Our last editorial brought you Part 1 of a five part series on "Job Hunting - The Art of Getting the Job!". After releasing the article we received a lot of feedback reaffirming many of the issues discussed and also pointing a couple of points we overlooked. One thing missed in the list of things to check and recheck, submitted by a reader, was the plan and simple "sweet odor" that may follow a person. Not knowing how it is to reek of body order, we neglected to include this in the article, but as the reader pointed out, having a offensive odor WILL NOT help a touchy situation. Even if you are fully qualified or an expert in that field, smelling bad, just won't butter the bread.

Part 2 - Mentally Psyched?

Are you prepared, really prepared? Let's take a closer look into this silently annoying side of the job hunt. Basically, the mental, emotional and physical state of ones being, working together to focus us onto our goal, GET THE JOB! You are probably saying by now, "Ok, already get on with it what is this guy talking about?" Well, if you don't have :

• the mind set,
  the confidence,
  can speak in clearly properly formulated sentence or
  at an adequate level of comprehension,
  

you probably won't be a very positive candidate. Projecting your thoughts, ideas and feelings correctly will make you out to be a little smarter than the next person (if they are not as proficient).

The Mind Set

To determine if you have the mind set for the interview just ask yourself a couple of questions like:

• "Is it worth my time and energy to go on this interview?"
  "Am I doing this for myself or someone else?"
  "Do I really want this job?"

If you can truthfully answer these questions positively and without any reservations, then you have taken the first mental step.

In answering the first question you should think about all the aspect surrounding the position: "is it worth the 3 hour round trip commute", "is it worth the $6 in tolls", "will this job pay me enough to make a different". If someone of these questions can not be answered until you interview, that's ok, as long as you are conscious of these questions. Remember when interviewing for a position, this will be YOUR job, not your friend's or mom's. It's important for you to distinguish between what you want to do and what you think other expect of you.

Confidence

What is there to say? If you walk into an interview with a monotone, slurred tone, you will probably be tossed out of there faster than you can digest you coffee. Like two great philosophers once said, "I'm here to Pump You UP?" And that is what you should do to get yourself prepared, just get the adrenalin working for you not against you. If you walk in with a hop to your step, a firm hand shake and confident answers to questions like: "absolutely, I've worked with Netscape Navigator, actually I've been using it since version 1!" Very positive and reaffirming the interviewer's question, is really the way to go when it comes to this.

On that note you also want to make sure that you can effectively sell yourself, without sounding like a complete liar. Reaffirming prospective employers with a direct but humbled tone will get you much further than sounding like a flaky-know-it-all. One thing that seems to hit home is saying something along the lines of:

"Absolutely, at XYZ I planned and installed a $300 billion web site. I created the graphics, the pages and maintained them for 6 months. I can definitely do the same here, but I must warn you I'm not a complete expert in everything, but I will give you 110% effort in all the work I do!"

This type of positive, but humbled prospective has been received favorably by many. Hint: Use a similar line for your line of work, but be truthful.

Clearly Speak? Speak Clearly?

What ever it takes for you to sound your best, is what you should be doing. Some people are there best in the afternoon after having their second Double-Latte-Mocha-Expresso, while others are complete morning people. What ever your flavor just make sure you set your appointment for that time and the you are well prepared to speak and elaborate on different things about yourself.

Annunciating and pronouncing words and sentences clearly throughout the interview will help in projecting a positive interest in the job. It will also help you get your point across. Again this is important if you are going to work with people, they must feel comfortable with your style, as well as tone, clarity and ease of speech. Many job have been lost due to poor communication skills or a lack of understanding of the English language.

Comprehension

Well, this last section reminds me of that old saying, "You can't study for a blood test". Why? It is pretty obvious, but I'll humor you. If you think you can fend for yourself at the job interview, then great, but don't go in with a shitty attitude saying, "they have to hire me, they need people". Most of the time employers need "competent" employees, not just bodies. If you feel uncomfortable with ALL the aspects of the job, that's ok, most employers look for bright, energetic people to work hard and learn what they don't know. One thing you must always keep in mind is that even experts had to start somewhere.

With all that said, there are a couple of things you can do to make sure that your interview isn't a complete flop, when it comes to knowing your stuff. If you are interviewing for a technical or manual position, you may want to brush up on some of the basic fundamentals of your trade. I'm not saying pull out every college manual you had, just make sure you know the basic nuts and bolts of your field.

This pretty much concludes the Mentally Psyched piece, but stay tuned for the rest of the series coming to you soon. And as always give us your feedback.