Having a Positive Interview Experience...

Everyone I have ever dealt with gets nervous prior to their interview. It doesn’t matter where you are in your career and how many interviews you may have had in the past, nerves are always there and they are natural however there are many ways to help you calm your nerves prior to an interview.

An interview is supposed to be a positive experience

Remember, although you may feel nervous prior to going into an interview, it should be a positive experience. An interview is an opportunity for both parties to meet each other. The interviewer would want to know whether you have the skills and experience to fulfil the role as well as the personality fit for the company. On the other hand, you the interviewee are also there to interview the interviewer. You too want to ensure that the company is a good fit for you, the personality of the interviewer, the team members you may have met and the culture of the company is in line with your expectations. So bearing this in mind, your nerves should be at ease because it’s not just you in the ‘hot seat’. Remember, the company like you on paper, hence the reason they have invited you in for a face to face interview. You also like what you have seen so far, but now it’s about really understanding what you have to offer each other.

Preparation is key

I cannot highlight how important this is prior to any interview. Preparation is the key to success. The more prepared you are, the easier you will find the interview and the smoother it goes. If you are prepared about the company, what they do, have looked on social media sites to understand more about the teams and individuals that work there, even have an idea of how the teams are structured and what they enjoy in their social time, then you have alot more information about the interviewers and the company than they have about you. You have the upper hand in terms of company knowledge. Being prepared can help you tailor the responses to the key questions you will be asked at an interview. Most interviewers will ask you the same sort of competency based questions. Be prepared on your answers and back them up with examples. Know your CV inside out and have a thorough understanding of the clients requirements too so you can marry up the two.

The topic is YOU

The interview as mentioned before is to find out more about you and how you, your experience and knowledge relates to the role and their requirements. They clearly like you on paper so now its about impressing them with your experience face to face. The main topic of conversation is YOU and the only person who knows most about this topic is YOU. So every response to questions asked should be fairly easy to respond to as it’s all about you! They are not there to catch you out or make you look silly. They simply want to know about you and what you can do to help them and how you can fulfil their requirements by being YOU and only you are the expert in this topic.

 Confidence and Personality

So we have understood that the topic of conversation is you and the only person who knows about this topic inside out is YOU, so this in itself should give you the confidence of being able to talk about you in work context. For every interviewer, it is important to see your personality and how you would fit into the team structure. Employers also find it easier to employ someone that they like, can train/ mentor and see growth within their team. There are many things that can be done to help you with bringing your personality across at an interview which include:

-         Appearance. Make sure you look smart, clean and smell good. Look at your appearance and have attention to detail. Ensure you have a clean, ironed suit on, this all makes a difference. All these things contribute to your appearance and will help you feel confident in yourself.

-         Body Language. The way you sit says a lot about your confidence. Sit up, back straight and have good eye contact with the interviewer. It shows you’re confident and interested in what they have to say. It also shows you’re alert and smile. When you meet the interviewer, give them a strong hand shake whilst looking at them, again, this shows strength, confidence and maturity too. Remember, first impressions do count.

-         Break the ice. When you first meet your interviewer either at the reception area or in the interview room, you shake their hand whilst maintaining eye contact, then break the ice. You could mention how easy it was to get to the offices or how great the offices look. This allows you to start off the interview with ease without the awkward silence prior to the questioning. Remember they say that the interviewer makes a decision on whether they like you or not in the first 10 seconds. By presenting yourself confidently and building that rapport with them, they are bound to like you and it will make the interview more relaxed.

-         Questions at the ready. Have questions ready to ask. Asking intelligent questions  shows that you have as much interest in them as they have in you.

-         Next Steps. At the start, you should always ‘break the ice’, therefore, at the end you should also ‘close the interview’ so at the end, always find out what the ‘next steps’ are. Here you will gauge a lot of understanding as to what you think they may think of you.

No matter what the outcome of your interview may be, whether they felt you weren’t the right fit for the role, or they invite you in for a 2nd interview or straight to offer, by taking on board the above pieces of advice, one thing that you will surely get is a positive interview experience.

Simi Pandhal

Director

Lux Recruitment – Marketing Recruitment Experts

www.lux-recruitment.co.uk