Candidates often ask, what’s the key to a successful interview? What should I say? How should I act?
It’s a great question with no tidy answer. Based on feedback we receive and our experience with hospital facilities jobs, some combination of the following 4 words and attributes are often shared by successful candidates:
Positive. Inspirational. Energetic. Thoughtful.
There is an interesting commonality to these words. Each relates to soft skills, or traits related to communication, emotional intelligence, and personal interaction. Today, technical skills and soft skills are mandatory: One without the other can lead to failure.
So how do you quantify positivity, inspiration, energy and thoughtfulness? It’s certainly not analogous to quantifying the number of system-delivered BTUs: You can’t tell a prospective employer you have 250 BTUs of energy and positivity to deliver the organization.
Fortunately, you have specific examples of positivity, inspiration, and energy in your career, whether it was exhibited during a midnight call-in for a broken boiler or your leadership during COVID-19. Think of and re-visit these situations before you interview and be ready to quantify specific achievement.
The ability to cite quantifiable achievement relevant to the position you seek can make or break your candidacy.
Ask these questions
But what if you feel you are not positive, inspirational, or energetic? Are you relegated to a lifetime of second-place finishes? Of course not.
Take some time and become introspective. Professionally and personally you interact with others daily. Become your own toughest critic and teacher as you ask yourself these questions, prepping for a hospital facilities jobs interview:
- How do I react and respond to others?
- How do I respond to negative situations and what words do I use in my response?
- What is my body language as I speak and listen?
- Do I bring life to and vary the inflection and modulation of my voice?
- Am I comfortable establishing eye contact?
- Do I ask appropriate questions to discover information?
- Do I have a verbal filter?
Only you can answer these questions honestly. Paying attention to and understanding how you interact in daily life allows you to key in on your personality patterns and adjust them. We search for a magic success bullet when the answer is often obscured but in front of us.
Lastly, use manners. Say please and thank you during the interview. Stand up and extend your hand when a new interviewer enters the room. At the interview end, thank people for their time. Send a handwritten thank you note. It’s the right thing to do.
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