Interviews often feel like you have been transported back to high school. You need to go meet new people, your clothes and appearance matter, and no matter how much you study, you still feel nervous before a test.
Just as in high school, confidence is key during an interview. Confidence makes you sound authoritative and can even make you more personable.
Don’t worry: you don’t need to be confident. You just need to act like it (and ideally know your stuff, too). To help you conquer your first-day-of-school fears, follow these three interview tips.
Eye contact can be one of the hardest things to achieve when you’re nervous, but it is important. If you look at your lap or out the window, you appear as though you’re too anxious or even distracted.
When you prepare for the interview, make sure you practice making eye contact, either with yourself in the mirror or with someone sitting opposite you.
“Do you have any questions for us?” It’s one question you can guarantee will come up, but will you have an answer?
This is perhaps the best opportunity to demonstrate your confidence in an interview because you get to interview them.
You may find it helpful to come up with these questions while researching the company. Make a note of them, and read over the questions in the car before you head into the building to keep them at the forefront of your mind.
Asking the right questions shows them you’re engaged both with the role and with the interview process. It also demonstrates both critical thinking and confidence.
What about your experience makes you least confident? Is it your skills, experience, or even when (or if) if you went to school?
Instead of relating these things in a negative manner, write them down and then re-write them in a positive sentence.
By getting rid of that negative self-talk, you’re less likely to believe it and far less likely to repeat it in an interview. If you don’t talk negatively about yourself, then you won’t give your interview a reason to think that way about you.
Being confident at a job interview isn’t something that comes naturally. It’s a skill you work on overtime.
Fortunately, a job interview isn’t high school. Your interviewer is judging you based on what you present to them, and you’re in control of that.
Are you looking for your next big opportunity? RightStone can help you ace the interview. Get in touch to learn more about what we do.