How to be Confident in an Interview

How to be Confident in an Interview

 

Job interviews fall in to the top ten categories for situations that intimidate you, make you nervous and situations that knock the confidence out of you.  Why? Because we have to sell ourselves to the employer, for many this is a new and highly intimidating time. For your job interview to go well you have to make you the product stand out from the other interviewees, to do this you need to ooze confidence.

These 5 tips will help you boost your confidence before your next interview giving you the winning edge over other interviewees.

  • Buy new interview clothes, we all feel better and more confident when were wearing something new and smart. Once dressed stand in front of the mirror and look at and note everything that looks good about you

 

  • Before your real interview, attend a fake job interview for a job you don’t want, use this experience to improve your interview skills. Look back and write a list of everything that went well for you and record a second list of what you can do to improve your chance of a job offer

 

  • Make a list with three headings; Skills, Qualities and Experiences. Under each heading record as many skills, qualities and experiences you possess that are required by the new employer. These are your key selling points that you need to discuss throughout the job interview

 

  • Complete an interview visualisation; imagine attending the job interview and everything goes as planned, you know the answers to the questions, you build rapport with the interview, you feel relaxed, calm and incomplete control. Go one step further and imagine you have been offered the job, see yourself working in this new organization, the boss appreciates your work ethic, your new colleagues respond well to your professionalism – imagine this is the job you have always wanted. This technique is used by professional athletes before Olympic events.

 

  • Before you step through the interview door, take 10 deep breaths, as this will allow you to relax. Once calm imagine you are a confident person, stand how a confident you would stand, hold your head up high and push your chest out a little and walk in, as a confident you would walk – own the interview

 

These 5 easy to complete techniques can make a real difference with your interview success as interviewers only want to employee confident employees. If you’re still worried about being a bag of nerves at your next job interview, you can boost your confidence while reducing your negative self esteem in just one day by learning how to be as confident as a comedian.

 

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Can You Answer Interview Questions?

Can You Answer Interview Questions?

To win job offers, you can’t just rely on your experience and skills, the trick to winning offers of employment is by your ability to answer interview questions. Below you will find ten interview questions and an explanation of how to answer them. To ensure you pass your next job interview Employment King have gone to the employers and asked them what they require as a successful answer.

Tell me about yourself

For this question give a brief introduction about yourself, think of a good opening line, be really positive talk about previous positions and any significant achievements – ensure what you talk about is relevant to the job you are applying for.

What are your strengths?

This is one of the most common questions you will be asked. Give an answer relevant to the skills and qualities relevant to the position you are applying to. The interviewer is trying to find if your strengths match the job. For example, if you are applying for a job where accuracy is an important issue, one of your strengths could be that you have an eye for detail.  It may useful to find different words to describe similar attributes and qualities in order to avoid repetition.

If your interview skills are lacking, you will want to book a session with an Interview Coach

What are your weaknesses?

Again, another commonly asked question.  A frequent mistake to make when answering this question is to say something negative like “I can sometimes let things get on top of me”. Be positive and sell yourself with every interview question, turn a negative into a positive. For example, “In the past I felt I needed to improve my typing skills, because I wanted to be the best I can so I have recently enrolled on a typing course”. This will show that you can identify your weaknesses but at the same time, you are willing to improve. Most importantly: do not mention a weakness that is any way related to the job you are being interviewed for! This might sound obvious but it is a common mistake!

What do you enjoy doing outside of work?

This is sometimes asked as an opening question to get you talking and to calm your nerves, a lot of people answer “Socialising with friends” “Playing on my computer” “Taking my family on day trips”. Whilst these are valid and honest answers they do not really bring anything to the table that is special, that makes you stand out.

If you can say that you volunteer you will be guaranteed to impress! Although this should be truthful! You can apply to volunteer in any area you like, ideally in a position relevant to the job you are applying for. Volunteering is seen as a positive activity by all employers, you only need to volunteer once or twice a month and when you can answer this question  with “Currently I’m volunteering for Oxfam, I really get al lot out of helping others…” you can see that there are few who wouldn’t be impressed with that answer.

Why did you leave you last job?

A dreaded question for many! When answering this question never give a negative answer.  “I did not get on with my manager” or “The management did not run the business well” will show you in a negative light and reduce your chance of a job offer. Answer the question positively, emphasising that you have been looking for a career progression. Start by telling the interviewer what you gained from your last job “I enjoyed my last job, I quickly learned how to multi-task…”

If you were made redundant, let the interviewer know, this is not a negative.

Where do you see yourself in 4-5 years time?

Tell the interviewer how you want to progress through their company, a manager does not want to be re-advertising and interviewing in a year’s time, do not infer that you may want to leave after a certain amount of time. “I am really keen to learn how your company operates; I can see myself attending any available training and using this knowledge and my own drive and ambition to work my way up the company.” It may be useful to see if there are any formal progression tracks or training programmes.

Why do you want to work here?

An interviewer knows you are applying for other jobs, you may be offered a job with this employer, start employment and then leave for another job offer. An interviewer would never say this affects who they pick (and a large amount of companies using a scoring system to stop this from happening). But would you offer someone a job if you thought that they weren’t fully committed to your company? Show the interviewer how enthusiastic you are about the job, industry and their company. “Your company has such a good reputation and I know you have the ‘Investors in People’ award and this impresses me. I have been following your company for the last couple of years and I have seen how you have grown and I feel I would like to be a part of this.”

Have you got any questions for me?

Most interviewers ask this question and generally towards the end of the interview. Remember to prepare for this, as asking questions will be a great end to an excellent interview. Ask about company expansion, the team you will work with and anything to do with new contracts and personal development/training.

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