You have waited for a long time and today you got a call for this interview. It’s showtime. You are excited, enthusiastic, and positive but still a bit nervous. But hey, don’t worry. It’s OK to feel nervous. (But it’s not ok to show it). Now, what to do next? Remember,
” Proper Preparation Prevents Poor Performance.”
And here, you have 6 tips to get yourself ready for the interview.
(I conduct regular sessions on Mentza App to help people with interview preparation)
1) Know the LAW
It’s important to look and sound confident when you respond. And for that, the simple law is LAW. Be aware of your Looks, Action, and Words (LAW). You create rapport through your Attire (Looks), your gestures (Actions), and how well you express yourself (words and tone). So, dress for the day and sound professional.
2) Know Where, Why, and What you are applying for!
This sounds cliché but it’s crucial. If you do not know about the company, its mission, vision, and values; you won’t be able to align your goal with them. And if you don’t know about the Job Description, you won’t be able to prepare for the potential questions. Confidence appears in your answers only when you are aware of your role and the organization’s expectations.
PS: Visit the website, refer to the recent news related to the company’s project, investment, etc
3) Have your stories ready
People understand best with stories, examples, and anecdotes. Once you know what all competencies, skills, and knowledge the interviewer is looking for, you would have a fair idea about what kind of questions can come. And this will help you prepare your stories which will describe events where you reflected those competencies.
PS: Be cautious. Your stories should be real and, no longer than a minute.
4) Don’t be impulsive
Candidates often feel they are expected to give answers immediately. By and large, they put their first thought across but later realize it wasn’t the best one. Take a few seconds to organize your thoughts, put them in the right order and express yourself.
PS: Don’t take longer than a few seconds. Show gestures that you are thinking.
5) Ask questions. Please!
Many candidates assume that they can’t ask questions. If you are not clear with a question and you think there are multiple dimensions to the question, feel free to probe. Ask the right kind of questions to get clarity so that you can answer appropriately and accurately.
PS: Paraphrasing is also a good way to clarify.
6) Use your senses well
Listen to understand, keep your eye contact right, shift your gaze from one interviewer to another, do the handshake firmly, and use resources if needed. For example, if you need to write down in order to understand or calculate or analyze a question, use it. Have these resources with yourself and if you don’t have them, you can politely ask for them.
An interview is nothing but a conversation between the interviewer and the interviewee. Just the way the interviewer takes the decision to hire you, you take the decision to work with them. So, feel important. You are deserving and that’s why you are called for this interview. You have already won half the battle. Now give your best to win the rest.
Mentza has many live conversations that I and other coaches conduct on how to improve your success in a job interview. And you can practice through conversations with others like you. There are hundreds of conversations for improving your spoken english, building confidence to speak in English, developing public speaking skills etc. that might be useful too.
Take this one for example https://on.mentza.com/circles/32845.
If you want to join more such conversations that happen every day, download Mentza from Play Store or App Store
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