4 Ways to Enhance Your Interview Performance

The New Year heralds a new start for many people and this sentiment certainly rings true in the recruitment world. One major UK jobs website recorded an astounding 1.1 million new applications during the first week of 2016 alone, showing the race is truly on in the employment stakes.

Standing out among this colossal crowd is critical and the ideal place to do so is at interview. Here we look at top techniques to set you apart by honing those all important interview skills to enhance your performance.

Preparation

Carry out as much research as possible in advance of the interview. Start by analysing the information in the application pack, including job and person specifications as well as any competencies to be tested. Read around the company concerned and gather intelligence on their market position and future strategic direction. If you know who is going to conduct the interview, also research them.

If you know who is going to conduct the interview, also research them. Anticipate potential questions and prepare sample answers-use these as a basis for the interview conversation but don’t learn them off by heart as you may sound too rehearsed.

Cultivate your confidence

This is particularly true when it comes to interviews. Candidates who appear confident from the moment they enter the room are much more likely to secure employment. Decisions are made at an early stage of the interview so first impressions really do count.

Walk in with purpose, shake hands if there is an opportunity to do so and make eye contact with each panel member.

There are a number of ways to access inner confidence in the period before the interview. Some people find adopting power poses (before entering the room) helps them get into the right mindset. Others advocate controlled breathing exercises which have the added benefit of helping to calm nerves and reduce anxiety. Try out a few different approaches to discover what works for you.

Keep on message

Having carefully reviewed the criteria and prepared sample answers you should already know what information you want to share with the panel. Tailor your responses to suit their specific questions but ensure that you cover the points you have previously thought of. Answers should be well structured with a clear beginning, middle and end.

Answers should be well structured with a clear beginning, middle and end. If the interview is competency based, consider using the STAR approach which allows you to talk through a relevant situation, the task which was completed, your individual actions and the result achieved. Remember to be succinct- don’t ramble.

Remember to ask relevant questions

There are two main reasons to ask questions at a job interview. Firstly, it can help demonstrate your suitability for the job and interest in the organisation. The second objective is to gauge whether this is a company you actually want to work for. Asking about development and advancement opportunities can achieve both goals- showing you are committed to your career and progression within it, while also assessing whether the employer considers supporting talent part of their personnel responsibilities. Other helpful question areas include enquiring about the skills and attributes which existing high performing employees possess and finding out more about specific goals to achieve or issues to be tackled which are considered priorities for the post. Remember that an interview is essentially a conversation with a purpose- and a conversation is of course a two-way process.

Remember that preparing for an interview needn’t be a solo run. Contact Interview Skills Consulting to help further develop the skills discussed in this article, and pinpoint the areas you need to focus on.