These 11 tips will teach you how to nail an interview to ensure you land the next step, and ultimately, the job of your dreams.
First off, Congratulations on landing the job interview! I find that just landing the interview is the hardest part! It means your resume and job application were seen among thousands of applications! Pat yourself on the back!
Alright, now let's discuss how to conduct the job interview for the best chance at landing the job!
These are my best 11 tips to impress any employer. I do these exact things in every interview I'm in and have experienced great success in doing so! In fact, these are all things I look for when I'm interviewing someone myself!
These tips will show you exactly how to nail an interview to give you the best chance of landing the job!
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How to Nail a Job Interview With These 11 Easy Tips
The hardest part was getting the interview. Now, if you follow these tips, you'll set yourself up for a very good chance of getting to the next step of the interview process!
1. Dress for the Job You Want, Not the Job You're Applying For
You've probably heard this before, but I can't stress it enough.
Dress for not just the job you're applying for, but the ideal job you'd like to have. In fact, maybe it's a job you've put on your goals spreadsheet! Dress for that job!
Applying for a cashier's job at Costco? Awesome! Wear a suit.
Going in for an interview for a construction job? Great! Wear a suit.
Feel like you're overdressed for an interview? Perfect! You're doing it right!
The employer wants to see that you're taking the job interview seriously and that you really want it. The more effort you put into showing them how badly you want the job, the more you'll grasp their intention.
For example, if you're going into an interview dressed in a suit and all the candidates they interviewed that week were dressed in jeans and a nice top, you will stand out. You will catch their eye. They will want to hire the person that put in the extra time to over-dress for the job.
It shows them that you're detail-oriented and truly care about landing the job you're applying for.
The rule here is: When in doubt, over-dress.
2. Firm Handshake
When you meet an employer for the first time, the first impression is everything. Usually, the initial meeting will start with a handshake. This handshake, believe it or not, will tell them so much about you.
First off, when you shake their hand, make sure it's a firm handshake. Avoid the flimsy handshakes and certainly, avoid giving them just your fingers to shake. (Do ya'll know the handshake I'm referring to?) I see this mistake all the time.
A weak handshake gives the impression that you aren't confident. That's the last impression you want to give to a prospective employer. Low confidence typically means something doesn't feel they are worthy of the job, which means they probably won't do a good job in the role.
Employers know this so they want someone that is confident in themselves and gives a firm handshake while introducing themselves.
For example, shake their hand firmly, look them in the eyes and say “Hi Mr. Green, I'm Lindsey Smith, it's a pleasure to meet you.”
This one-line introduction will set the mood for the rest of the interview so make sure you make a good impression and show just how confident you are!
This brings me to my next tip.
3. Make Eye Contact
Making eye contact in a job interview is so important. Eye contact shows you are confident in yourself. It also tells the employer that you are interested in the role and in the interview.
Have you ever spoken to someone that was avoiding eye contact or looking into the distance? Did you feel as though they cared about the conversation they were having with you? My guess is not at all.
Employers feel this way too.
Often people don't avoid eye contact in an interview because they don't care, but because they are nervous. This is understandable. However, you need to overcome those nerves and make strong eye contact with the interviewer so they know you are serious about the job and confident in your abilities!
4. Build Rapport
This next step is one of the most important tips in a job interview. You want to make sure you build rapport with the interviewer.
What is rapport? Rapport is essentially finding topics to talk about (aside from the job) that enable you to build a connection on a personal level.
How do you do that? Let's discuss.
Before the interview, do research on the interviewer, if you know who it will be. Look them up on LinkedIn and see if you can find any common ground. For example, did they go to the same college as you? Do they have similar interests? Do they like sports? Do you have mutual connections? Have they worked somewhere you used to work?
Look for anything and everything. Aim to find at least one thing in common that you'll be able to build rapport on.
If you don't know who the interviewer will be or can't find them on LinkedIn, you still need to build rapport.
If the interview is conducted in their office, look for clues of things to chat about like family photos, sports memorabilia or college degrees.
If the interview is in a conference room, ask how their weekend was and what they did. Think of questions you can ask to break the ice so that you both feel comfortable.
5. Do Research on the Company
Before an interview, make sure you do a good amount of research on the company itself.
Go to their website and write down their mission statement, any products/services they offer, their pillars, etc.
If you can find history on the company or shareholder information, that will be helpful as well. Write down as much information as you can find.
You will take this information with you to your interview and try to incorporate a few of those things into the interview.
For example, you can say something like “I feel I'd be a great candidate for this role because I emulate the company's pillars of honesty, responsibility, and trustworthiness in everything I do.”
