5 Things to Remember for Your Next Job Interview
Job interviews can be stressful times for any therapist. To make your life a little easier we have listed out the 5 things to remember for your next job interview so you can end up with the job you have always wanted.
1. Smile
If you could only use one tip in this entire article I lean heavily on this one. Sure it sounds cheesy, but there is a reason why the legendary Dale Carnegie dedicates and entire chapter in his cornerstone book How to Win Friends and Influence People.
As homo sapiens we are an incredibly social species. Our brains are hardwired to tune into social cues. Power, passivity, fear, mistrust, aggression, affection, love – we have expertly evolved to detect each of these (and many more) as a means to survive and thrive in the various social settings we have constructed. The smile is the simplest and most effective way to communicate trustworthy calm confidence. We are so well adapted to interpreting smiles and other facial expressions that we can quickly sniff out the fake smile from a real one. (To go further down the rabbit hole on smiling start with this article by Buffer)
Dale Carnegie was such a believer in the power of smiling that he recommended telemarketers to make it part of their sales technique, and the effects were immediate. Even over the phone we can elicit the power of the smile!
When you are entering the interview room or answering the call, don’t forget to smile. You are a confident and intelligent therapist who is comfortable in a variety of patient settings. Don’t let your deer-in-the-headlights look of terror get the best of you. Just take a deep breath, wipe the sweat off of your palms, and smile.
2. Speak slowly, clearly and confidently
During the 2008 Presidential election one of my most distinct memories was the manner in which our country was blown away by the oratory skills of a young Barak Obama. For the longest time I could not figure out how he was able to take ordinary words and almost wring them out for every last drop of meaning and emotion. Masses of Americans hung on every syllable and held their breath with every pause. It was, and is, masterful.
Now, Im not saying you have to be a master orator, and I am not recommending you do anything as extreme as the Greek philosopher Demosthenes, spending days reciting poetry with a mouth full of stones to improve pronunciation. You must simply speak slower, clearer, and more confidently that you otherwise would.
Let me break down these three for you:
Slower – cadence has a tremendous effect on the emotional message behind the words you are speaking. Rapidly answering questions and gasping for breath between sentences comes off nervous, itchy, and untrustworthy. Pausing, taking your time to formulate coherent sentences then speaking them in a calm assertive manner will convey precisely the message you are hoping to get across.
Clearer – The vast majority of us have advanced degrees and therefore should, by now, have learned to speak as such. However, for those of you who may not have learned along the way here are a few things to remember. Pronunciation matters. “Like” should only be used on Facebook. Colloquialisms and accents, while cute in the right setting, are (generally) not appropriate in the interview setting.
Confidently – For some reason the human ear ascribes confidence and dependability to the lower and slower speakers. Likely this is because in stressful situations our voice box tenses up creating a slightly more shrill and grating pitch than your normal voice. Learning to control your tone and even to lower it just slightly can help to improve the perception of confidence. – Disclosure: I have been trying to do this for years and am utterly terrible at it.
There is an amazing article on different strategies to improve your perception in interviews that can be found here. I definitely recommend it.
3. Its not all about you
Im sure we all remember high school English. Some frizzy haired lady in a sweater vest, hounding the class that “the most important thing to remember in writing is to Know Your Audience.” Guess what? Same thing with interviews.
True, you are the one being peppered with questions ranging from the mundane to the absurd, but really the sub context of the entire interview is – how do you fit their needs?
Throughout the interview process it is your job to not just present yourself well, but to present yourself as the answer to the problems they are having and the perfect person to attack any that may arise in the future.
4. Be interested
To steal another of Carnegie’s talking points: “To be interesting, be interested.”
Ask engaging questions. Everyones favorite topic to talk about is themselves, plain and simple. Find ways to engage your interviewer and be legitimately curious about who they are and who their company is. To do this effectively it might be a wise move to spend some prep time researching the clinic or hospital. Learn about their background, their mission statement, maybe even read their employee bios.
The more you can make your interviewer feel important to you, the more important you will feel to them.
5. Its a Two Way Street
In travel therapy world interviews are bidirectional. Yes, the clinic is deciding if you are the right therapist for them, but so too should you be making an equally important decision as to if this is the right job for you. Despite what your recruiter may think, not all jobs are the same. Therapists are not all homogenous beings and nor are therapy clinics. Some are fantastic, and others stinkers (clinics and therapists alike). Here are the main things to work out in an interview on your end.
Is this a job you want
As we have stated a couple of times on this site. Clinics need travelers for one of three reasons:
- The company is growing too fast to hire permanent staff
- They are in a difficult location to staff (rural, expensive, sketchy, etc.)
- The clinic is unable to hold on to current staff because they are poor as an organization on the whole.
You will want to attempt to sort all of this out during the interview as best you can. Often the combination of good interview questions and some Googling will lead you to a well informed answer.
How they can fill your 40hrs
One growing concern amongst the travel therapy crowd seems to be clinics only having 32-36 hours of work for their travelers. For some this may not be a problem at all. But for others with different financial goals/needs finding out that they are short 8 hours can be a slap in the face as not only is your taxable income less (less hours worked) but often your non-taxable stipend is pro-rated to meet your hours worked. The resulting loss of pay can be surprisingly substantial.
Do your best to feel out if they have full time hours for you to work, or if you could supplement patient care with some other task to provide value to the clinic to make up the time.
As you get ready for your next interview, remember these 5 things to not just land the job, but to ensure this is the job you really want!
Written by: Stephen Stockhausen
