19.

Know Who Matters

In an interview, the only person who truly matters is the one doing the hiring. Your job is to make that person comfortable with the idea of having you join her team. So you want to thoroughly research the company. Learn what it does and what it's planning—and how you can help it achieve those goals.

Take the attention away from yourself and your needs and focus on what you can do for the people you're talking to. Talin Koutnouyan, with whom I worked at Woodbury University, explained what a difference this “service” approach made for her:

After I shifted my way of thinking, I walked into every interview giving off the vibe that I was there to serve and exert all my effort for them. Today, I got a call telling me I had three offers from three different interviews. Not only that, but since all of the employers I had interviewed with were aware of the number of offers I had, I chose the position that best matched my skills and had the most competitive pay of the three.