by Elizabeth Wordsmith

Created on: February 24, 2010

When you approach the job interview, follow the example of our great athletes competing for the "Gold" in Vancouver.  Your interview is a lot like their events.  You'll be competing against many other qualified candidates and you'll have a small and limited amount of time to make a great impression.  If you approach this event in your life like a dedicated athlete, you'll ace your interview and get the "Gold."

 Train and condition yourself both mentally and physically.  Athletes know that as they speed down a mountain, the scenery will pass by with lightning speed.  Muscle memory, well-developed skills, and a total commitment to the task before them must get them through because there is little time to react and readjust to changing circumstances and no opportunity for mulligans.

Get out the starting gate as fast as you can.  For an interviewee, that means making the best impression you can in the first five minutes.  You need to stand out from the crowd, do nothing offensive, and demonstrate your professionalism by how you dress, groom yourself, and act.

Be totally focused on the task before you.  Turn your cell phone off.  Whatever problems you have at home or whatever hurdles you have had to vault that morning, forget about them.

Know the course.  Skiiers check the weather conditions and the course.  They know which areas will be the most challenging and make preparations and plans to deal with them.  In planning for your interview, think about what kinds of questions you'll be asked and plan your response.  You want to appear quick thinking but also thoughtful in your responses.

Athletes deal with defeat, but don't let that keep them from staying in the game.  Many of them have dealt with countless injuries, devastating failures, and great adversity in order to pursue their dreams.  They have a great passion for their sport that supercedes any difficulties or disappointments.   You need to have and demonstrate that type of dedication and passion for the job you are pursuing.

Athletes are not only advancing their own careers.  They are ambassadors for their sport.  When you are interviewing for a job, your primary goal is to convey a similar attitude towards the company you will be representing. 

You may not get the job.  That will be disappointing, but look at these experiences like our athletes in Vancouver.  If you have given it your best shot, that alone can be very satisfying.  Adversity and failure are the experiences that condition and strengthen us.  When we finally do succeed, victory will be all the sweeter.

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