Making an impression during a job interview is easy. Making a good impression during a job interview is a little trickier. No matter what you do in a job interview, you’re leaving an impression on the people who are interviewing you. The one thing that every person being interviewed has in common is that all of us can learn to do something better. Realistically, we’ve probably all interviewed for a job or a promotion we didn’t get. The interview process may be what cost you that new career. How can you improve your interview skills going forward?
Study the Job Description
In most cases, the company will let you know the details of the job that you’re interviewing for well before you go to your interview. If you’re interviewing for a promotion within your company, this is even more true. Take some time to dissect the job description. Not only will this keep you from being caught off guard by any questions during the interview, it will enable you to ask your questions that will indicate that you’ve already done your homework on the job that you’re chasing. Looking prepared is always a good impression to make.
Selling Yourself
One of the hardest parts of a job interview is explaining why you’re the most qualified person for the job. You have to change your line of thinking when it comes to this portion of the interview. You’re not there to give an autobiographical monologue about yourself; you’re there to sell yourself to the people interviewing you. If you figure out how to do this effectively, you’ll be able to get the people conducting the interview to believe that they need to put you in that position more than you need that job.
Practice Makes Perfect
Spend some time researching popular interview questions and have someone unbiased interview you in a practice run. Don’t get someone who will tell you how wonderful you do regardless, but find someone who is willing to be brutally honest with you. If you can address what you do poorly before you show up for your official interview, you can avoid making the same mistake twice. After all, practice makes perfect.