COSMOPOLITAN July 2015 71
OF LINKEDIN USERS
NOW REPORT 500+
CONNECTIONS41
stay positive
$$$
COSMO INTERVIEW GUIDE
WILL I GET
FREE STUFF?
Jaime Maser,
Founder, Maser
Communications “I was once
interviewing at a fancy beauty
company in NYC and asked what
free perks they had. What was I
thinking? The interviewer looked
at me like I had three heads!”PSYCH OUT
Asha Sharma,
chief marketing
offi cer, Porch.com
“I was interviewing for an
internship at a tech company, and
I felt so out of my league. When
the interviewer didn’t respond
positively right away to one of my
answers, I kept expanding on it. I
nervously rambled on for an hour
without allowing her to talk! I’m
sure I made her feel uncomfortable.
Attitude is as important as aptitude.
Own the room, or it’ll own you.”WRONG
ANSWER
Rebecca
Mieliwocki, 2012
National Teacher of the Year “In
one Teacher of the Year interview,
a panel of top education experts
grilled me. I bombed a question- the woman who posed it crinkled
her nose and leaned back in her
chair to speak. But as I was tanking,
I kept moving forward. It’s OK to
miss a couple of questions.”
%
TALKING SALARY IS IMPORTANT.
BUT DON’T MAKE IT YOUR FIRST
QUESTION, SAYS MEAHAN
CALLAGHAN, SEEK GROUP HR
DIRECTOR. IF THERE IS ONLY ONE
INTERVIEW IN THE PROCESS THEN
IT WOULD BE APPROPRIATE AT
THE END OF THE INTERVIEW TO
ASK WHAT THE REMUNERATION
PACKAGE IS FOR THE ROLE.123
NIGHTMARE
COMMUTE
Rita J King,
co-director,
Science House “On the way to
an interview, I hit a traffi c jam and
was sweaty and frazzled when
I arrived 15 minutes late. The guy
interviewing me was laid-back
about it, but it still clouded the
conversation. Ever since then,
I budget an extra hour to get
to an interview or meeting.”MORTIFYING
MEAL
Rachel Sklar, CEO/
founder, TheLi.st
“After a morning of interviewing
at a big law fi rm, two associates
took me to lunch. I ordered a Bloody
Mary, thinking it would make me
seem mature and worldly. But then
the associates had soda water. I
was mortifi ed! To make it worse,
I ordered a pizza, which turned
out to be enormous and impossible
to eat politely. Now, I always defer
to the interviewer to set the tone,
including ordering fi rst, and I
choose a nice, safe salad.”Be prepared
It’s important to show
that you take the
opportunity seriously
and the best way to
demonstrate this is
to go into the
negotiation prepared.
You’ll have little
conviction if you can’t
communicate clear
examples of why
you are valued at a
certain salary, or how
what you’re asking
for is realistic based
on the market.Make it
professional^
When negotiating a
salary, make the
conversation about
your professional
value, not your
personal needs. A
hirer needs to know
what value you’re
going to bring to the
company through
your expertise and
experience so they
can make a call as to
whether you’re
worth the salary.Be f lexible:
if you’re of value to
the company they’re
going to want to
keep you happy, but
not all businesses
are able to pay the
salary you may want
for various reasons.
So, if you’re keen on
the job, be fl exible
to other benefi ts.
This could include
free onsite parking,
a laptop, training
opportunities or
fl exible hours.Sheryl Sandberg recalls, “A young woman I met
had been doing nothing but job searching for
months, yet nothing was working out. In hindsight,
she wonders if employers sensed her misery. It
was only when she started volunteering that she
found something to be excited about. Three weeks
later, she got a job. The takeaway? Continue to
grow as a person – it will help you stay optimistic
and develop your strengths as a candidate.” #And if at first you
don’t succeed...
WORDS BY LIZ PLOSSER; JULIA NAUGHTON. EDITED BY SARA AUSTIN. EXCERPT FROM
LEAN IN FOR GRADUATES
BY SHERYL SANDBERG. STATISTICS SOURCE: PWC.COM/FEMALEMILLENNIAL. PHOTOGRAPHY BY TOBY BURROWS
OF FEMALE
MILLENNIALS
WANT TO WORK
OUTSIDE THEIR
71 HOME COUNTRY%