by Peter L. Bosch

Created on: August 21, 2009

The job interview is a very stressful event after graduating college because you are looking to get your chosen career off to a good start. With so much at stake, it is only natural for you to want to be prepared for the big event and the web has many different tips and strategies to help you do that. You probably already know about shining those shoes, looking confident and avoiding the word um. These are not five tips you will read elsewhere and are meant to put the finishing touches on your preparation. So while it is important to read up on how your weakest strength is fixing copiers, unless of course you are applying to be a copier technician, these tips will help give you that extra edge.

1. Let the interviewer talk. It is by all means your show and it is your job to sell yourself. However, as the archaic adage goes, you have two ears and one mouth. It is probably not possible to listen twice as much as you will talk, nor wise, however you should practice listening after you are done talking. Simply, do not ever, ever interject yourself while the interviewer is speaking. If there is a point you would like to make, wait until the speaker is completely done. A key spot to shine your listening skills is during the phase of, Do you have any questions? Have some questions ready for this inevitable part of the interview. Remember that the interviewer, like most people in life, will grow a little weary of listening to you babble.

2. Observe your environment. Like someone who is about to get into a major fight in a strange room, you should know where the weapons are. You never know when something in that room comes in handy. Bringing up an item in the room casts a spell over the interviewer for a second like a magic trick. Why yes, we made all sorts of office gadgets, but our best selling items were lettered bookends like those J shaped ones on your shelves. Interviewer mentions success and you casually say, I like to think that the key to success is teamwork, much like the Yankees, whose program signed by Jeter I was admiring on your wall. Bam! You are not only observant, but taking an interest in the person. This works especially well if you are being interviewed in an office as opposed to a common conference room.

3. Use hand deodorant. If you forgot to use deodorant on your armpits before the job interview then you got problems. I am not talking about just putting the deodorant on your armpits though; I am talking about putting some on your palms. It gives

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