The best candidates are the one who know exactly who they are.

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Introduce yourself to me! Who are you? I am Zaryab Khan, I’m a bachelors graduate and currently doing a job, that’s who I am. What! That’s it? Period, candidate goes black out, nothing comes in mind and loses the job. That is the dilemma that today we are facing. We all love ourselves pretend to be the best among people but when it comes to properly defining yourself everyone feels resistance and find it difficult. This is not a new trait among us but it has considered as legacy among the job seekers. All the job seekers in the market wishes to get the best job. This is what makes them under pressure.  They have high expectations from themselves and their family have expectations from them. So the job seeker not only face on sided pressure but from 360 degrees he faces pressure of expectations. Actually the candidate is going through so many situations and in his mind only that particular thing runs. He barely thinks about himself and about his expertise. But on the contrary companies don’t want depression patients, they want fresh and innovative minded people who can think about the company and who can become an asset for the company. How a company could consider to hire someone who don’t even know about himself. That is why most of the job seekers remain job seekers because of the peer pressure. Other who are free from that pressure finds good opportunities. So in order to pursue your dream job you have to put aside all your tensions and only think about filling that blank space. To know about oneself a person should possess the qualities of self-awareness and self-esteem.

Self-awareness refers to the capacity to become an object to one’s own attention. It can be achieved when the person focuses not on the external environment, but on the internal milieu; it becomes reflective observer, processing self-information. Going through this process the person becomes aware that it is awake and actually experiencing some mental events, emitting behaviors and possessing unique characteristics. Self-awareness has been described as a way to unlock our built-in competitive advantage, while improving the quality of work, employee loyalty and engagement rates. Employees who have taken time to explore this will be better equipped to find an employer which aligns their personal values. Those in leadership positions are much better at their jobs when they are more self-aware. The angry dismissive type of boss usually lacks self-awareness and losses staff quickly. A 2010 study by Green Peak Partners and Cornell’s school of industrial and labor relations of 72 executives in firms with revenues between $50 million and $5 billion found that “a high self-awareness score was the strongest predictor of overall success. This is not altogether surprising as executives who are aware of their weaknesses are often better able to hire subordinates who perform well in categories in which the leader lacks acumen. These leaders are also able to entertain the idea that someone on their team may have an idea that is even better than their own.” To develop self-awareness, you must be emotionally aware and or in touch with your feelings, so that you can manage them and evaluate them when necessary. Emotional intelligence is a critical factor in self-awareness. Displaying your emotional intelligence is more important than showing your IQ. This is because most interviewers will assume that if you have reached the interview stage you’ve already proven a certain level of IQ. Therefore, the interviewers will consider you to be trained for specific skills they need for the position. Like other candidates if you are typically nervous during an interview, recognize this emotion so you can manage it. Another important thing is your body language. Your body language demonstrates your confidence level. Ammy Cuddy gives an excellent TED Talk on how standing in a posture of confidence, even when you don’t feel confident and it will make you more self-assured. Our body language helps us to determine how we think and feel about ourselves. It’s obvious that our mind changes our bodies but our body language can change our mind and behavior which influence our outcomes. Interviewers want their new hire to be a new culture fit so there is less likelihood of turnover. Be authentic and specific in your talk during the interview. You should know your ability to answer. A self-aware person never leaves traces of where he lacks, he will always try to manage the situation when it seems to going out of his hand.       

It’s important to approach a job interview with a sense of self-esteem because this reflects a person’s overall subjective emotional evaluation of his own worth. It is a judgement of oneself as well as an attitude towards self. Self-esteem covers self-belief and emotion like pride and shame. When you approach a job interview, you will be much more relaxed if you have a sense of self-esteem. Your thinking will be clear and you will be in a position where you can showcase your accomplishments in a compelling manner. Self-esteem generates a sense of intuition in you. If you are faced with a n unexpected question, even one to which you don’t know the answer, you will be able to deal with calmly and professionally because of the confidence and belief you have in yourself. But not every candidate owns the high value of self-esteem. There are some actually many candidates whose legs starts to shackle when the time comes to meet with panel. This is called low self-esteem. And if you are one of the many other candidates who is battling against low self-esteem, your career is suffering as a result. Experts say that people with low self-esteem engage in subconscious behaviors that undermine their success making them less likely and less attractive for the position. Lois Frankel Ph.D., president of Corporate Coaching International identifies certain traits in individual with low work self-esteem. Usually they are people with low confidence who are risk averse.  They are less likely to take on meetings and challenging tasks which makes think superiors that you are ineffective. Low self-esteem may also manifest itself through body language and presentation. Sharon Fountain, President of the National Association for Self-Esteem points to uptake as a specific culprit. Which means, saying all your statements as though they are questions, showing the interviewer that you are confused and puzzled which makes you less confident. After taking a lot about dumb candidates owning a posture of low self-esteem there is a shiner side of this picture. That is, a dumb will always not be a dumb, specifically saying, this dilemma of low self-esteem can be overcome. You don’t have to take a course or do a workshop for that this is a regular process in your daily work life. Lois Frankel goes by the adage, fake it until you make it. This will not only convince your superiors but will also help you rejigger your thought process. Pretend like that you are the best person present right now for the job. When you own that gesture, this will show a positive and confident image of your persona. Show the world that you are successful and then you have work to prove it right. Changing less than ideal behaviors, like a propensity to stay mum in meetings, is another good idea. The first two to three people to speak during a meeting are seen as more self-confident says Frankel. Fountain emphasizes that self-esteem can be learned. It may sound silly but positive self-talk can be empowering.