3 reasons why you should treat a job interview like a date

3 reasons why you should treat a job interview like a date3 reasons why you should treat a job interview like a dateSometimes a job interview is little more than a formality youll be subjected to perfunctory questions meant to vaguely survey your emotional state and knack for punctuality, but little will be accomplished beyond this. When done correctly, an interview is a learning opportunity shared between employee and employer. The employers gain is the one most often referenced, that is to determine if a candidates particular assets will be of use to their firms objectives. But theres something to be gained for the employee as well. Instead of submitting to a pass or fail mindset when entering an interview, consider appraising it more like a date. Some would-be suitors are resolute failures, but more often than not, you meet perfectly fine people that you simply arent compatible with. Jobs offers are no different. Its a disservice to both yourself and your qualifications to view th ings any differently. Professional chemistry should matter just as much to you as the employer thats appraising you. The execution matters Even if youve established yourself as a competent, eligible applicant to a potential employer, chances are youre not the only one who has done so. The interview stage is the first and most opportune stage recruiters have to demarcate the quality of the eager herd. The easiest way to help them accomplish this on your end is to accentuate all of the individual things about you. Some of these things might not be relevant to the job strictly speaking.Follow Ladders on FlipboardFollow Ladders magazines on Flipboard covering Happiness, Productivity, Job Satisfaction, Neuroscience, and moreA lot of advice columns on the subject have a rigid definition of personality, one that suggests the applicants use a lot of hand gestures and cracks a joke or two. If youre a Type A personality, finger gun it up and pun until youre blue in the face. If youre a depres sive with anxiety and bony jittery fingers, maybe rethink your approach. Trust me. Everyone has tried to play a part to impress someone on the first couple of dates. Both parties are all the more miserable for it sooner than later. Its emotionally taxing to pretend to be someone youre not, and its a colossal waste of time for the person being bamboozled. The same goes for employment. Maintaining the false persona you presented during your interview just to secure the gig will ensure that you are never satisfied with your work, LiveCareer, reports The stress alone is likely to spoil any enjoyment you would otherwise get out of the job. Simply keeping your deceptions straight so that you dont contradict yourself will be a challenge. Remember the old saying, Oh, what a tangled web we weave, whenever we attempt to deceive.Again, if you are a pessimistic sad sack or a nebbish, or youre generally terse, or any version of being not commonly associated with endearing, its all about conversi on. Emulating Will Smith or Don Draper isnt the only breed of charming and shyness doesnt have to as a rule mean introversion. There a myriad of epigrammatic ways to flaunt the unique aspects of your personality. Sometimes an office can use a grim, hard-working cubicle goblin.The appeal of resoluteness Theres nothing less attractive in a partner than Ill take whatever I can get energy.A suitor wants to know that theyre more than just a warm body meant to fulfill a biological obligation. Moreover, evidencing resoluteness implies self-respect. When applying for work, a good way of standing out in a sea of similarity abled applicants is to advertise a sense of resolve you could have applied to a hundred places, but you chose to apply to this one for a reason advertise that. If you know what you want from a company, you will be better equipped to inform them why you are able to offer them what they need. A firms mission and values are often vital factors when searching for new team memb ers. According to a Millennial Branding study, 43% of HR professionals believe cultural fit is the most important quality job seekers can have during the hiring process.No stock answersTheres a reason why youve never heard a non-actor say Did it hurt? at any bar ever. Its because its a stock cliche, cheeseball line that hasnt worked since Taft was president. Why dont we apply this voreingestellt to job interviews? How does an employer decide between 80 variations of working too hard is my biggest weakness?AJ Frost of The Muse adds,You have to remember that these people (and they are real live people) hear the same answers over and over again. So nothing will make them sit up faster and listen to you than a surprising answer. And that means youve got a significant advantage over all the other candidates who gave perfectly satisfactory, but perfectly boring answers.A perfect job interview is one that ends with both employee and employer knowing exactly why it will or wont work out and the only way to ensure that is by being honest and creative, (unless youre a functioning alcoholic or something, then you should definitely lie.)