Seven Secrets An Interview Skills Coach Wishes People Knew About The Interview Game

I’m an interview skills coach. I see forlorn clients coming into my office or on Zoom every day, dismayed and beaten down from being rejected from one interview after the next. It really pulls at my heartstrings to see them so defeated. I wish they had called me sooner so I could have helped them avoid all that pain. But here is some good news for you. I am going to give you my top seven fastest-acting and best interview tips so you can avoid what they were going through. Ready? Here we go.



1. Script Your Answers. You must practice the answers you want to give. You cannot make them up or wing it in the interview. Going in with hope as a strategy is a recipe for disaster. Don’t write your answers word for word, in narrative form. That’s too difficult to remember. Instead, write out bullets, key words and symbols.
   
   
2. Perfect Practice Is Key. Practice your answers in the car as you drive. Practice at home. Practice with a mirror. Don’t practice just in your head. It must be out loud, so you can evaluate your spoken performance.
   
   
3. Target Your Content. Match your interview answers exactly to the job or program description. That includes your resume. Make a fresh resume for each new position, slanted toward that position. Generic resumes result in generic responses by companies and programs.
   
   
4. First Write, Then Speak. First outline all your answers, then practice them using a memory system to represent each answer. If you will be telling a story about your industriousness, condense the entire one-minute story to one word: Industry. That may be enough to jog your memory.
   
   
5. Realize That Some Nerves Are Good. Candidates who believe they should strive to have no nerves become more scared once the nerves inevitably show up in an interview. And believe me, nerves WILL show up. It’s how you view them and handle them that makes or breaks you. Don’t expect perfect nerve control, and when they arrive, don’t get bent out of shape. Take them as a sign of positive activation that it is your body getting you ready, and press on.
   
   
6. Calm Yourself. Beyond knowing that having nerves happens to everyone, you need a method of calming yourself and staying in the moment mentally, so you can listen effectively and respond in an intelligent manner. Breathe deeply, sit tall, talk slower and be more deliberate about your movements. I have dozens of other stress control techniques, but breathing is the most important one.
   
   
7. Ask For The Job. Probably 90% of job candidates simply thank the interviewer at the end of the interview and leave. Instead, you should make a final statement that summarizes that you are a perfect fit for the position, and tell them, in no uncertain terms, how much you want the job. That way you end on a high note, with passion, and walk out leaving a very, very positive final impression.

Now you are armed with some ready-made strategies you can use to get fast traction on your interview practice and performance. If you need more help, I would be happy to assist you in polishing your interview skills, style and performance skills.