Several changes come along with summer- kids are out of school, your home is full the entire day, you’re going on more vacations, and you may have summer hours. It’s hard to not let the fun of sunshine and warmer days get in the way of your everyday responsibilities. For many, the beach is calling, and it’s hard to focus on anything else!
For those of you interviewing this summer, here are the top 3 tips to help you keep your cool during this busy season.
- Eliminate Distractions:
For so many of us, with a full house during summer, there’s always interruptions! It’s so important to eliminate as many distractions as possible. A great tip for those of you interviewing at home is to have a universal sign that lets your family know you’re unavailable. That could be keeping your office door closed, or putting a sign up to let others know what your status is. It could also be establishing specific quiet hours that you and your household are all aware of. With so many interviews still being from home, having a sign to let others know to not disturb you is crucial.
- Keep It Professional:
Although summertime usually means being outside and wearing shorts and a t-shirt, always remember that interview settings, and attire don’t change with the seasons. Continue to wear business attire when interviewing and treat this virtual interview as if you’re meeting the interviewer in person. When it comes to the setting- be sure your video interview is still in a quiet place with a simple, and clean backdrop. Follow here for more video interview tips!
- Always Be Prepared:
With summer hours, or the next few months filled with vacations, it’s the perfect time to unwind, and relax a little. For someone who is actively seeking a new role, as nice as it would be to shut everything out completely, you still need to be prepared for an interview. If you are not wanting to interview while out of office, let the companies you’ve applied to know the dates you’ll be unavailable well in advance. If you’re going out of town but would still be free for an interview, be sure to take your laptop with you and pack a button-up, so you can still be as formal as possible. With how quickly companies are moving it’s not ideal to have to interview while you’re away from home, but staying prepared and having a flexible schedule will really put you ahead of your competition.
We know interviewing is never easy, and adding a busy summer schedule to that makes it even more difficult. We hope by sharing these tips, along with the other great resources and blogs we have on our site you’ll have no problem keeping your cool while balancing a full summer, and interviewing!
-Ashley