How To Pass A Successful Interview? Preparing For The Interview

Whether you are getting your first job or are going to change jobs again, it will be very useful for you to prepare well for the upcoming interview if it is important for you to succeed in this business. An interview with a potential employer is very stressful, even if you are a professional in your field, until the interview itself takes place, you will still be overwhelmed by excitement and all kinds of “what if …” appear. After all, anything can go wrong.

Preparing for the interview

The employer may not like your appearance or the way you speak, the employer may ask you questions that you did not expect to hear, and may lead you to a dead-end with certain questions. Anything can happen, but your job is to leave a good impression of yourself and make it so that a simple interview turns into a successful interview. How can this be done? How to pass an interview correctly?

You change jobs, which means you had certain reasons to look for a new job.

• Try to answer the main question for yourself in advance: “Why am I changing my place of work?” The employer will certainly take an interest in this, and you will need to answer this question and answer sincerely, but without going into details.
• Consider also possible questions the interviewer might ask you.
• Try to find out in advance more about the company you are applying for and its activities.
• Find out where the office is and think in advance about the route and time you will need to get to the office in order to arrive on time. If you are late, be sure to call and warn about it. See also: How to learn not to be late?
• Take all the necessary documents with you. If you have references from a past job, be sure to grab those as well. Do not forget to also take a copy of your resume in 2 copies.
• Be truthful, don’t lie. Lies are very easy to expose and leave a not very favorable impression of you.

How to dress properly for an interview?

Everyone knows the adage about dressing up, so it’s important to get the right clothes in your wardrobe when preparing for your interview before heading off to your successful interview.

How to match? Naturally, what you wear should correspond to the position that you are going to occupy. Think about what you will wear if you are hired and how you will behave in the first days of work. If the company you are applying for has a certain dress code, you should dress in accordance with it. Understandably, a bank clerk and a nightclub art director dress very differently, and it’s best for you to dress appropriately or as close to the corporate culture of your future workplace as possible. This will make you look like your boyfriend to the employer.

If your financial situation does not allow you to look the way you would like, this is not a reason to be upset. Make your clothes look modest and tidy. This will surely please the employer. But it’s not worth splurging on an expensive suit at all. From a conversation with you, the employer will understand your financial situation, your social status, level of education and in a suit that you cannot afford, you will look ridiculous.

Pay attention to your shoes. But shoes should be given special attention. It is from shoes that interviewers make far-reaching conclusions and assumptions about a candidate.

Important little things. The details of the candidate talk a lot. Long hair in men gives the impression of intelligence and a tendency to mental work. A short haircut suggests a passion for sports. A person wearing glasses also creates the impression of their intelligence, hard work, and reliability. In the business world, the impact of glasses is widely used, many people wear glasses without diopters, but with ordinary lenses.

Pay attention to your hands. The interviews are often attended by candidates, both men and women wearing rings. If the candidate wears an expensive ring, this indicates his arrogant desire to surpass those around him. If a candidate has inexpensive rings on his fingers, then this speaks of his vanity and limited finances. Both the first and the second negatively affect the opinion of the candidate, therefore in the business world there is a rule according to which it is customary to wear only a wedding ring.

How should you behave in an interview?

Half of your success will depend on how you present yourself. Psychologists have found that no matter how long the conversation lasts, a positive or negative opinion about the candidate is formed within three to four minutes. After this time has elapsed, the interviewer asks questions either “to fill in” if a good opinion about the candidate has not been formed, or asks questions that help the candidate to reveal himself from all his best sides. This fact underlines the importance of first impressions.

Most of the information to the interviewer comes not from your words, but your pronunciation, your gestures, your mannerisms. By the manner of behavior, it is very easy for a specialist to determine how you live, what kind of person you are, how you are adapted to life.

With the advice of psychologist Elery Sampson, you can test your own body language by answering the questions below:

• How do you use your smile?
• Are you sitting up straight or slouched over?
• Do you have eye contact with the interlocutor?
• Do you use your hands in conversation?
• How do you enter the room?
• Do you have a strong and businesslike handshake?
• Are you close or far in relation to the people you are talking to?
• Are you touching the person you are talking to?

Have you answered? Now check out this list of positive and negative signals that affect the impression of you.

Negative signals

• Fidgeting in your chair
• Look not at the speaker, but at the floor, at the ceiling, or anywhere else, just not at the person you are talking to.
• Turn away from the interlocutor and avoid meeting with glances.
• All kinds of closed poses, crossed arms, arms “locked”, one leg thrown over one another.
• Use closed threatening gestures, you can wave your finger, defending your opinion.
• Sit blankly, grumble or grin maliciously.

Positive signals

• Sit upright, leaning slightly forward, listening with sympathy and interest.
• Look at the speaker calmly and confidently during a conversation.
• Make notes on paper as you talk.
• When you listen, your body is in an open position, hands on the table, palms extended forward.
• Hands are in an open position. Hands are raised as if you are explaining a thought to your colleagues.
• Smile and joke.

How to correctly tell about yourself at an interview. What should be said and what is better to be silent about.

The right words. When speaking with an employer, it is important to use the correct verbs to make a good impression. Try to use perfect verbs. Use words such as accomplished, developed, designed, created, made. Try to avoid indefinite verbs, how you worked, answered, participated, when using these verbs you give an idea of ​​the functions you perform, but do not give an idea of ​​your achievements.

Locus of control. Well-trained interviewers will definitely check your locus of control. The locus of control is internal and external. It is easy to test it with questions like, “How do you plan your work? What criteria do you use to evaluate your work? ” A person with an internal locus of control will often use the g pronoun “I” and the verb “do.” He will talk about his achievements, about how he would plan everything, what he would pay attention to, how he would control. A person with an external locus of control will talk about external influences, indicating dependence on external factors, for example, the influence of weather or dependence on how customers deliver goods.

A person with an inner locus of control is good at being a leader. He easily takes responsibility, sets tasks and completes them. A person with an external locus of control is good as a performer, he cannot work for a long time in conditions of instability, but he can be a good analyst and expert. Naturally, a person with an external locus of control will not be hired for a managerial position, since it requires quick decisions and decisive actions. Therefore, depending on what position you are applying for, correct your speech, corresponding to the external or internal locus.

Where to look? When greeting, look your interlocutor directly in the eyes. This will give the impression of confidence. When talking, try to mention the name of your interlocutor. This makes a good impression.

What words should you avoid? Try to avoid words like “okay”, “wow”, “no problem”. They don’t give a very good impression of you. People who know foreign languages ​​well usually do not use such words in speech. Therefore, you can give the impression of poor language skills and a low level of culture.

Telling about yourself at an interview – answering undesirable questions

In addition to fundamental questions about your previous work and life goals and plans, you may meet with questions like: “What did you do last night?” With these questions, the interviewer wants to know about your lifestyle.

Workarounds. Interviewers, who know perfectly well that you have prepared the answers to the main questions can take a roundabout way and ask a question such as: “What should have changed in your previous place of work for you to stay there?” Thus, they want to find out the true reasons for your departure.

Your strengths and weaknesses. If you are asked about your merits, try to talk about those that are related to your work. If asked about your weaknesses, name those that are a continuation of your strengths. For example, when you are leading a project, if you feel like you may not be able to finish it on time, then you stay at work for an hour or two to get more done.
If asked about past failures, share situations that have taught you a lesson.

Don’t forget to be in a good mood for the interview, and be sure to set yourself up to have a successful interview.