Basically, use the information you find on the company to make sure they KNOW that you did your research. I always like to include a few talking points about the company and relate them back to why I'd be the best candidate for the job.
6. Speak with Confidence
You need to speak with confidence in the interview. If you don't have confidence in yourself, how can you expect the employer to have confidence in you?
If you have trouble with confidence or get nervous easily, that's okay! It will come with time. However, here are some things you can do to improve your confidence:
How to Improve Your Confidence
- Join ToastMasters- This is a great group that will allow you to speak publicly in a group setting with people that have the same goal as you, to gain confidence! They have chapters all over the county in pretty much every city so you shouldn't have any trouble finding a group. It's a great way to grow in your public speaking skills in a non-judgemental environment that gives helpful critiques.
- Do more interviews- The more interviews you do, the easier it will get. Yes, you read that right! Don't feel bad if you were too nervous on one. You'll learn from it and the next one you'll do much better!
- Speak confidence to yourself-Give yourself positive affirmations before your interview. Remind yourself that you are overly qualified for the job, would be a great candidate, and that they'd be stupid not to hire you. If you believe in yourself, it's much more likely that the employer will too!
7. Give Examples
During the interview, when they ask you questions, try to give them actual real-life examples.
What do I mean by that? I'm glad you asked!
Give examples from your personal life to help prove what you are saying. For example, if they ask if you like to work in teams, you'll want to respond with an example. Don't say “Yes, I work well in teams.”
That doesn't tell them anything about you.
Instead, you could say “Yes, I enjoy working in teams. In my previous company (or in biology class), we worked in a team to accomplish XYZ. It was a great experience and I found that I work very well in a team environment.”
Do you see the difference? Now you've explained a real-world situation to back up the fact that you do work well in teams. The employer will remember that much better than a simple yes.
8. Print Out Your Resume
When you go to your interview, print out your resume and keep it with you in a portfolio with a pad of paper for writing notes.
Why should you print out your resume if they already have it?
Often only the HR department has your resume so sometimes the interview never sees it. In addition, they often forget to print it out because they're running from meeting to meeting.
By printing it and bringing it in, you'll be able to offer your resume to them in the beginning of the interview. They will be appreciative that you took the extra effort to make their life easier.
Think about it this way. If you didn't bring in your resume and they didn't have access to it, the whole interview would almost be a waste because they wouldn't know what your background was. That's the last thing you want.
When in doubt, always bring a resume for them.
9. Practice Your Answers to Common Questions
Before your interview, you'll want to practice what you will say if certain questions are asked to you.
For example, employers love to ask about your biggest weakness.
This one can often make people look like a deer in headlights. Nobody wants to share their actual weakness. However, if you can be prepared in advance to share a weakness that you can transform into a positive thing, they will be impressed.
Practice with your family or friend beforehand and have them ask you difficult questions. I've done this with every one of my clients and they were so prepared for the interviewer's questions, they nailed them with ease because they knew exactly what to say!
10. Ask Questions
Make sure you ask questions in the interview. For the best success, aim to ask them throughout the interview and at the end of the interview.
Asking questions throughout shows them how interested you are in the role. However, make sure you save some for the end because they typically ask if you have any questions and if you've already asked all of them, you definitely don't want to have to say no.
What should you ask?
I have a full list of the Ultimate Guide to the Best Questions to Ask in an Interview. Feel free to print it out and take it with you so you never run out of questions to ask. You can also write a few or your favorites down so you have them ready to go.
Whatever you do, make sure to ask a LOT of questions! Employers really appreciate it and it will make you stand out.
11. Ask for the Next Step
You must, must ask for the next step of the interview!
I see this mistake WAY too much and I'm always surprised about it. I think people may get nervous and not think clearly. However, you need to be asking for the next step of the interview process.
If I'm interviewing someone and they don't ask what the next step is and how to get to it, it tells me they clearly don't care about the job. If they did, they'd want to know what's to come so they can be prepared.
Make sure you ask what the next step of the interview process is and ask to get it on the calendar, if possible. If that's not possible, ask who you should expect to hear from and when. I also like to confirm that if I don't hear from them by that day, that I can contact them to inquire.
Employers appreciate persistence.
How to Nail an Interview in 2021
By now, you should feel pretty equipped to tackle an interview with ease! These 11 tips helped me get to the next step in interviews and will help set you up for success to give you a great chance of impressing the employer to land that dream job!
Now that you've nailed the interview, you'll want to write a post-interview thank-you note. You can read exactly how to do that here: How to Write a Post-Interview Thank You Note That Will WOW Any Employer
This post was all about the 11 best tips on how to nail an interview to land the next step in the process.
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