4 Ways to Win Extra Points During Your Next Interview

4 Ways to Win Extra Points During Your Next Interview Dont just brace yourself for an interrogation before your next job interview. Win extra points by being the candidate who shows they really WANT the job! We are all constantly multitasking and overwhelmed by information. Your future interviewer has a thousand things running through their mind as they conduct the interview with you. These circumstances may seem beyond your control, but there are surefire ways to win the interviewers attention. 4 Ways to Win Extra Points During Your Next Job Interview 1. Begin the Interview on Friendly Terms Prior to your interview, research your interviewer on LinkedIn  and  the companys website. Also search the internet for mentions of their name. You are looking for information about  interests, activities, colleges and high school to find something in common. Dig until you find something you can use to start the conversation. Instead of making idle small talk about the weather or how nice the office is, prove you have a genuine interest in the interviewer by sharing some of what youve learned about them.  It may be as simple as sharing the same major in college or being a member of the same professional association. As Dale Carnegie, author of How to Win Friends Influence People, famously said, You can make more friends in two months by becoming interested in other people than you can in two years by trying to get other people interested in you. 2. Know How You Fit If you show up and throw up the same canned interview answers, youll bore the interviewer. Your interviewer is looking for a special candidate who will fit in with the team and company as well as shine in the role. The interviewer may not be able to define what the exact qualities they are looking for, but they often say they know it when they see it. Do your best to research the company and department by speaking with past or current employees. Ask questions to learn about why people like working there, why employees leave, what current challenges the company faces and what the companys recent successes have been. Search the web and check the companys social media streams for clues that will help you uncover how you will fit in. Go beyond what the company  says they need in the job posting. Based on your conversations and research,  connect the dots and explain how you can solve internal issues, match the feel of the department or team, take the department to the next level, or fix  the problems they need solved. To do this, you will want to  select the most relevant examples of your success. Pick stories that fit with the culture and your potential managers style. 3. Provide Visual Proof If you are seeking a job in a creative field, such as design, marketing or advertising, using visuals is an obvious way to demonstrate your creativity. But many employers  look for standout candidates who can demonstrate multifaceted skills and entrepreneurial thinking. For example, instead of saying youve streamlined a process or improved productivity, you could show how you did it. Create a graph or walk the interviewer through the process flowchart youve recreated so that anyone can understand your  logic and methodology. Another option is to bring a copy of your infographic resume, which uses images and graphs to underscore important points on your resume, and point out highlights during the interview. Or you could create a presentation of your career highlights for that role with that company. Leave a hard copy with the interviewer. If youve created an online portfolio, be sure to provide the interviewer with printed screenshots and the website address for immediate access and future reference. Practice presenting your visual evidence with different people from different backgrounds to make sure it hits the mark. As a final reminder, it is faster and easier to view pictures than it is to read text. Images evoke emotions and trigger memories. Your visuals could help solidify your qualifications in the interviewers mind. Be sure to show your success in industry-neutral terms. In other words, leave out specific product lines or industry jargon that the interviewer may not understand. And always protect the privacy and intellectual property of your previous employer. 4. Close the Deal By Sharing Your Plan Salespeople are often asked to present their goals for the first 30, 60 and 90 days on the job during their  interview. While you may not be in sales, consider presenting your 30-60-90 day plan during the final interview. It cements your interest in the job. Heres a rough outline. The first 30 days usually address how you will learn the companys systems, procedures, people, customers, clients and overall culture. For the first 60 days, outline how you will to begin to use your strengths to fit in the role. Finally, in the 90-day outlook, list some of the actions you will take to help meet goals stated in the job description. If creating this plan  sounds difficult, it should. You are showing your exceptional interest in the role. During each  interview, you should be asking questions to uncover what your future manager expects. You always want to make sure that you and your future manager are on the same page. Creating this plan requires a thorough understanding of the role, your manager and the companys goals. Thats the type of investment many employers are looking for in a job candidate. This post originally appeared on US News World Report On Careers Want more interviewing help? Get your copy of “Do I Want This Job”