Don't Go to an Interview Without This One Item

We all know the basic interview and job search tips that have been endlessly written about. Nowadays there are many steps you must take in advancing your career. First you must network amongst your friends and colleagues in order to get your foot in the door for an interview at your desired companies. Then you must have the properly formatted and worded cover letter and resume. After you have accomplished these tasks, you must know how to answer the tricky interview questions. Don't forget to wear the right clothing.

Congratulations, you have succeeded in attaining the above prerequisites to the job interview. Now it's time to assemble your binder. This binder will contain everything you need to give your interviewer but it's not the same as just handing over your resume.

Your binder will have a huge impact on the hiring manager knowing how serious you are about working at this company. There are 5 parts to the binder. Put the pages of the binder together in this order:

The Cover Page of the Binder. This page will be formatted with your name on the top line, the company name on the second line and the position you are interviewing for on the third line. Make sure you use all capital letters and bold print and that the font is at least 36. Then center the three lines on the cover page. Here is what the cover page will look like:

JOHN SMITH
ABC COMPANY
ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE

The second page will be a list of answers to the question: "Why John Smith as Account Executive at ABC Company". This page is an extra boost to the hiring manger's ability to visualize you in the position. Under the heading, make sure to list at least seven to ten reasons why you should be hired for the job. Some examples to use would be telling how many years you have worked for a particular company if it is more than 5 years. This shows loyalty. List any awards that you have received. State that you can work independently and without supervision. Mention that you trained new employees. These are just a few of the items you can put on the list.

The third page will list the particular skills that will contribute to your success in the new job. This page should have a heading titled "John Smith - IBM Account Executive Skills". Although your skills are listed in your resume, this page is easier to read and your skills will be listed in bullet point format. Try to format your skills to fit into one page and make sure the entire page is bold and italicized. This page will almost always be discussed in your resume so it gives you an opportunity to showcase your skills in a list format.

The fourth page is your list of references. Try to fit the references on one page. You really just need the reference's name, company, position and email and/or phone number.

The fifth page is your resume.

When you have compiled the pages, insert them into a report cover with a clear front. This way, you have a nice little binder to take with you and it will have a positive visual impact on everyone who interviews you. Good luck!