Take up the challenge (and make a success of your interviews)

This week, Swiss Finance Recruitment dares you to take up these few challenges when you go for an interview. You can also try it with a video meeting. Although fun, these few challenges can have a positive effect on your verbal and nonverbal communication. Ready?

• Go through the whole interview without using the adjective “interesting”.

It's an all-purpose adjective, ultimately imprecise, which we generally use when we do not have a clear idea of the “why” of our motivation for a role. It can show a lack of preparation.

•  Place a silence of a few seconds during the interview.

Silence is powerful. Silence is the best start for negotiation and reveals self-confidence. In general, silence also encourages the person opposite to speak again, which generally reflects the type of person they are (empathetic, stressed, unruffled). This can be very instructive. However, pick the right timing because silence can quickly be perceived as inappropriate.

• Do not laugh.

Laughing is a natural technique to ease the atmosphere and relieve stress. Since the most stressed person is probably you, laughter mainly reveals your discomfort and possibly a lack of composure. Of course, smiling is still recommended.

• Do not repeat “thank you” more than twice.

Obviously, while remaining polite, it is important not to show excessive gratitude. We have observed that a candidate who says "thank you" to their interlocutor too often gives the impression that they are devaluing themselves. Classically this is what we observe in the very last minutes when it is time to say goodbye, so as to fill a gap in the discussion.

• Do not touch your face.

We all heard this one before. Touching your face creates a distraction. The hiring manager may lose focus on what you are saying. Putting your jaw back on your hand can reveal your uneasiness, just like scratching your head or mechanically putting a lock of hair behind your ear.

• Small talk: make it a useful moment and already score points.

During the inevitable small talk before and after the core interview, try to naturally place at least one relevant and useful topic/ statement that you have prepared in advance. You can read our article “Small talk big impact” to collect examples. The idea is to give a subtle glimpse of your potential, during a casual conversation.

 Challenge accepted?

Follow us on our Swiss Finance Recruitment page, and… good luck!