CINCINNATI — As job seekers start looking for new opportunities, many are realizing they haven't done a true, in-person job interview in well over a year.
Website designer Rupa Mishra is one of many people who landed a job virtually during the pandemic, saying "we did everything via Zoom meetings."
But Michael Dorman is now applying for jobs in person again.
"There's a lot of panic and a lot of apprehension," he said of the interview process.
If you've had a job interview in the past year, you probably did it via Zoom on your home computer. So when it comes to going out again and doing face-to-face meetings, a lot of us are a little rusty.
Adam White is a career counselor at Cincinnati Works, who runs a boot camp for job seekers.
"It's at the point now where everyone has some rusty skill sets," he said.
During his sessions he teaches job applicants some important basics about the interview process.
Six steps to a better job interview
White shared with us six tips for a more successful job interview.
- 1: Dress professionally, not in your Zoom outfit, which often meant casual shirts and sweatpants or leggings.
- 2: Smile and look the interviewer directly in the eyes. Put your phone away, so you are not tempted to glance at any alerts.
"Eye contact is so important," he said. "You know you want to make eye contact."
- 3: Listen carefully and answer all of the reviewer's questions.
- 4: Ask questions of your own.
"It amazes me people won't ask questions at the end of their interview," White said.
5: Talk about an accomplishment at your old job using what he calls the STAR format.
- S: Describe your situation at your former job.
- T: Explain a task you had to do.
- A: Show what action you took to do that task.
- R: Show the results you got.
"You tell them this was the problem, these are the solutions I offered, and then these were the results," White said.
- 6: Thank the interviewer on the way out, and then send a follow up "thank you" email the next day.
"That goes a long way with a lot of employers," White said.
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