How to be Confident in an Interview

One of the most important tips for a job interview is to remember that the interviewer is probably as anxious as you are! Yes, I know that’s hard to believe: but most managers don’t recruit new staff every day, so they don’t get much practice. Plus, it’s very likely they’ve never had formal training.

Of course, some managers are good at hiding their anxiety but a big giveaway is the type of questions they ask. If your interviewer asks vague, wide-open questions, it’s a good indicator they’re a bundle of nerves and their mind has gone blank.

“Tell me about yourself” is a great example of this type of question. It means either “I can’t think of a single intelligent question”, or, “I haven’t had time to read your resume so I have no idea what to ask”.

It’s a good idea to prepare an answer to this one before the interview, just in case it comes up. Otherwise you won’t know where to start! Don’t ramble, but try to cover the key aspects of your history and highlight the skills most relevant to the job on offer. Here’s an example:

“My background is in Accounting. I’m a qualified CPA and I worked for an insurance firm for 5 years. During that time I did a lot of work with general ledger packages and got interested in the software side of things. Last year, I retrained and am now a qualified Oracle programmer. I’ve had a couple of programming contracts in the last 12 months, but I would really like to move into systems analysis. With my programming experience and my experience as an accountant, I think I have a good combination of skills that would be valuable in dealing with clients and understanding their needs.”

Bear in mind that if you have a nervous interviewer, they are going to be eternally grateful to you if you can give them the answers they need, even if they are not asking quite the right questions.

Before the interview, make a list of (a) the points you want to get across about yourself and (b) the information you want from the company. It’s fine to take the list into the interview with you it makes you look as if you have prepared thoroughly. Just make sure it is written on a smart notepad, not on a scrappy piece of paper or the back of your diary!

When you are asked an open question, look at (or think of) your list of points and see which ones you can include in your answer. Don’t be afraid to give a long answer (up to five minutes), and to include facts which are not strictly relevant to the question (if they help “sell” your abilities).

At the end of the day, when the interviewer reviews all the applicants, the candidate giving the best information will have the best chance at being hired. If the interviewer has asked poor questions, many candidates will have responded with poor answers. If you have prepared yourself to give good answers, regardless of the quality of the questions, you will have the edge!

Photo thanks to Nils Geylen on Flickr