now you will want to talk about why you made those statements.

(Regarding being Diversely Skilled)

• Over the years I’ve had the opportunity to learn many new software packages.  
• I’m highly skilled in the entire MS Office suite as well as knowing many different databases.

(Regarding being Trainable)

• I’m a quick learner, grasping new concepts (software) 
• I always volunteered to be a Trial User before the company actually implements new software.

(Regarding being Dedicated)

• For more than 18 years working in a sales support environment my employers could always count on me to be there when they needed me. Especially in a challenging situation.

You’ve just given them an idea of who you are.  Now they will want to know about the skills you have that pertain to this new position.  Have some verbiage in your presentation about your skills and experience (memorize as best as you can).

Perhaps you can say:

• I have excellent skills in MS Word, Excel, Power Point, Outlook & Lotus Notes 
• I’ve been trained on 6 different databases.  
• I have maintained complex spreadsheets.  I have also worked with Pivot Tables & found that they are powerful ways to view data.
• My skills at multi tasking are second to none
• When given a great deal of responsibility such as overseeing large projects, I’ve always outperformed my employers expectations.  

They will also want to know about your experience as it pertains to the job you’re applying for.  This is the part where you tell them about your work history and be sure to cover all of the pertinent qualifications that were posted in their ad.

In my most recent job assignment: 

• I supported the CEO of (company name) that had just begun to renovate an older building for their new corporate headquarters.
• I served as a Project Manager overseeing the General Contractor and the Sub Contractors, making sure that construction was moving along accordingly.  
• I ran daily and monthly sales reports and managed the CEO’s calendar.  
• I coordinated the CEO’s travel, including airfare and lodging, as well as Expense Reports upon his return.

Unfortunately that position ended due to financial constraints.  I do have a glowing letter of recommendation from that CEO that I’ve included in my packet.* Please feel free to contact both Mr. ________ and my other Employer whom I worked with for __ years.  I know they’ll speak highly of my work ethic and performance.   

 *(When you go to any interview you should always bring 2 copies of your resume as well as 3 letters of recommendation.)  

If you have other companies that you have worked for you’ll also need to explain your history at those jobs (IF they pertain to the position you’re applying for AND if it’s not too lengthy).   If you’ve changed jobs frequently you must be prepared to make a statement about those changes.  Prepare a short statement about what happened.  You need not say that you couldn’t stand your boss or co-worker.  You can say that you were ready for an upward move in your career.  That’s why you’re there at the interview.  After all who doesn’t want to move up in their career?  If you were fired for a valid reason you will need to prepare a statement regarding that.  Come up with something that doesn’t smack of saying that you are not a good person to hire!  It’s OK to be creative in your statement about what happened but don’t lie.  They will follow up with your former employer.

Another point to might want to mention in your presentation is about any interesting hobbies that you have.  Also mention any volunteer work you’ve done.  Whether you enjoy working out at the gym or volunteering at the animal shelter helping to find homes for dogs and cats, they enjoy hearing that kind of information.  They like seeing that you’re well rounded.

Here’s an example of your personal life and or hobby:

“I volunteered my time when our congregation was completely devastated by Hurricane Irene.  I was part of a team of 6 people who contacted hundreds of people by phone asking for donations to help us get back up and running.  I’m proud to say that in 2 short months our efforts were successful and we were able to re-occupy our building”.  

Once you’re covered the professional and personal statements you’d like to make about yourself NOW is the time to “summarize” what you just told them.

Here’s an example of what you might say:

Summarizing my capabilities and why I believe I’m the best candidate for this position: 

• I’m dedicated 
• I’m professional
• I love a challenge  
• I don’t stop until I get the job done  

“I hope I’ve covered the important aspects about myself.    I’m very excited about the possibility of being a part of your company”.

Remember the steps in the presentation:

1. State WHO you are (I’m confident / trainable / etc)
2. Tell them about your professional experience & skills
3. Tell them about your personal interests (hobbies / volunteer work)
4. Summarize who you are (again) & why YOU are the BEST person for this position!

Your presentation shouldn’t be long.  It just has to be real and it has to be honest.  It has to convince them that they should hire YOU.  And you may not have ALL of the skills they need but if you convey to them what a quick learner you are during your presentation THAT will stand out to them.  You have many other requirements they want.  They’ll need to train you but they already know that you pick things up quickly.  Be sure to have that in your presentation.