Attending an interview is always an intimidating experience, especially when there are people who are going to judge you for your behaviour and attire and validate whether or not you are fit for the job.
First time interviewees often experience stress and anxiety while attending interviews and they often get tensed about the outcome of the interview. You should keep in mind that there are many others like you who have practiced by themselves, looking at the mirror, or have practiced with their friends or even made notes to revise before the interview.
But what makes one stand out from the rest of the crowd is, how well you perform during the interview and how good you are in tackling the problems assigned.
Keep in mind that how you behave during the interview should be very much similar to your real attitude and personality.
Try not to create a distant alter ego as this can be very difficult to keep up with during the interview and most of the times you will end up lying or will create a false impression about you.
On the bright side, there are methods in which you could control the atmosphere of the interview, impress the interviewer and eventually help you to land the job.
Sneaky Moves that Boosts Your Chances of Success at Interviews:
1. Social network tracking:
- We all live in an online environment in this day and age. We spend a lot of time on our Facebook page, our twitter page, our Pinterest and even our Instagram page. We try to tell the world about ourselves, some reveal a little too much. We express our beliefs and causes, likes, dislikes, our interests in fashion, food, travel and even what we study and where we work. It’s all out in the internet openly, waiting to be explored.
- Social mining is the process of extracting data about an individual from their social networking sites and also how they behave and post online. Some individuals use social media as a method for noting down their personal addresses and also where they work and live. Such information can also be used negatively by some individuals.
- If you know the details about the individual who is going to conduct the interview, at least their names, then it is a safe option that you should go and check their social networking sites and get to know more about them. Try to learn about as much as you can about them. Try to find little details about them that may have some similarity to you. Try to use these points in your favour when you attend the interview.
- Also, during the interview, try to use this information according to your advantage and try to strike a conversation with the interviewer. Do not make it sound too obvious , that you have been stalking their social media sites. Try to make it subtle and at the same time create a powerful impression to the interviewer. You can also use social media and networking sites to get to know more information about the company and its work culture and can be used to decide, whether or not the job is suitable for you.
2. Boasting about a referral:
- Boasting about a referral is also known as name dropping. This is the act of including the name of a current employee of the company or an associate that both the interviewer and the candidate know, into the conversation during the interview. Name dropping can be a risky business, because if the interviewer is a seasoned and an experienced interviewer, then they would eventually find out when you introduced the name of the referral. No one likes a person who bags a job based off on favours and socialism. The best way to use the name dropping technique is to nonchalantly include the fact that both you and the referral are mutual friends, this can make a small difference and can be taken as an added advantage to you.
- Another dilemma when using the name dropping method is, who to use as the mutual friend. This is always a tricky part when it comes to this method. Decide whether the mutual friend you are going to suggest is a close acquaintance or just an informal relationship. Whatever the reason it is, try to use the chance if the situation is favourable for you.A perfect name dropping is half luck and half personality. Also, try to be as delicate and subtle as possible, when you introduce the mutual friend to the interviewer.
- A good method to namedrop someone is go with the flow. Try to include the name, when the chance is right. Do not include pauses and do not stop. Once you have introduced the person, then quickly jump on to the next topic, so that the interviewer may not feel suspicious. If they feel that they should ask some follow up questions, then let them be, otherwise do not try to bring up about that person. Try to move on to the next part of the interview.
3. Simulating another person:
- This type of behaviour during an interview, is considered even more risky than name dropping. Also called as mirroring, this the situation in which the candidate tries to imitate the personality, behaviour, traits and the characteristics of another person during an interview. The person might be someone that they look up to or are sure that they would bag the interview and the job.
- A bad job of imitation can be easily noticed by the interviewer, and they might even give you warnings or you will be called out for it. In serious cases, some candidates might even be shown the door and are disqualified from the whole interview process itself. Similar to name dropping a referral, mirroring takes a lot of practice and dexterity. The main problem being that when you depict too much about the other person, it becomes very much noticeable and clear to the interviewer that you are trying to be someone that you are not.
