"Preparing for a successful interview" (page 7/8)
Step 7: Make a good first impression
It’s the day of the interview.
- You’ve arranged the date of the interview
- You’ve planned your travel
- You’ve researched the interview process
- You’ve prepared your answers to the questions you know you’ll be asked
- You’ve worked out what you’re going to wear to your interview
- You’ve practiced interviews with your friends, and perhaps you’ve even interviewed with other companies purely to gain more experience
And now it’s time to capitalise on all your hard work.
Bear in mind that an interviewer, rightly or wrongly, might make up their mind about you in the first minute or less of the interview.
So while a good first impression can’t get you the job, a bad first impression can certainly RUIN your chances. It is that simple. Making a bad first impression can lose you any chance you had of getting that job in SECONDS.
So let’s go through the steps you need to keep in mind to ensure you DO make a GOOD first impression!!
- Make a strong first contact – when you first meet them, look them straight in the eye and give them a firm confident handshake. But this isn’t a contest, so don’t stare at them longer than necessary, and don’t try to break your interviewer’s hand!!
- Speak clearly – a clear and strong voice demands respect and demands to be listened to. Practice as much as you can to develop your voice – it will not only help you in your interview, but will also help as you progress. If you have a particularly weak voice, consider investing in a few sessions with a voice coach
- Break the ice (carefully!) – try to remember that your interviewer may be just as nervous as you, and some light humour to defuse the situation could do wonders for both of you. But make sure that, if you do use humour, that it is appropriate and not offensive. And remember that the interviewer’s view of what is appropriate or not may be different to yours
- Listen closely – an interview can go wrong simply because the candidate is not listening closely enough. Listen very carefully to what the interviewer is saying. Firstly, it shows that you are interested in them as a person, which they will find flattering. Secondly, it means that you will be responding to what they said, and not to what you thought they said. And thirdly, they may be giving subtle clues away in their questions, guiding you towards the answer they want to hear!!
- Build rapport – one of the things that many interviewers will think about while they are interviewing you is whether they would be able to get on with you as a person. I call it the ‘Plane Test’. Would I enjoy spending eight hours in the adjacent seat on a plane with you? And we would probably be talking about things other than work (for reasons of confidentiality). So you need to prove to your interviewer that you are someone they could get along with. As well as listening closely, try some subtle mirroring of their gestures (an old body language trick, but don’t overdo it!) Nod and smile gently as they are speaking. Interject with comments like “That’s interesting” or “Tell me more about that”. Above all, appear interested in your interviewer and happy to be there, and it should rub off on them!!
- Enjoy yourself – finally, try to remember that this is not an inquisition! This is simply a meeting between two (or perhaps more) people for them to get to know each other and work out whether they can provide what the other one needs. The more relaxed you are and the more you enjoy yourself, the more you will smile, and the more of your personality will show, and hopefully the more you will distinguish yourself against the other candidates!!
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