Richman: Put aside perfectionism, be honest and be yourself
Richman: Put aside perfectionism, be honest and be yourself
There's such a thing as too much practice. If it's your style to get it just right or to do it perfectly, you may be overdoing a good thing and turning it into ...
Julie (not really her name), a perfectionist by nature, who was unsure of herself when it came to interviewing. So she did what she had done in the past: She practiced. She knew that a steady smile was important, so she practiced smiling and became so good at it she could smile while talking, chewing and swallowing. She knew that a pretty smile was important, so she whitened and brightened, scrubbed and rubbed her teeth so that they actually glowed in the dark. She knew that how she stood and how she sat and how she moved from spot to spot was important, so she practiced that, too. She combined her sparkling, every present smile with her gliding grace, and was ready to present herself to her hiring public. Regrettably, she focused more on how she looked than what she thought, and got a 10 on presentation and a zero on content.
If it looks too good to be true, it probably is, as in the example of …
Tom (not really his name), who wanted a job in the worst way, so that's how he went about getting one. He googled "résumés," found examples of star performers and made those résumés his own. If Ivy League schools were the ones to attend, then ... copy, paste, click ... and those were the ones he attended. If becoming a company officer in five years was a sign of greatness, then ... copy, paste, click ... and mission accomplished.
Tom was getting interviews with almost every submission. Employers couldn't get enough of this bright young man until they did. Young Tom was all hat, no cattle, and he couldn't figure out what he was doing to give himself away. So he did the only thing he knew to do. He just tried harder to be who he wasn't.
And if you're afraid to be yourself, you won't get very far, as in the case of …
Conrad (not really his name, either) wouldn't take a step without knowing where it would lead, and he wouldn't express an opinion unless he knew how it would sound. Conrad was a careful sort who didn't venture outside his comfort zone. His comfort zone was about as big as a bread plate. Suffice it to say that Conrad was having trouble in his interviews.
"Hello, Conrad," said the interviewer, a pleasant young man with a serious frown. "How are you today?"
Conrad, thrown by the question, didn't know how to respond. If he said, "Fine, sir, and how are you?" then he might appear more confident than he felt and terribly assumptive, answering a question with another question. If he told the truth, that his knees were knocking and his hands were shaking, he would surely give himself away. So Conrad sat, a frozen smile attached to his otherwise immobilized mouth, and waited for the pleasant but serious man to ask the next question.
Joyce Richman is a speaker and career coach conducting seminars and workshops throughout the United States, and the author of "Roads, Routes & Ruts: A Guidebook for Career Success." You can reach her at 288-1799 or JERichman@aol.com. Watch Richman's latest career advice Wednesdays at 6:35 a.m. during "The Good Morning Show" on WFMY News 2. You can find this column online by visiting www.TriadCareers.com/whois/joyce_richman .
