How to master a job Interview

2. Relaxation

One major aspect that the person who will interview you will consider is your personality and behavior so you have to look confident and relaxed. Even if you have done your research and practiced for the interview, if you are nervous you won’t be able to transmit confidence and more over you won’t be able to focus a 100% in the interview and excel on it. Therefore, these are some recommendations that will help you acquire peace of mind before the interview:

a. Apply to several companies at the same time

It doesn’t matter if they are in the same industry or in other, or if they are big or small companies or you prefer one over another, in fact it’s better if you apply for other small companies in which you are not very interested in entering. For example, you can apply at the same time to two companies you really want to enter, two which are curious about and two which you are not really interested.

Each company will have it’s own recruiting process and you are going to learn from all of it, so this will let you practice and will let you have peace of mind because if you don’t get hired in your number one option, you’ll still have your number two option and in some cases you may even get to know a company better and prefer the culture of a company which you weren’t really interested at the beginning.

b. Have an alternative option

An alternative option could be other thing you are considering to do instead of working in a company. It will depend on the stage of your life you are because right now you may be a college student looking for an internship of a recent graduate looking for a full time job or an experienced professional looking for career development. Therefore, these are different ideas you can consider:

• Do a volunteer project: in the post How to find paid volunteer projects abroad you can see some recommendations on how to do this.
• Study a short course: in the post How to find scholarship to study abroad you can see some recommendations on how to do this.
• Study a Master’s or PHD course: there are master courses that go from 1 year to two years and there are scholarships that cover almost all your expenses, in the post How to win the Ernst Mach Grant for a semester or year abroad in Austria, you can find an example.
• Travel: remember that we only live once and enjoying life is very important for our happiness and to acquire enriching experiences so you may consider traveling in your own country or abroad. In the post A fulfilling resolution: visiting the UNESCO World Heritage sites you can find more about traveling with a purpose.
• Become a freelancer: now a day there are several platforms that allow you to work from home and get paid by project or hour. There are for example freelance.com, fiverr.com and knowmoreplatfrom.com.
• Start your own business: this is probably the most difficult option but you can start developing your business idea.

*Also keep in mind that you can keep on interviewing and sending your CV to other companies while you do all these options. In that way your resume won’t have huge time gaps and you’ll have more points to add.

c. Create an interview diary

After you finish each interview write down all your thoughts, this will give you more preparation for your next interviews:

• What made you succeed
• What made you fail
• What you should research to be prepared to answer the next time

3. Follow the general guidelines

a. Arrive 15 minutes earlier (no more)

• Location: double check in google maps the location of the company and which way of transportation you are going to take. If you are going on a pick hour check how much more minutes you’re going to spend stuck in traffic.
• Parking (if needed): if you’re driving ask if you are allowed to use the company’s parking place and if not consider all the difficulties you may encounter and extra time to find parking.
• General appearance: take some minutes to go to the restroom and check your general appearance.
• Arriving earlier: if you arrive earlier than 15 minutes stay some time in your car practicing your questions or go to a coffee shop to relax.

b. Ask questions

Ask questions that show your interest in working for the company and that you have done your research. For example, some of these questions could be:

• Which is the career path for my job position?
• Can you briefly describe a normal day for a person in this job position?
• What do you like the most about working on the company?
• I’ve heard that the company promotes X, Y and Z, is that true?

c. Body language

As Albert Mehrabian explains in his book Silent Messages, 7% of your credibility comes from the actual words you are speaking. 55% comes from just body language, and the remaining 38% comes from your tone of voice.

d. Sell yourself

In the book Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion by Robert B. Cialdini, the author explains that one of the principles of persuasion is Authority. People respect authority, they want to follow the lead of real experts. Business titles and even impressive clothing are proven factors in lending credibility to any individual. So you always have to look confident and prove expertise in each question you are asked. This doesn’t mean that you are going to lie about your experience but this means you won’t highlight your areas of opportunity but highlight your abilities if they somehow prove your expertise about a subject, even if it´s not directly related.

In summary, prepare, relax and follow the general guidelines and you’ll succeed in your next job interview; just be confident about yourself.