Think of your job interview as a candid conversation where you get to discuss your strengths and aspirations.
Much depends on building a good rapport with your interviewer. After all, if it goes well, you’re going to be spending a lot of time with this person and their company.
Conversation, not interrogation
To do this you need to have your attention on the person or people you’re talking to and not on some pre-prepared script.
A conversation entails listening and talking. It means you avoid being a rabbit in the headlights, or conversely, doing a hard sell of your attributes.
Rather than gobsmacking your interviewer with your career assets, aim instead to build a relationship.
To get tone and focus right remember this A, B, C:
Aim, what is your purpose?
Be yourself, being authentic will help create rapport
Chemistry, don’t worry about first impressions but about lasting impressions
Know your interviewer
It’s a good idea to have some information about your interviewer before you meet him or her in the flesh. Google your person or do a search on their name on the company’s website. Research up front can also spare a red face in the interview room.
“I recognised my interviewer’s surname from media coverage and casually mentioned it", says a careers adviser.
“Yes. That’s my wife. She threw herself out of a window”, replied the interviewer.
"Naturally I didn’t get the job."
Know the format
Interviews are increasingly based on behavioural questions, rather than theoretical or even ‘trick’ questions. So go armed with some good stories that sell you or show you in the best light.
These questions are designed to check how you overcome difficulties or respond when faced with a challenge. But only use relevant stories - there’s nothing worse than sounding scripted.
