Land That Job
Module 5: Interview with Confidence

Tip 2: Maintain a positive tilt

It’s so easy to be caught out on this one. Don’t be.

Prepare and rehearse your language and your attitude so that every answer you give has a positive tilt. Make sure you cover the classics like: why you want to leave your current job/employer, what are your weaknesses, what mistakes have you made?

Present your answers in a way that says something positive about you. For instance, we all make mistakes. We need to, otherwise we don’t go anywhere. So don’t be afraid to acknowledge yours, if asked. But do select them carefully and do make it clear that you don’t repeat your mistakes and that you learn from them.

One of my clients recently went for an interview as an Exhibitions Manager and was asked what she considered the biggest disaster of her career to be.

At the time, she had just been made redundant and being out of a job and nearly 50 with a mortgage to pay was the first thing that sprang into her head – but she paused, thought about the questions we’d rehearsed in her coaching sessions, and found an alternative answer.

She then briefly related the story of how in one of her first management roles she’d failed to allow for a very expensive international newsletter mailing which would have blown her marketing budget totally out of the window. She recounted how she had regular budget meetings with her team to look at potential revenue and expenditure and how she was able to pick up her mistake in time to take the necessary action to avert the disaster.

She also made it known that the incident had taught her a big lesson with the consequence that she hasn’t made and wouldn’t make a similar mistake again. As a result, she cleverly gave positive insights into her leadership style and the fact that she is now very, very budget conscious – a vital quality in today’s economic climate. She took a negative example and gave it an upward tilt that resulted in demonstrating her strength, not her weakness.

Put the emphasis on what you’ve found good about your past jobs, the experience you’ve gained, the people you’ve met. Stress what you’ve learnt. Remember what you got right even when disaster struck. Nothing that happens to you is wasted.

Tip 3: Get the fuzzy stuff right

First impressions do count and people remember style as much as substance. Numerous studies have been carried out on communication which all point to the fact that what you say will only be heard if all the more ‘fuzzy stuff’ around it is right too. So let’s talk fuzzy stuff!

What are you wearing?

Apart from the obvious – clean, well-pressed and tidy, do your clothes look the part for the job? Every item you wear equates to a word and when you get dressed you’re making a statement. Make sure that the statement you’re making is one that the interviewer will want to hear and that will help you land the job.

How are you wearing it?

Check your posture – right now. Do you walk tall, with a natural spring in your step – or do you slump and slouch without even realising it?

How do you say what you say?

What tone of voice and what gestures do you use – are they relaxed and open, or are they a little defensive and confrontational? How many times is ‘but’ sprinkled into your conversation? Experiment with replacing it with ‘and’ and see the positive difference it makes. Do you smile? A smile lights up the face and hints at the real person underneath – so make sure you smile whenever appropriate, and definitely when greeting and leaving your interviewer.

How’s your handshake?

Make sure it achieves a happy firmness and is neither a damp squid nor a bone-crushing vice. If you’re not used to shaking hands, practice so it feels smooth and natural.

Finally, check for any distracting behaviour that you’ve inadvertently picked up along life’s way. Hair tossing, fiddling, foot tapping, lip biting, throat clearing, using ‘erm’ or ‘you know’ a bit too liberally…..ask a friend or your coach to give you honest feedback as most times these habits have become such an embedded part of us that we don’t even know they’re there.

Tip 4: Place a high value on yourself

The interview is two-way. You’re interviewing them too.

• Is this a job you want to do?
• Is it a company you want to work for?
• What questions do you want to ask so that you have the information you need to make a decision?
• What do you truly want to find in your job and in the company you work for?
• What does your authentic self want? Really think about this one. You don’t want any job – you want the one that you will be happy in one, three, five years from now.

Once you’ve identified what’s important to you, you will come from a position of strength and confidence.

Employers aren’t doing you a favour by interviewing you. They are asking you to come to talk to them. They want to find out more about you.

You.

They think you may be the person they are looking for to join them. So don’t underestimate your value and don’t sell someone you’re not.  Be honest rather than saying and doing what you think an interviewer wants to hear. With one caveat. Always give what you say that positive tilt.

One more thing - Think about salary.

Get the rules of negotiation clear in your head – know what your bottom line is, know your ideal, and know what bits you’re prepared to negotiate.

What do you want to be paid?

Check it’s realistic – find out the market rate for the job and compare your aspirations: maybe they’re too high – or maybe they’re too low.

What’s the minimum you’d work for?

How negotiable are you? As well as your basic pay, think about pension and other benefits. Be clear about where you stand. When the question comes up – and at some time you know it will – about what your salary expectations are, be ready.

Be wary of pricing yourself out of the job, but be more careful of setting your expectations too low. Employers are always prepared to negotiate to get the candidate they want.

Actions of the Week

1. Create Scenarios

Create a repertoire of scenarios that you can use to illustrate your interview answers. Review lesson one of this course, when you jumped out of your shoes and thought about the sort of questions an employer might ask.

Match this with lessons 2 and 3 when you created your CV. Now think examples, illustrations, instances that will paint pictures of you in action. Choose pictures that show you in your best light and that can be adapted to fit multiple questions.

2. Rehearse your interview answers out loud

Make sure that by the time you’re called for interview you can talk about yourself fluently and naturally. Start by writing down the sort of things you can say and move on to practicing giving answers – in the mirror is best, so you can see what the interviewer sees.

You’re not looking to produce scripted answers here but you are looking to get comfortable with talking about yourself and learning to rapidly recall lively examples of what you can do.

3. Freshen up your vocabulary

Did you know that the vocabulary of the average adult stops growing in their mid 20′s? Don’t be average. Reflect on the tired and overworked words you use every day and get out your dictionary and find alternatives. Resolve to be amongst the verbally elite.

4. Turn your negatives into positives

Think about the negative things that spring to mind about your past jobs and then think again. What did you learn from them? What new skills, personal qualities and values did you develop? How did they influence where you are today?

5. Reassess your image

Find a well-recommended image consultant and bring yourself up to scratch. This is an investment to make whether you’re a man or a woman. Your appearance matters.
Great! That’s the penultimate step of this course now complete.

In the last lesson, we’re going to look at what to do after interviews and in between times: how you can keep yourself sharp and ready to grasp every opportunity. I’ll be giving you a mini blueprint for how to manage your career too.

Until then, enjoy!