Establishing Rapport
by ResumeEdge

With your qualifications and perhaps the help of a friend, you have secured your opportunity to sell yourself. Your ability to connect with the interviewer can cinch the job. Making a good impression on your interviewer requires more than dressing sharply, polishing your shoes and being polite. From the moment you come in sight of the interviewer, you begin the elusive process of connecting.  Studies show that people tend to remember events better when they are linked with an emotional impression. Whether the feelings associated with an event are positive or negative, emotional connections make the event salient, helping us remember things more clearly. Making a memorable impression on the interviewer depends on your ability to connect with the interviewer. It helps if your personalities click and you both love to rock climb, or if you discover you both share the same alma mater and deeply admire Alan Greenspan. It helps if you have something in common. With some practice, you need not rely on external or circumstantial points of mutual reference in order to establish a good rapport with the interviewer. At a minimum, you can expect that the interviewer wants you to understand and appreciate what she is saying-her goals and concerns, position, expectations and needs.  You can generate good vibes and emotions when you actively listen to the interviewer. This does not mean that you need to ask her about her childhood or her greatest fears. Your interviewer does not need you as a confidant. She just needs to feel like you are an attentive and engaged interviewee. So, when you find yourself facing your interviewer across a table (after you have made certain no stray particles blemish your otherwise radiant smile), you can be certain she wants to be listened to and respected. Active listening skills you can employ to connect with your interviewer: