Interview Tips That Will Help You Get A Role, or in Squaddie Speak, The Rule of P’s

Here are my thoughts on what you need to do once you have got an interview and before you show up, as a little prior preparation and planning will certainly boost your chances and help you get that role.

?

Therefore, prior preparation and post-interview best practices can increase your chances of landing your dream job.

?

In a good interview, you’ll share your professional story and ask insightful questions, coupled with excellent communication – both verbal and nonverbal – is critical for success.

?

The information below will help you to maximise your chances in an interview. A good/outstanding interview can help you stand out from other applicants with similar skills and talents.

?

But your time is limited, and it can be challenging to show you have the skills and abilities employers want and the emotional intelligence that makes you an ideal fit for the position.

?

So, remember the rule of P’s and use some of the specific skills and techniques that can help you shine at your interview, calm your nerves, (and after 25+ years in this role, I still get them, trust me), and demonstrate your ability to form a real connection with the people you meet.

?

I will just run through 6 interview skills that I use that can possibly you get that role you want.

?

Your interview is a chance to highlight your hard and soft skills and prove you’re the right candidate for the role and because the stakes are high, preparing an interview plan will help boost your confidence and enhance your communication skills to ensure you’re presenting the best version of yourself.

?

So, practice the 6 essential interview skills below to help you nail your next job interview.

?

1. Making sure you understand the interview questions during the job interview.

?

Most people are hesitant to ask an interviewer to clarify a question, as they may be concerned the interviewer will think they’re being inattentive or not listening. However, ensuring you thoroughly understand the question can help you give a thoughtful, relevant response. “Try to paraphrase the question and say, ‘Is this what you’re asking?'” can be useful, but don't use too often.

?

You also can use question clarification as an opportunity to turn the tables on interviewers and ask them questions. By treating the interview like a two-way conversation and asking intelligent and thoughtful questions, you can gauge whether the company is a good fit for you.

?

You should pose questions that will ultimately provide you with deeper insight into the company’s values, culture and even challenges, for example, you can ask an interviewer how they mapped their own career path within the company. You can also ask interviewers to describe a typical day or highlight qualities that make someone successful in the organization.

?

2. Thinking out loud during the job interview.

A common job interview mistake many candidates make is to try and stall when they don’t have a ready answer to a question, or responding with “I don’t know,” thinking aloud is an excellent tactic for combating this problem.

?

A good approach is to have humble confidence, by repeating the interviewer’s question, and work through your thought process out loud and you never know, the interviewer may give you a hint if you’re actively thinking instead of stalling as good people generally like helping people.

?

3. Nonverbal communication during the meeting.

?

You’re communicating with the interviewer even when you’re not speaking, so therefore it is critical to be aware of your body language and work on ways to keep it under control to appear calmer and more confident, i.e. no nervous ticks like bouncing your leg during the meeting.

?

Good nonverbal communication speaks volumes about you, and it is something most of us don’t practice, but it can make it very obvious you’re nervous or unsettled.

?

A way round this is to conduct mock interviews with a friend or in front of a mirror to practice your eye contact, posture, and other body language confidence indicators.?

?

As there’s no quicker way to kill an interview than to come across disinterested, bored or unengaged, and by having an opportunity to practice and get feedback, both good and bad, will help you overcome the little nuances of your interview persona that you may not be aware of and try and build on the good ones and remove the bad ones before you show up.

?

One way I found I could keep my body language under control was to take a couple of deep breath before I stepped into the interview and I tried to ensure I kept my breathing deep and steadily, which helped me to keep my body feeling more in control and try to keep a lid on my anxiety levels, it works for me.

?

4. Know your CV before your job interview.

You have probably put a lot of time and energy into building your CV, but do you know it inside and out? While your CV speaks for itself, you will be able to add to your credibility when you can easily provide measurable specifics about the accomplishments documented in it.

?

Wherever you can, include a statistic to put your accomplishments in perspective as it is much more compelling to say you delivered training to more than 120 students per month and achieved a 75% pass rate, instead of saying you provided training to students.

