What not to do and say at an interview
What do you do when you are nervous in an interview?
Silence in an interview, how is that a positive?
There are lots of articles and blogs out there focusing on ‘top interview tips’.
Common tips include pointers such as;
- Dress appropriately for the interview
- Don’t be late
- Make eye contact with the interviewer
- Make a great first impression
- Don’t badmouth your employer, amongst others.
- Don’t go in with food or a coffee.
All these tips are most definitely important; however they are all largely common sense in my opinion. Not to say they are always easy to follow and are meticulously followed, however they are widely known with plenty of information available should clarification be required. Most people however should be aware of the fact to NOT be late for an interview.
Then there are those ‘hidden’ tips which aren’t as widely talked about. I believe these tips are equally if not more so important than the common ‘make a great first impression’ tip.
Don’t speak. Silence is golden!
Sounds a little odd doesn’t it?
As isn’t the very point of an interview to showcase your skills and experience? Isn’t it your time to shine and tell prospective employers exactly why you should get the job over the next person? Aside from various forms of assessment or presentation, isn’t speaking the only way to convey your suitability? It most definitely is, however this can cause some issues.
Picture this – you are in an interview, they ask a question – you have given an answer you are happy with. You are pretty proud of yourself, however the interviewers are staring ‘poker faced’ at you – you don’t know how to interpret this.
‘Do they want more? Is that sufficient? Did they understand what I said? Did they like my answer?’.
Instead of turning off these thoughts, you think:
‘It can’t hurt to go through my answer again or give another example so here goes’…well, let me tell you, it can hurt a lot!
It is human nature for nerves to develop prior and during an interview. It is a natural human reaction – you are being put under the microscope and you know full well that everything you say, do (and not say and do) are being scrutinized.
What do you do when you are nervous in an interview?
- Palms sweat?
- Heart races?
- Voice waivers?
- Your verbal filter fails you?
Interviewers won’t mind if your voice is a little shaky or if your handshake is slightly clammy. It is the verbal filter which can get you into serious strife. We’ve all been guilty of it. We get nervous, our mind races and the only response we can think of at the time is to continue talking – often quite rambly, off topic and as a result, you are unwillingly doing far more harm than good.
I can recall very clearly a moment when this feedback was given to me and it changed the way I conducted interviews from that point on. I had just completed interviewing a senior communications executive alongside one of the HR directors at my organization.
The interview had gone well and the candidate a top contender for the role. Once the candidate had left the room, the HR director warmly and professionally asked me if I wanted some feedback on my interviewing technique. Of course I did, I had recently returned from maternity leave and was a little rusty. She noticed that, on occasion, I would start by asking the candidate a direct and concise question and instead of leaving it at that, I would, unprompted, reword the question and ask it again.
In my mind, I thought I was clarifying the question for the candidate, however in reality, it was most likely resulting in a somewhat confusing question from the candidates perspective which had lost a lot of its impact.
This valuable feedback made me a much better interviewer and ultimately I was able to draw the best responses out of my interviewees. If you break it down, perhaps my nerves, or my discomfort with a pause in the flow of the conversation while the candidate pondered a response, resulted in me unnecessarily filling that silence with words which did not need to be said.
Silence would have been a much better outcome in that scenario.
So, silence in an interview, how is that a positive?
More times than I can remember, I have listened to a candidate repeat, reword and stumble over themselves after already giving a strong and succinct answer to a question. On occasion, I have pulled them up on this, however more often than not I let the candidate speak, mainly to see if they:
a) realised what they were doing and
b) to see if they were able to reign their off topic babbling response back in.
Those who did realise and finished their response showed self awareness, control and professionalism. Those who did not, did not get the job.
So my advice?
- Pause: If you have answered a question to the best of your ability, pause for a moment and wait.
- Wait: to see if there is a follow up question, comment or if it’s onto the next interview question.
- Clarify: Don’t try and fill the silence with words, if you think your answer is too short then clarify with the interviewer ‘have I adequately answered your question?’.
It is commonly felt that the interviewer has the ‘upper hand’ regarding power balance in an interview.
They are testing you, they ultimately hold the golden ticket to whether you progress forward. This is essentially true, however one way to regain some control is to pause – show you are comfortable with silence and dictating the pace of the interview. This isn’t just up to the interviewer.
This ‘silence’ concept also applies immediately after the interviewer asks a question.
Don’t just say the first thing which pops into your head – take a moment to really think and plan your response.
What if you don’t know the answer to a question? Don’t just speak and hope that something is vaiguely on topic! A much better response would be ‘can you please give me a minute to think through my response’ or if things are dire ‘do you mind if we come back to that question later in the interview?’
Behavioral Based Interview (BEI) questions often fall into this category. By this I mean STAR (Situation Task Action Result). If you are struggling to come up with an example to a behavioral based question, you can always ask the interviewer for some time – ‘I need a moment please to think through the best response to your question.’ Under interview conditions a pause can feel like hours, however I promise the interviewer (and your job application) will thank you for not just spilling out the first and often sub par response which pops into your mind.
What did you YOU do, not your team?
Interviewers are not overly interested in what your team did, what your manager did or your business partner. Sure, it provides context however you are the one who they are interested in, so they want to hear your involvement.
In my experience, the most common interview mistake is the use of two little words.
‘We’ and ‘I’.
The main reason we often default to using ‘we’ far more often than we should in an interview is because it is quite difficult for some people to ‘sell themselves’. We don’t want come across as arrogant and self indulgent. However if there is ever a time to be arrogant, this is it! Their natural response is to give credit to those around them. Sure, they are happy to be associated with the project, however taking the credit is difficult. However, give credit where credit is due!
‘We’ crops up mostly when answering behavioural interview questions. ‘Tell me a time when’ often results in your mind reverting back to a group situation where you fall into the pattern of describing what was achieved as a team, as opposed to your actual role.
An interview is the time to big note yourself! Sure, start by setting the scene – ‘My team produced a successful pilot for our client group’. However make sure you follow this up with ‘My role within this project was’.
Keep this in the back of your mind and try and catch yourself if ‘we’ creeps into your response. It is easily fixed if its recognised!
Impressions count all throughout the job application process
The test: As soon as you click ‘send’ on your application you are being tested. Your email and phone communication from the outset, gives interviewers an insight into the kind of employee you will be.
Be professional: Avoid spelling and grammatical mistakes and being too familiar – keep it clean and professional.
Smile: From the moment you walk into the building for your interview, you are on show. How you carry yourself, your appearance and interactions need to be appropriately considered. If you pass a current employee, look them straight in the eye and smile (you never know who that could be – they could be your future colleague or superior). Sounds fickle, however it’s the way it is. Treat receptionists with respect and a friendly approach and don’t forget your manners!
If you succeed in these three areas – you are well on your way to being invited back for that sometimes elusive 2nd round interview.
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Written by Emma Moore. Based in Bayside in Melbourne, Emma has spent 15 years in Corporate Talent Acquisition roles in global organizations across Consulting, Professional Services and Telecommunications. Emma has tertiary qualifications in Psychology, Business (Human Resource Management) and Careers Development and Education. Emma has read and provided feedback on thousands of resumes, interviewed hundreds of candidates and made those all important hiring decisions with her stakeholders. Emma is in a unique position to enable you to represent yourself in the best possible way. She knows exactly what prospective employers like to see and hear throughout the application and interview process as a result of being ‘on the other side of the fence’ for so many years.
Want to work with Emma? Contact her today to set up a Resume, LinkedIn or Interview Coaching session. Emma can work with you in person or remotely.
