9 Essential Interview Skills for Success

If you’re looking for a new job to kick off a successful future, take time to contemplate essential interview skills to ensure you present yourself in the best manner at each and every meeting.

But what are some of the essential interview skills you need to ensure you conquer your next interview?

1. Handling Nerves

No matter whether you’re aged 17 or 57, you’re probably likely to dread interview situations. Extensive and targeted preparation is the key to confidence in this situation and Interview Skills Consulting provides useful tips to help make light of this task.

2. Presentation Skills

Many interviews will involved giving some form of presentation – whether it’s prepared or not. Ensuring you appear confident, eloquent, and informed is essential to scoring top marks during any presentations.When you dress the part for

When you dress the part for interview, it can give you added confidence, women may find perfect hair and makeup helps to adopt the successful persona that’s required. Certainly, it’s important to present a well-groomed appearance at any interview. It’s difficult to put on a confident act when you feel like a jelly inside, use appropriate body language and remember to smile when you walk into the interview. It could make all the difference.

3. When to Talk, When to Remain Silent

Rambling on at interviews won’t get you the job. If you’re adequately prepared for your interview you should have a basic framework you can gear towards the questions asked by interviewers. Don’t be afraid to ask for questions to be repeated if you don’t quite understand what you’re being asked, neither should you hesitate to ask for time to prepare your answers, if needed. Your interviewers understand the difficulty you face and should make every attempt to put you at ease throughout the process.

4. STAR Technique

During your preparations rehearse the STAR technique for answering questions and handling interview discussions. You’ll find this soon becomes second nature and allows you to summarise tasks, activities and results in a far more methodical fashion.

5. Roleplay Activities

Roleplays are common features of customer service or sales interviews, but increasingly used for a variety of job interviews. For example, in-tray or e-tray roleplays will test administrative skills. You should attempt to view any roleplay as a “real” situation and try your best to act naturally throughout the exercise.

6. Teamwork

Handling interview nerves is bad enough, when you’re attending a group interview this can be even more stressful. Try to smile and build rapport with other interview candidates prior to the interview, if possible. One tip for success in group interviews is to include all team members as much as possible. You may be a natural leader, but in interviews of this nature individuality needs to be sacrificed in many ways.

7. Stay Positive

Negative comments, speaking badly of former employers and lack of enthusiasm don’t have any place within the context of job interviews. Remain enthusiastic and maintain eye contact with interviewers as much as possible.

8. Stay Calm

Even if the interviewers pose unexpected questions or roleplay activities unannounced, present a calm and collected appearance throughout the interview to prove your capability.

9. Ask Questions

It’s usual to ask questions towards the end of any interview. Prepare some killer questions about the company and workplace culture beforehand to demonstrate your interest in the role. Interviewers love candidates that ask great questions and this allows you to close your interview on a great note, hopefully you will be one candidate they won’t forget.

You can source a wide range of useful tips to enhance your interview skills on our website. Interview Skills Consulting provides personal interview coaching and executive coaching to help you achieve the success in life you deserve. Contact us to find out more.