?

Whatever your contributions were, quantifying them will legitimize your accomplishments.

?

5. Bring real life situation into your job interview.

?

Hiring managers can collect bits and pieces of information from social media and your resume, but these won’t always represent you accurately. During the interview you have the opportunity to create a more complete narrative of who and what you can offer.

?

The interview is basically your opportunity to tie everything together and tell a cohesive and compelling story about yourself and using short stories/examples that tell a story of your accomplishments and your career, that can be tied into the needs of the employer is considerably more compelling than a disjointed list of past job responsibilities and a description of your skills and can bring some real-life experience to the interview.

?

6. Use your knowledge about the company and the people you are going to meet during the interview.

?

Everyone who is going for an interview knows they should thoroughly research the company and position they’re interviewing for. But using that information to your advantage is just as crucial.

?

It can be very impressive when you can talk about why you are a good fit for the role, as well as highlighting what is going on in the company’s community.

?

Using LinkedIn to research the hiring manager and anyone else you might be speaking to can give you an understanding of their background and potentially find some common ground to spark a discussion and build rapport.

?

Additionally, following the company on Facebook and Twitter and setting a Google alert to receive notices whenever the company appears in the news will help you thoroughly research the company and its industry. By immersing yourself in this information, you can shape interview responses and talking points that speak specifically and intelligently to the business you want to join.

?

Therefore, Key Takeaways

Websites are a great first step when you’re researching a company, but go past the website landing page and go to the About and Press pages, that way you will be able to familiarize yourself with recent company news and the company culture and hopefully you can give examples of where you can fit into the company, and speaking as if you are already a member of the team can also give a very positive impression.

?

Before and after the interview

Here are some useful steps to take before and after the interview to set yourself up for success.

?

Before the job interview, you should do the following:

?

• Make a checklist - Using the above tips, make a checklist of areas you want to improve before your interview.
• Schedule time – and enlist help – for question-and-answer rehearsals. Practice your body language and breathing.
• Review your CV - While reviewing your CV before the interview, look carefully for errors, vague ideas or confusing phrases. A second set of eyes never hurts, either.
• Get specific about the position. Give some real thought to the specific attributes you know you can bring to the position you’re applying for. Similarly, understand and be ready to articulate exactly what about this company or organization appeals to you.
• Prepare real-world anecdotes. Have some anecdotes ready to illustrate how you’ve used specific skills or talents in the real world. It’s one thing to say you can do something; it’s better to show ways you’ve already done it.

?

After the job interview, you should do the following:

?

• Follow up. Follow up with a post-interview thank-you letter within a day or two. Keep it brief but personalize it by mentioning a positive detail of your interview discussion that you appreciated.
• Be concise in after-interview communications. In any communication with an interviewer, never gush, complain, or go on at length about anything – and certainly not about how much you want the job. It’s OK to reiterate your interest in a broader context, but more than that will seem like pestering – or, worse, desperation.
• Stay patient. Your interviewer will likely give you a timeline for when you might hear from them. Beyond your thank-you note, in most circumstances, don’t make multiple inquiries. Instead, wait until the given time has elapsed to reach out again.
• Relax. You’ve done the hard work and followed up appropriately. Now, give yourself a break by keeping busy with something else. This will keep you from obsessing over something outside your control while fostering a more relaxed demeanour if the hiring manager contacts you.

?

Conclusion.

?

Preparing for a job interview can be a lot of work, but if you use the rule of P’s this will pay dividends during your interview. Focus on specific areas where you need the most improvement to make sure your confidence is at its highest level when it’s time for you to go in.

?

If you can project the feeling of confidence and being comfortable during the process, i.e. picture a swan swimming, all regal above the water, but its legs going like the clappers below, then you are on a good start, and if you feel when you have left the interview you have done the best you can do, then even if they turn you down, you are still a winner and if you can learn from it, then you will be even better the next time!

?

If you need more information or help, please feel free to reach out to us at Ex-Mil Recruitment Ltd?