Be Passionate on Your Job Interviews

By Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter

Whether you are doing a video or phone interview or being interviewed in person, one of the most engaging qualities a job applicant can display is passion.

In the context I am using the word, passion can be described as:

a strong or extravagant fondness, enthusiasm, or desire for anything: a passion for music. *

The passion displayed for your work usually expresses itself as excitement or eagerness which when contrasted with “coolness” which can be interpreted as antipathy or indifference makes passion a more desirable behavioral characteristic to express.

Now to be clear, I am not asking you to say, “Oh! I am passionate about what I do!” I am inviting you to be passionate as you speak about what you do and have done.

Being excited, being passionate is fun. It’s certainly more fun than being bored.

As Richard Nelson Bolles, author of “What Color is Your Parachute?”, maintains, landing a job once you get to the dreaded interview table is all about being enthusiastic and showing that to a prospective employer.

As he wrote:

“Why is enthusiasm so important during the job interview?

“You better be darn well interested in the interviewer and company. It’s deadly when you go to interview at a place, (and) you really don’t care if you get the job there or not.

“The key is enthusiasm. Let’s say you’re somebody who is over 50, a baby boomer. What employers are looking for is they want to see energy. That comes from being fascinated by what you’re doing. You can hardly wait to get to work and have at it.

“Lean forward in your chair, ask intelligent questions about the place and interview in places where you think you would love the work.

 

* Source http://dictionary.reference.com

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