It's Better to Look Up

The practice interview process helped me to better understand the common mistakes that each of us make when speaking with our potential future employers, as well as the good things that we all do but were unaware that we did them. I learned from one of my peers that looking up is better than looking down. I thought that when he started to mention the fact that I look up in order to break eye contact, he was going to say that it was awkward, but instead stated that looking up was more of a natural way of breaking eye contact. I learned from my peers that looking down makes the interviewer believe that you are uncertain about what you are sharing with them. Confidence is key!

One thing that I did poorly was that I lost my train of thought a few times. I was too concerned about saying everything that I had prepared for the interview that it appeared as though I didn't know what to say. I was told that my word choice that I used for several of my answers was very professional and that it would have impressed a future employer.

The best interviewing advice that I could give to someone preparing for this important step is to find ways to show off your personality to your interviewer. When there are many qualified people applying for one position, I think that a great personality will set apart the future employee from the rest of the group. Sharing personal experiences, what you've learned and how you will apply it to future endeavors, will help the interviewer to see who you truly are and what you can give to the company, and it will help them to see that you are only human.