Close your eyes and you can visualize your mom (or aunt or grandmother) giving you some piece of advice on how to shape up your life. It was usually some warning that if you didn’t do something, like eat your vegetables or brush your teeth, you would suffer some dire, life-threatening consequence.
Even though we’ve become so sophisticated and digital and connected, Mom’s advice is sometimes the best and makes a big difference in success in life and a job search.
Here are some simple yet profound pieces of advice from my experience that have proved invaluable in life and can make a positive impact on your job search.
1. “Stand (sit) Up Straight.” How many times were you told at the dinner table, “don’t slouch? Sit up straight.”We were a family of eight, so we had a lot of dinners around the table and if you were slouching, you were invading someone else’s space. Slouching at an interview makes you appear disinterested, disrespectful or just plain rude – not the type of person a company wants representing the company to clients and customers.
2. “Eat Your Breakfast.” Don’t neglect nutrition and eating right during your job search. A steady diet of junk food or skipping meals will make you look haggard and sap your energy. Take a daily vitamin, drink lots of water and eat healthy. You’ll feel and look better, and be able to answer those tough interview questions.
3. “Get enough sleep.” Yawning or dozing off in the reception room before your interview will get back to the interviewer. Working till the wee hours of the morning to get those last few applications in may make you feel productive but can result in brain fog that can ruin an early morning interview.
4. . “If you can’t say anything good, don’t say anything at all.” This was a favorite of my mom’s, and it meant stay away from the negative. You never win by putting a co-worker or former boss down in an interview. You will come across as negative and judgmental. Take mom’s advice and keep things positive.
5. “Always wear clean underwear.” Now, unless you’re interviewing for a spot as a Victoria’s Secret model, no one should see your underwear at all. But dashing off to an interview at the last minute without a shower or with snags or tears in your clothes, buttons missing, or nails in desperate need of a good manicure, you may as well stay home. Like it or not, how you look makes the first and greatest impression.
6. “If you don’t believe in yourself, no one else will.” An interview is not place for self-doubt or insecurity. Take out limiting phrases such as “I will try…” or I was just…” or I think I can do…” Be proud of your accomplishments. You have just as much chance as anyone else at getting the job and besides, you deserve it! Look yourself in the mirror and give yourself a pep talk before you leave for an interview. Self-doubt is your worst enemy, not the other candidates. Get on your own side, and listen to your mother!
Mary Nestor-Harper, SPHR, is a consultant, blogger, motivational speaker and freelance writer for educationjobsite.com. Based in Savannah, GA, her work has appeared in Training magazine, Training & Development magazine, Supervision, BiS Magazine and The Savannah Morning News. When she’s not writing, she enjoys singing Alto II with the Savannah Philharmonic Chorus and helping clients discover what they love and spend their life on it. You can read more of her blogs at www.educationjobsiteblog.com and view additional job postings on Nexxt
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