6 THINGS YOU NEED TO DO TO SUCCEED IN AN INTERVIEW

Getting that call for an interview after you would have sent in an application is a very big deal. Not only does it mean you are better than a lot of people (because not everyone is called), it also means you’re halfway through to getting an actual employment with your desired organisation. However, it is also important to know that there’s no guarantee just yet. You’re only halfway through it all, and chances of ultimate success depend on how well you perform in the interview.

A lot of people fail interviews not because of their poor resumé, but because they failed to live up to it. If you’re looking to actually perform impressively in an interview, you’d have to get acquainted with the following.

DO YOUR RESEARCH

Before attending a job interview, it’s a rule of thumb that you know everything there is to know about the company. Read as much as you can, conduct a comprehensive research on their model of operation, their customers, their competitors, and abreast yourself with all available information about the company.

You will be amazed with how much information you can acquire about a particular company from a simple Google search. Check the company’s website; you can also check online news archive to see if there is any occurrence in the past that you should know about.

If you have a friend that works for the company, you might want to ask some personal questions about the structure of the company, ask for clues on how to scale through the interview process.

You’re going there to show your interviewers that you know about their company, you want to give them the impression that you’ve been monitoring their activities for some time. This will portray you as an individual with passion for the company not just as an individual that needs the job as a means to survival.

BODY LANGUAGE IS KEY

We definitely say more with our body language than we do with verbal words. As expected, Human Resource (HR) officers know all about body language, and they make use of our body gesture to their own advantage. This makes it very important to know the basics of what your body gesture means, so as to avoid giving a wrong impression when interviewing for a job.

When interviewing for a job, try as much as possible to keep eye contact with the interviewers, keeping eye contact indicates honesty and shows that you’re confident of what you’re saying. Smiling is also another indicator of confidence; it makes you look less nervous and calm. When answering a question that has to do with your area of expertise, it’s advisable to make use of hand gesture, express yourself with your hands when necessary, it does not only portray you as an expert with in-depth knowledge of what you’re discussing, it also makes you feel in control of the atmosphere.

Your sitting posture is also very important. It shows someone who lost a job because they slouched during an interview. Sitting with your back leaned against the back rest makes you too relaxed, disrespectful and over confident. Sit up straight.

WATCH YOUR VERBAL EXPRESSION

When interviewing for a job, try as much as possible to avoid verbal mannerism such as “errrm,” “mmhnn” etc. in the middle of your statement. It’s considered unprofessional and might hinder you from expressing yourself properly.

The pitch of your voice matters a lot. You don’t want to talk too loud and at the same time you want to make yourself audible enough for interviewers to hear you clearly.

LISTEN

There is a clear difference between listening to understand and listening to give a response. When attending a job interview, you must learn how to listen in other to understand, because you can give a reasonable response only when you understand the questions being asked.

BE SINCERE

When your interviewers ask a question you have no clue about, rather than stutter and try to give an incorrect answer, it’s better to be sincere and tell them you have no clue in a polite manner.

Another mistake people make is giving a generic answer to common interview questions. When answering questions like “what is your weakness?” don’t give the generic answer of being a “perfectionist” or answers about you working too hard, tell them your weakness in a way that glorifies your strength.

The truth is that they know about the “perfectionist” attitude, why not stand out and say something different? Key to answering this well is to sound as relatable, original, and realistic as possible.

ASK QUESTIONS

Asking important question during your interview portrays you as a person full of confident. When the panel is done with their questions and you’re asked if there is anything you would like to know, make use of this opportunity to show them that you’re not nervous about the whole process, don’t say “no” and hurriedly find your way out of the room.

Ask them questions about the company’s mode of operation. Based on the research you’ve conducted about the company, ask them what they’re doing to handle one of their biggest problems, it might even be an opportunity for you to suggest a possible solution.

You can also ask about their expectations from the role you’re interviewing for, ask polite questions and ride on the tide of your knowledge about the company.

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