Picture this scenario. You’re at an interview of a job that you highly covet and so far it’s been smooth sailing. Towards the end, you shake hands and leave the interview wondering if there was anything you ought to have said. Was there? Yes! Either directly or indirectly, what you ought to have done is ask for the job.
Most people feel shy about showing any form of aggressive behavior during an interview. They feel that it can upset the delicate balance of the apple cart and things won’t work in their favor. But that isn’t necessarily true. This is because such people tend to mistake assertiveness with aggression. Being assertive is a good quality and one which employers look for in future employees. So how can you assert yourself and ask for the job without feeling too embarrassed about it, or worse, looking desperate?
Here are a few pointers that might help you in bagging that job. Remember, if you don’t ask, you might not even be considered for the job. So read on to discover how you can be assertive without offending the interviewer.
Highlight your strengths
In another lifetime it might have been considered rude to talk about oneself. But not anymore. Today interviewers want to know about you, first hand. So, through the course of the interview, keep dropping in little bite sized pieces of information about yourself so that interviewers can understand why you’re so right for the job.
At the end, quickly highlight your strengths and your forte and how it will be helpful for the organization, so that the interviewers can see why you can become indispensable to them
Talk the talk
Only a naïve person would enter an interview without reading up about the company before hand. Be sure you’re comfortable with the domain that the company represents and you can ‘talk the talk’ like an insider. For instance, if you’re applying for a job at a telecommunications organization, you should know what buzzwords are commonly used and in which context.
Impress the interviewers with your knowledge but don’t make the fatal mistake of sounding patronizing or boastful of your knowledge. End the interview with a smile that radiates confidence and you can be sure that the interviewers will have marked you out for consideration.
Help them visualize
If interviewers can see where you fit in their organization, then they will surely consider you above others. But how will that happen? The key lies with you. Talk about how your expertise can help the organization and in which areas. Tell them how you will be able to match the company’s expectations and remember to pepper your speech with words like ‘we’ and ‘us’ which gives the impression that you’re already a part of the team.
Go ahead and ask
By far, this approach is the most feared one although there’s nothing really scary about it. At the end of the interview, don’t put across feeble entreaties, telling the interviewers that you’ll hope to hear from them. Stand up, shake hands and in a firm voice, tell them that you’re interested in the position or that you’re keen to work in the company. Remember to smile so that even your assertiveness is tempered down suitably. Interviewers are bound to be impressed.
While these pointers might help you out in most situations, it will do you good to remember that not all organizations and interviewers are alike. How they react is purely subjective but nevertheless, stand tall and give it your best try!
