Job seekers I've worked with recently have surprised me with their lack of preparation or effort in their job search. When you know you will be one of 10 or 20 or 100-plus applying or interviewing for a job, you must do everything you can do stand out in a good way, not a bad one. To convey you are the perfect fit, you should be very consistent in your message that ties your qualifications directly to the job requirements.

With this in mind, it may be hard to bolster your confidence and willingly jump into such a chaotic process that appears to have random luck, subjectivity, and critical judgment closely associated with the outcome.

So, why do we do it? Because we have to. Not many employers hire candidates for their key positions without meeting the person behind the resume. Herein lies the second question: If I'm a superstar on paper and meet all the requirements, why can't they just hire me based on my resume?

The primary goal of an interview is to determine if you are the most qualified candidate for the job. But a secondary goal is to determine whether you are a good fit with corporate culture and the others already working in the group. The way you approach the interview indicates more about you than you might think.

I have interviewed hundreds of candidates at Fortune 500 companies and small start-ups. Based on my experience, I offer this advice.

The Question

One of my favorite oxymorons: "greatest weakness." When in an interview, your job is to present all your strengths, why you're a great fit for the job, and how you could make an immediate impact to the company's success. But often during the discussion, you're asked about your faults, your skills lacking, your downside.

I've read many of the comments my past articles have prompted. Many job seekers are frustrated or upset with the process, the advice, and the results. I can't say I blame them. It is a tough process. And one we don't necessarily want to become an expert at through repetitive practice.

In the job search, you need to be careful about regifting yourself. This means to be selective about how you present yourself and to whom.

I recently had a friend ask me about an open position I was sourcing for a client company. She'd been told her department was being phased out, and she was actively searching for her next job. As much as I would have liked to submit her as a candidate, her background didn't provide quite the right fit. In our discussion she shared her experiences with me. There was definitely some overlap between her skill set and what the job required, but not an exact match, and she was definitely missing some key required skills. In essence, she was "regifting herself."

The bottom line is, hiring managers want to hire someone who is excited about the opportunity and truly wants to make a difference at the company. Those who are looking for "any old job" are typically weeded out during the screening process.

However, there is a way around this. You need to make a connection to the interviewer to make the interview a more comfortable experience for both of you.

Interviewing does not have to be an intimidating experience. Certainly there may some excitement about the prospect of landing a great new job. But in the end, if you are the right fit for the job, the pieces will fall into place.

There are many good interviewers representing companies out there. And, there are many who are not so good. Keeping in mind that the goal of an interview is to executing a comprehensive review of all relevant facts about the candidate, you would be surprised how many interviewers miss the mark.

Although this is a common fact, many job seekers lose sight of this during the critical stages of landing the job. They later find out they are paid less than colleagues in similar positions. The key to avoiding this fate is to be armed with information and be able to sell the value you bring.

1. The interview is not over just because you made a weak first impression.

You can overcome a weak first impression by quickly recovering your confidence and work on making a good impression throughout the interview. You need to temporarily pretend it did not happen and mush forward. Convince yourself you will deal with the slip-up toward the conclusion of the discussion as you "end on a high note." If you make a good LAST impression, the start of the interview will be forgotten (as long as you didn't set the table on fire or ask who the ugly kids were in the picture on the interviewer's desk).