For most of us, job interviewing can be really stressful. It's like speed dating, but for work, and the pressure on making a good first impression is extremely high.
“An interview is a performance to some degree,” says Pam Skillings in her LinkedIn Learning course How to Rock an Interview. “You’re starring as yourself.”
If you are in the market for your next role, check out Skillings’ six tips to help you nail your next interview — and ensure you get the applause (and job offer!) that you deserve after your star performance.
6 tips to rock your next interview
1. Plan your first impression
When up against the open-ended question of “tell me about yourself,” where should you begin? Definitely not at the beginning of your career.
Interviewers and hiring managers don’t want a recap of your resume. They want to know why you’re the most relevant and interesting person for this job.
So give them what they want and answer the question succinctly and directly. Maintain eye contact and remember that you’re in control — you get to decide what parts of your story to emphasize.
2. Sell your strengths
In an interview, talking about your strengths isn’t obnoxious. It’s not bragging or being too forward. In fact, highlighting and sharing your strengths can be one of the most important things to do in a successful interview.
So be sure to be prepared to share your strengths in your interview. Take the time to practice how you’d speak about them and find ways to weave them into a discussion of, say, the top three reasons you’d be a great fit for this particular role.
Even if you’re an introvert or a modest person by nature, there are ways to communicate your strengths without going against your personality.
First, state the facts of what you accomplished:
Example: “I led a multi-million dollar project that we delivered two weeks ahead of deadline and received amazing feedback from the client."
Second, highlight what others think about you:
Example: “In my performance review, I got great feedback from my manager about my ability to mentor junior associates and motivate my team.”
And remember to practice aloud. With just a handful of practice responses beforehand, you can go from stumbling to polished in no time.
3. Prepare speaking points — not a script
How can you be prepared for the interview, but also come across as authentic and spontaneous? The short answer: Bullet points.
Don’t script responses word for word. Simply capture a few bullet points that communicate the most important points for commonly asked questions.
Sometimes it can feel like you’re at the mercy of the interviewer, says Skillings. “But if you go in feeling comfortable with your speaking points and the things that you want them to remember about you,” she says, “it gives you an opportunity to be strategic and proactive.”
This can be especially helpful if there’s an area in your work history that you’re sensitive about, like a gap in your resume. Don’t stick your head in the sand and hope they don’t ask.
Instead, prepare and practice an answer to a question about that topic so you’ll be in control of your message no matter what the interviewer throws your way.
4. Show enthusiasm for the role
It’s a given that you will research the company and be able to discuss why you’re a good fit for the organization.
But even more importantly, you need to express — with sincere enthusiasm! — how you’re a great fit for the job itself and why you’d be excited to do this work. Think about:
- How am I uniquely qualified for this job?
- Why would I be motivated to succeed if they hired me?
- How does this job fit into my career goals and what I love to do?
Hiring managers are trying to get a feel for whether you would be a passionate, strong performer if you’re hired, Skillings notes. So be sure to bring your A-game when it comes to enthusiasm.
5. Tell a good (short) story
When answering questions about specific projects you led, Skillings says, “you want to have a little bit of a story arc. You want to paint a picture and you want to make sure that you're really sharing what you in particular did to contribute to the project.”
But how?
- Start with some backstory. You don’t need to provide all the details, but just enough context to explain why the project was important.
- Highlight your actions. Explain what you did, including the obstacles you faced and how you addressed them.
- End with positive outcomes. Be sure to highlight why the project and your contributions were important. That can be through a concrete business result (“my contributions helped increase revenue by 8%”) or something more anecdotal (“my leadership helped us come in under budget and the customer renewed their contract”).
And to make your story concise and engaging, remember the following:
- Keep it under two minutes.
- Use I instead of we.
- Think of your story as the start of a dialogue, not a monologue. If the interviewer asks follow-up questions to dig deeper, you know you’ve succeeded.
6. End on a positive note
There’s plenty of advice out there that says to end the interview with a question like, “Do you have any concerns about me as a candidate?”
Skillings thinks that’s a bad idea.
One problem is that most interviewers and hiring managers, especially at big companies, are trained not to give feedback like that on the spot. Plus, why end the interview by inviting negativity?
Instead, try ending on a positive note by asking something like: “What do you think are the most important qualities for someone in this role?”
It may open up a final opportunity for you to talk about your experience in a different way to make that final lasting impression.
For more interview tips and tricks, be sure to watch How to Rock an Interview with Pam Skillings.