- One of the main principles in having a successful interview, is to be yourself, but in desperation some might create an alter ego of themselves which is the exact copy of someone else. If done with a considerable amount of creativity and expertise, there are higher chances that you will be noticed by the interviewer, in a positive light.
- Though , mirroring someone is seen as a manipulating trick, trying to copy the gestures of the other person and also copying how they speak, might make the person like you more and they might even enjoy being around with you. This is necessary for impressing someone, who has the authoritative power in handing you the job. But try to be cautious when doing such a behaviour. Getting caught doing so, might drastically reduce your chances of getting you the job.
4. Exercising before the interview:
- Exercising can do wonders for your body, mind and soul. It helps us to relax and release a certain type of hormones called as endorphins which help us to alleviate our mood and behaviour and helps us to be more calm and composed. Exercising also helps to reduce the stress and anxiety that is found in most candidates before attending an interview. This does not mean that you should exercise just before the interview, and present yourself as a sweaty person to the interview panel. Try to have a good workout session just hours before the interview and try to use the rest of the time in preparing and presenting yourself for the interview. Recent studies have shown that animals who have a good cardiovascular activity tend to have a more pleasing and a welcoming behaviour when compared to their animal counterparts.
5. Try to collect some inside information:
- When you are preparing for a relatively large company, it is a necessity that you should have some preparation before you attend the interview. One great method, is to get to know more about the company through someone who had experience in going through their interview process. Try to get legitimate insider information as much as possible. This will provide you with an added advantage and you can expect some similar challenges when you go through the interview process.
- There are many informative websites that narrates about the interview processes and also the work culture of the company. They also include the salary ranges of the jobs that you are searching for via employees who have been in that job position. Some sites that provide you with such information are GlassDoor, LinkedIn, Monster, Vault, Indeed, CareerLeak, Hallway and Google News. These sites also provide you with a great platform to get to know more about your employer and also the person who is going to interview you. Most of these sites have members who have employees working in companies that are located in the USA, UK, India, Japan, China, Canada, Australia, France and Germany. Try to find out what are the typical and most common interview questions asked and read through the various candidate experiences to get an idea of what’s it like to attend an interview for your dream job.
6. Try to channel your nervousness into enthusiasm:
- One of the most common challenges faced by any candidate before an interview is dealing with the stress and pressure that arises before the interview. Many people advice you to ignore the nervousness. But this cannot be possible for everyone, especially for first time interviewees. We are always reminded we should handle the situation more confidently and enthusiastically, but not everyone can do so.
- A sneak trick that you could use, is to reuse your anxiety and nervousness and channel it as a form of excitement for the job from your side. All it takes is a bit of mind control and positive thinking. That is, instead of ignoring your fears and stress, try to mould them into something that could help you as a support to survive through the whole interview process.
- The key lies in recognising which is the positive influence and which one is the negative. Nervousness is seen as a negative feeling, since it decreases the level of confidence of the candidate. Similarly, being excited and enthusiastic is considered as a positive influence, since this feeling can help you perform better in the interview. Try to understand that being nervous and being excited are just the two sides of the coin and hence, there is not much difference between the two.
- Moreover, having a positive approach also encourages the interviewer to be more active in the interview and also have a friendly conversation between you and the interviewer. This also helps the interviewer to have a positive first impression about you. Having a positive approach during an interview, creates a form of feedback loop that allows participation from both the candidate and from the interviewer.
- Also, keep in mind that too much of a certain thing can be harmful for you. This principle exactly applies to both nervousness and excitement. Being over ambitious and aggressive or being easily scared and tensed can make you fail the interview and can also give the interviewer a hard time and also a bad impression about you.
Interviews are not always fun and games. They might not be as easy as you think, even if you are a seasoned jobseeker. But with proper planning and strategy, you can increase your possibility of passing the interview and getting the job.
Try to adopt a few tips and tricks and successfully incorporate them during the interview. Try not to use these tricks as a form of manipulation and mind game as this can easily backfire right back at you. Also, try to learn more about the company and the interviewer as much as possible, so that you can effectively do a good job and show that you have the perfect persona in being the right candidate for the job.
