***Your Presentation Skills Determine Whether You Will Get the 2nd Interview

If you think your presentation skills are not as important as your education and aptitude, consider this one point: you get your 1st interview because of your education and ability. You get your 2nd interview, however, because of your presentation skills.

Employers look at resumes and decide whether they will invite you to the 1st interview depending on what they learn from your resume. Once you’ve met them for the initial session, they must then decide if you warrant another interview. Do not think your education is the deciding factor at this point? It is not.

If there are several candidates for the position, all with relatively equal education, they will meet with all of you. Following the interviews, their next step is to ‘whittle down’ the list. Who they cross off their lists is entirely dependent on how successful each candidate was in the interview. And that success depends on how you present yourself and the image you project.

If you speak with confidence, they will be impressed. If you mumble, speak too softly, or have a heavy accent, for example, they will not be impressed. It is as simple as that. Of course, your physical appearance has a bearing on the interview as well. Yes, they are interested in your answers but also how you handle yourself when you answer those questions.

Video-record yourself in a mock interview, listen, and watch. Study not only how you answer the question, but how well you are understood when you speak. Do you smile or is your face exuding fear and trepidation? Do you show enthusiasm or do you speak in a monotone? Is your voice too loud or too soft? Do you say um or ah a lot? Do you play with your hair or tap your fingers or constantly push up your glasses? All of these ‘tics’ are taken into consideration when an employer is looking at candidates.

For many people, the trick is not to get the 1st interview; it is to get the 2nd one. If what you see and hear on your camcorder reflects poorly on your presentation skills, now is the time to make the change – before you are called to schedule an appointment. Competition in today’s workforce is fierce. Jobs are scarce; and, it is the individual who has not only the education and aptitude but the ability to present himself/herself with confidence, personality, and enthusiasm.

What do your presentation skills say about you? Are they good enough to get you to the 2nd interview?