7 tips to portray confidence in a job interview

Well done! You impressed the hiring manager with your amazing resume and scored a chance for an interview! All that remains is for you to show up on the day of the interview and impress everyone on the interview panel with your abilities.

Interviewers love it when candidates are confident during interviews. A confident candidate can play the interview to their best advantage and make the interviewer want to hire them. If you manage to be confident through your interview, you will be telling the interviewer that you are a confident person who is also capable of doing her job right.

Here are seven great tips for an excellent interview performance :

1. Making eye contact is important

Don’t feel uncomfortable or embarrassed when you make eye contact with your interviewers. Eye contact is very important when you want to grab the attention of the person you are talking to. However, you must make sure that your eye contact is natural looking, not forced.

2. Mind your body language

Body language is the way to ooze confidence in an interview. Position your body ideally so that you look frank and relaxed at all times during the interview. Avoid defensive, aggressive, or arrogant poses when you sit. Never hunch your shoulders or cross your arms when you sit, as it may make you look smaller. Sitting straight with your back upright and arms open makes a great impression.

3. Practice a relaxation technique

For nervous candidates, relaxation techniques are great ways to calm their nerves before an interview. Taking deep breaths in through your nose and letting them out slowly through your mouth will help you achieve mindfulness. This will be useful when you want to have a clearer mind to answer interview questions.

4. Don’t fidget

Fidgeting on your seat during an interview is like raising your hand and saying, “Look at me, I am nervous.” Avoid fidgety behaviors such as tapping your hands or feet, fixing your hair all the time, playing with objects such as a pen, or touching the table too many times. Keep your hands on your lap to achieve better control of your body when you are nervous.

5. Practice a firm handshake

Your handshake doesn’t need to be strong enough to break someone’s fingers. However, a firm handshake is an indication of your confidence . A good handshake will let the interviewer know that you are confident in yourself.

6. Avoid talking too fast

Talking fast is an indication of nervousness. Especially during an interview, it is imperative that the people who listen can follow what you are saying and grasp the important information. Take the time to slow down and not rush through your speech. Take short pauses before you speak. Also, don’t be afraid to ask the interviewer for clarification when in doubt.

7. Be prepared for interview questions

There are many kinds of things an interviewer can ask you. A simple google search will reveal so many types of interview questions to practice before the big day. Here are a few questions for you to prepare answers for before you attend the interview:

• Tell me about yourself
• What are your biggest strengths?
• What are three things you love about company A?
• What would you do as a manager in X situation?
• What is your greatest weakness?
• What is your greatest professional achievement so far?
• STAR method interview questions
• How would you describe company Y?
• Behavioral interview questions