Excelling interview skills

Editor's Notes

• #6: Interviewers are not trying to catch you out. In most instances they want you to be at ease, because when you are relaxed, you will speak more fluidly and it is easier for them to learn about you and your potential to be successful in the role.
• #7: Other Important Points: Remember that your potential employer may have received many applications for one vacancy, so the Interview panel will skim read and match the Resume experience(If Any Required) with the job specification, so tailoring your Resume to the job is essential to ensure you get an interview. Avoid abbreviations and words that you wouldn’t normally use. Make sure you have ensured your dates flow, if you changed jobs and had an extended holiday, make sure to write this down and what you gained from the experience, avoid gaps in dates. If you have a relatively good work experience, then prepare a CV not Resume of minimum 2 Pages. Bullet points are an effective way of highlighting your achievements in work, university or voluntary work. If you are a fresh college graduate, have your resume of 1 page but not more than 2 pages. Write references only if asked.
• #11: A competency is a behavior that you must have or be able to acquire to be effective in the role. The majority of companies will break down each vacancy into a number of core competencies and the interview panel will ask questions that require the candidates to show evidence of demonstrating them.
• #13: Try and have two to three examples of each competency prepared which will ensure you have a very thorough approach.  
• #14: The most important aspect is to dress appropriately for the role you are applying for. Applying for a position in a coffee shop is a lot different to applying for a role in a law firm. The best way to find out what the type of appropriate clothing to wear to the interview is to do a 10 minute stalk out of the organization and see what the employees are wearing. This way you can’t go wrong. Studies have shown that the colors you decide to wear in an interview can actually make a difference. In the competitive world we live in you need to ensure that you take every advantage you possibly can.
• #15: Different colors evoke different emotions and it is imperative when you’re interviewing that you evoke the right emotions from the interviewer. Know your audience and dress accordingly.
• #16: What NOT to do during the phone interview: • Don’t eat, drink, chew gum • Do not smoke • Don’t interrupt the interviewer • Don’t answer with just a “yes” and “no”- elaborate your answers, provide examples if applicable • Don’t be too casual/informal • Don’t use long-winded answers to questions
• #17: There are a number of questions you are almost guaranteed to be asked at an interview, so it makes sense to give them some thought beforehand. You don’t want your answers to be rehearsed to the point of being robotic, but you do want to know the key points you want to communicate. Above are some of the common questions asked at an interview.
• #18: The absolute wrong answer to give to the weaknesses question is ‘I don’t think I have any weaknesses.’ Someone who responds this way is only advertising their arrogance and their lack of self awareness, ironically two real weaknesses!
• #19: The wrong way to answer this question is ‘to be sitting in your chair doing your job.’ Even when said in a humorous way, you will still come across as a little arrogant and it also shows you have not prepared for the question.
• #20: The clue to answering the motivation question is in the word ‘motivation’ itself. The first part of the word, if we add in an ‘e’ is ‘motive,’ why something is important to you. If we add a ‘c’ to the second part of the word we have ‘action.’ So, what’s important to you about your work/career? Reflecting on this question will help you shape your answer to the motivation question. How would you answer that question right now? The above mentioned are the factors that often figure in candidates’ answers.
• #21: If your main reason for applying is because you are thinking to leave, what you consider to be a toxic working environment, for example, you dislike your current manager, best to keep that to yourself. Complaining about your current or past employer, will not serve you at an interview, focus instead on the future and why you feel the company is a good match for you at this stage in your career.
• #22: Knowing the basic information contained on the company’s website is the minimum that is expected in response to this question. If the company has been in the news recently you would also be expected to be aware of this. For senior positions, knowledge of the industry as well as social and economic issues impacting the company would be required.
• #23: Examples of questions to ask - ‘What training will the successful candidate receive?’ ‘Who would I report to?’ ‘To be considered a success in this role, what would the successful candidate need to achieve in the first six months?’  ‘When will I hear about the outcome of this interview?’ Of course you don’t need to ask a question, but there are ways you can use this time at the end of the interview to your advantage.
• #24: The interviewers will usually endeavor to create an environment of stress in the interview to see how you respond. The most common way they do this is to ask you some questions where they don’t expect you to know the answers. It can also happen that one member of the interviewing panel will play the role of devil’s advocate. He or she will ask the challenging questions and may come across as unfriendly and unsympathetic. That is the role they are playing, so don’t take it personally! When the interviewer asks you detailed, testing questions, remember the main reason they are doing this is to determine how you react. Challenging, stress-inducing questions generally fall into two categories (mentioned above).
• #26: Volume- We want to be easily heard, so we need to speak loudly enough so the interviewers are not straining their ears. Tone- When we vary our tone we are demonstrating energy and enthusiasm. If you feel you struggle in this area, practice by repeating the same sentence portraying a different emotion each time. Clarity- Speak clearly and be in control of your words. This conveys confidence. Emphasis- Emphasize words to draw attention to the important points you are making. Emphasizing words punctuates our delivery and it steers the interviewer to the key parts of our answer.  Speed- Speaking too fast is a common trap people fall into during interviews, usually as a result of being nervous. When we are breathing quickly, we will speak quickly. The antidote is to control your breathing.
• #27: In linguistic terms, a verbal filler is a sound or a word used in conversation to indicate that you have paused to think, but are not finished speaking. Some of the common fillers are ‘like,’ ‘you know,’ ‘basically,’ ‘right,’ ‘I mean,’ ‘actually, ‘just,’ and ‘mmm.’
• #28: Body language is not an exact science, different postures and gestures can mean different things depending on the context. Interviewers are usually not experts in body language; they are not going to scrutinize your every move and gesture. They will however notice if you are uncomfortable, or if your body language is not consistent with what you are saying.
• #29: Personal branding is about how we market ourselves. It is the experience we want others to have when they interact with us. At an interview, your personal brand is the words the interviewers will use to describe their impression of you and their experience of interviewing you.
• #32: Interviewers want to feel confident that they are making the right decision in offering you the job, but it will be difficult for them to have confidence in their decision and in you, if you don’t feel confident yourself.
• #34: Purposeful visualization is about rehearsing in your mind how you want to perform a task. With your eyes closed you imagine, as best you can, every aspect of the interview. You won’t know all the details in advance, but there is plenty you can work with.
• #35: Another Exercise: Breathe in through your nose to the count of three. Hold your breath for a second, then breathe in again for a second count of three. (The second in breathe really expands the lungs.) Then slowly release your breath through your mouth to the count of six. Repeat this several times and feel your shoulders relax.
• #36: This question gets us to view head on the specific issues that are worrying us. So what’s the worst that could happen at an interview? You are not offered the job. You go blank. You waffle. This question gets us to think about our definition of a successful interview (above and beyond being offered the role.) Your answer might include - everything runs smoothly, I come across as professional and enthusiastic, I speak clearly and share some good examples, I manage my nerves and leave the room feeling I did my best. As we are experts in knowing ourselves, our answer to this question will usually be quite accurate. It might not be exactly what we hope the ideal interview will be (the best that could happen,) but it probably won’t be the worst case scenario either. This question ensures our thinking is balanced.
• #37: By asking yourself empowering questions like these you are engaging your mind in a positive way. Even if you cannot consciously answer them, you are training your mind to search for an answer.