5 Tips for a Successful Job Interview ( Keys to a Successful Job Interview)

The 5 Tips for a Successful Job Interview ( Keys to a Successful Job Interview) Are care fully Outlined for you Below:

Every Jobseeker always looks forward to performing excellently during interviews in order to stand a better chance of being employed.

You can google The word ‘interview​’ which tends to send jitters down the spines of a considerable population of people. But here’s the thing, an interview should not be treated as a death sentence. To show this, let’s start with the basics.

Description: An​ interview can be simply described as a conversation between two or more parties where one party asks questions and the other parties(y) answer(s). This is to say that an interview is not only limited to jobs and academic environments but includes every sort of conversation that has sounded like a Q & A session. Pretty basic right?

This article will give a general guideline which would apply to a variety of interviews in three distinct phases;

PHASE 1: PRE-INTERVIEW PHASE

This phase comprises everything you need to know or do prior to the interview. These are things that you should be equipped with. Picture yourself as a soldier going to war, but you need tools, right? Of course. We’d be listing the items that should be found in your interview​ arsenal before​ you even get on the battlefield.

• Knowledge about the establishment:​ Now, no one is asking you to download the company’s portfolio or stalk them (unless you’re doing this online and with a legally-acceptable amount of snooping) but you need to have information about the establishment. Who are they? What do they do? What can they offer you? What do they need?

• Specificity of purpose:​ What exactly are you going there for?

• Understand your position:​ You need to know where you stand in the situation, by this I mean you need to understand yourself, your strengths and weaknesses, your abilities, what you have to offer. This is a self-evaluation so you know what exactly you can handle.

Using the afore-mentioned list and the analogy of a soldier going to war, it is safe to say you have information on the enemy-state, you know why exactly you’re heading out and you know what position you should attack from depending on the self-evaluation. Now that you have mapped out your territory, let’s move on to the strategies which will be discussed in the next phase.

PHASE TWO: INTERVIEW PROPER

There are three main strategies that would be proposed in this article for handling interviews and they are: Disarm,​ Attack & Counter-attack.​ While the order of the three can be shuffled depending on the situation which one is met with, the three strategies apply to the different stages of the interview.

DISARM

It is not news that each person possesses a natural charm. The disarm strategy involves employing features and gestures that sets your interviewer at ease with you. It is a collection of actions that instantly make people warm up to you and here’s a short list.

• Appearance
• Graciousness
• Comportment

A combination of the right outfit, a gracious manner and an appealing carriage would have people warming up to you more, than not. Studies show that 70% of people are more receptive if you approach with a smile.

ATTACK

This strategy does not involve violence in any way but has a lot to do with assertiveness. Your confidence level plays a major role here. If you already deployed the disarm strategy, the attack strategy practically screams, THIS IS YOUR THING. YOU GOT THIS. This is the point where you use the tools from the pre-interview phase. Let the other party understand that you are there for a specific purpose without being overbearing. There’s a fine line between confidence and superciliousness and it is advisable not to cross it.

Now, you may ask, how do I sound confident without seeming proud?​That’s fine, we considered this too and here’s an answer.

Keep what you say factual and relevant in a conversational manner. If you’re answering a question, be as objective as you can and stay on point. The temptation to throw information around is almost irresistible but remember that no one would be willing to work with a rambunctious Know-it-all.​ Understand this, you are already a step ahead having passed an application stage, they know what you have said about yourself, so instead of trying to prove that you are smart as you mentioned, be smart. Relax into your element and flow with your interviewer(s). Here are a few pointers;

• Maintain levelled gazes
• Give confident smiles
• Supply creative and solution-oriented replies
• Use analogies to explain. People tend to relate more to your idea if you fit it into a recognizable model.
• Be as realistic as you can afford. This doesn’t mean you should be the forbearer of impending doom at every turn, but you shouldn’t be a mindless optimist.
• Use facts that lend credibility to your stance. Research shows that a result is thrice more credible if there are proven findings to back it up. This does not only portray you as knowledgeable, it shows the interviewer(s) just how willing you are to go the extra mile for a project and it instantly gives you an edge.

