“The toughest job market in decades” is becoming a cliche.  Tough or not, there is still a job market. The problem is, job candidates and potential employers are matching up for interviews in this market with the pressure of the Super Bowl without the pre-season warm-ups, early season matches and first-round playoffs.

Everything feels like it’s for all the marbles. 

Fortunately for all involved, while it may not feel like it when you’re walking through the thick glass door into the inner sanctum for the interview, you’re actually both on the same team, pulling for each other.

“Let’s make this work” is your shared team slogan.

So first, de-stress. Then focus on how to impress in the big game — er, interview.

Show Your Moves

Eamon Duede, in a recent post at HR-Worldview, noted that the tight job market is bringing out the competitive spirit in jobseekers.

According to Eamon, one job candidate sent a resume wrapped as a present and said his skills were a “gift to the company.” Another staged a sit-in in the lobby to get a meeting with a director. Still another candidate washed cars in the parking lot.

Bold moves? Yes — and ones that can pay off, like an unexpected long bomb to a wide-open receiver.

More conservative maneuvers speak well, too, and can help you break free from other candidates.

Cut-and-paste interview preparedness won’t cut it anymore, if it ever did. Interviewers lose interest quickly in jobseekers who don’t know the who, what, when and where. 

A wide receiver can’t expect to succeed just by running fast enough to catch bombs. He also needs to know the pass patterns.

Study the company; visit the Web site; know the products; check the history; put it in perspective with the future. Have something beyond a smile and a resume.

Share the Ball — and Don’t Give Up

Interviews are about give and take. Speak up; listen well; respond appropriately.  It sounds simple, but it takes focus.   

Sure, you’re prepared and you have some points to make. But you’ll need to think on the spot as well. Provide targeted information in response to questions, honoring the preparation of the interviewer. If some of the questions you anticipated aren’t asked, toss out your tidbits of information to keep the process going your way.

Much as you’d like to carry the trophy right out of the interview, it’s likely that in this tough economy employers will make slower hiring decisions.  Don’t wither and disappear. 

Send a follow-up e-mail with enough information that the interviewer will be reminded of how well your interview went. Be nice; say thanks. 

A snail-mail thank-you note will make a good impression, too. It sends the message that you really do want the job.

De-stress. Then, impress.

You probably won’t have to wash cars in the parking lot to get your next job, but indicating your willingness to do so sure won’t hurt.

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