Once I was one of three candidates for a position and honestly, I was the least desirable. The woman who hired me told me I was the third choice but she ended up hiring me since I seemed to want the job so much. I kept up contacting her till the job was mine and not in a nagging way, but in a consistent a respectful manner. Interestingly, she ended up becoming my mentor and a very good friend that I have till this day. You just never know what course a relationship

It's important to stand out in an interview. Everything you do at the interview should aid in your desired outcome. Practice interviewing with friends. Make sure that your answers to questions are not one word answers. Demonstrate with every one of your answers why you are an asset. If you aren't sure about the question, ask for clarification to help you better understand. Try to guide the interview so that it is more like a conversation than just a question and answer format. One of the best ways to start a conversation is to tell the interviewer about you. Be brief and not too wordy--it does warm up the conversation. For example: Hi, my name is.... I grew up in.... Maybe, add a funny antidote here (In my case, I might say the home of "My Cousin Vinnie"). My education is... and I loved this college because...; I believe my school prepared me for this position by.... Get the idea? This is a place where your personality can shine. The more you practice the more polished you will become!

If you're just beginning your career, the most important factor to consider is how a job you are interviewing for will help your career. When you are first starting out, look for a company in your field doing the work you want to do. I have seen many young people take jobs that were not in their field of interest just to get a job. Not a good move and a definite waste of time. The company should be successful and fairly large. So many times I hear from beginners that they went to work for a start-up company because they got to do everything and grow with the company. In very few instances does that work. One company that I worked for in the beginning of my career was so short of money that they owed me my paycheck repeatedly. That got very old after 3 weeks. Frequently small companies go out of business and leave no company for you to grow with. And if you do everything in a firm you do not learn to do any one aspect well. You want to work for a successful company because you want to learn from a place that is doing it correctly. It looks very good on your resume to have a worked for a well known company. Many times large companies have other positions that can lead to promotions for you, which is another bonus! It is essential that your first few jobs demonstrate a strong learning component. If they are not willing to train you, then that is not the best place for you.

With the advent of the internet it is usually pretty easy to find out about a company. It does give you a leg up. If you know what the company does, then you have some idea of how you might fit into their organization. Say the company just announced a new product. You can ask the interviewer how the job you're interviewing for can put you into a position to help with the launch. It also gives the interviewer some additional ideas on how they might utilize your skills and expertise. You can also find out more about the company in the interview. The give and take about what the company does as you speak with the interviewer also adds more depth to the interview.

A final word of wisdom, never choose a job simply because they pay more. The money will come as you advance in your career. Always choose the job that offers the best training and exposure.

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