It is imperative that you go through your arsenal and deploy the necessary tool when using the attack strategy. It is not enough to have tools, it is even more important to have the necessary tools and know when to use them precisely.

COUNTER-ATTACK

This strategy is employed especially when the interviewer attempts to drill you. It’s okay. You can’t blame a person for trying to get the best out of their options. Well, here’s how to do the counter-attack.

• Listen intently/keenly to the question and highlight the main point. In every question, there are three major parts and they usually go in this order; Proposal, connector and call-to-action. Take a deep breath, let me break it down. I’ll use P, C and CA respectively to identify these parts.

Eg. How​ long do​ you think you​ can stay on this job ​​if we hire you?

↓      ↓       ↓       ↓

P​      C    CA    C

As an interviewee, it is important to understand and take note of the proposal​​ and the call-to-action sections,​ especially in questions that seem to require tactfulness. In this case and in others, you should deploy a counter-attack. I will show you two responses to the question above, a typical response (TR) and a strategic response (SR).

TR: I would like to work with you for as long as possible.

SR: I believe my longevity on this job depends on how good I am at it and the favorability of the work conditions.

It is obvious that neither of the responses above is wrong, however, it is hardly likely that an interviewer finds a problem with the strategic response because while it sounds sincere, it doesn’t have a naivety stamp on it. Questions like this which require tactful answers should be

dissected and digested before a reply be produced. Listen and understand the question before you reply.

• Keep the establishment’s need in mind as well as your abilities. Let’s say you’re on a job interview for the position of Supervisor in a considerably long-existing bottling company, here’s an example of a typical question, a typical response and a​strategic response;​

• So​​ what ​​do ​you​ have ​​to​ offer​ this company in​​ this position?​

This question is practically asking you to sell yourself (not literally) to the company and it’s necessary to answer this tactfully.

TR: I have very good people management skills and experience and it would be useful at the position of Supervisor in this company.

Now, before you start scrutinizing the response above, I need you to understand that there is nothing wrong with this response. No, I’m not kidding. However, the aim of this article is not for you to be good but to be exceptional. This is why a strategic response would sound like this,

SR: I believe that as a bottling company, there is a critical need for payment of attention to details and a heavy demand for labor. As a Supervisor here, I would scrutinize the staff based on the needs mentioned above, then I would create teams to be headed by an efficient leader who reports directly to me. In that way everyone is accounted for and not only do we have people who are qualified for the job, we also let people who are able to do it be at the forefront.

You didn’t see that coming right? Neither did the interviewer. Counter-attack strategy basically says, breathe, lean back, devise a plan using the information you have then attack. It’s not magic, people, it’s strategy.

Onto the last but not the least phase of  how to perform well at interviews.

PHASE 3: POST-INTERVIEW

Hold on just one minute. You may be wondering, But​ I’m done with the interview, what’s this? Yes, you’re done but don’t forget that finishing touches are the beauty of a well-built house. Irrespective of how you feel your performance may have been during the session, it is important that you do nothing to blow your cover. If anything, your disarming techniques should be reinforced at this point. You may have heard people say, The​ interview was great. I don’t understand how I didn’t get the job. It’s​ probably because of the finishing touches. Here are a few tips:

• Maintain your gracious manner. Thank your interviewer/s for his/her/their time.
• Try not to appear to be eavesdropping while leaving.
• Be courteous to everyone within the premises irrespective of their position.
• Try not to discuss the details of your interview with anyone within the premises.

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Easy steps right? Now, you can employ each of them with nothing more than your human abilities. I want to believe that you took something away from this article.

Remember, it’s only a hot seat if you’re not wearing the right thickness of clothing. Be well-equipped.

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