Step 6 - Interview Gameplan
Many books are available that discuss interview behavior. We could go into a review of interview behavior, but why reinvent the wheel? Among the best and least expensive sources are the guidelines available through your organization's personnel office. Why? Because the guidelines are often the basis for formal training in the organization.
Here are the tips that we've picked up in our own experience:
- Don’t smoke, chew gum, tobacco, or anything else.
- Make a positive and professional first impression by being assertive and giving a firm handshake to each interviewer and addressing each interviewer as they are introduced.
- Reinforce your professionalism by speaking clearly and avoiding "uhs", "you knows", and slang.
- Use appropriate wording. You won’t receive an extra point for every word that has more than 10 letters. Use technical terms only when appropriate to the question.
- Establish rapport by relating to each interviewer. Note the wording that is used by each interviewer and when appropriate use similar words. Maintain eye contact throughout the interview.
- Sit comfortably. Sit erectly, but don’t sit stiffly or sprawl over the chair.
- Avoid distracting gestures or making too many hand gestures.
- Project confidence and a positive attitude. Maintain awareness of your voice, posture, energy level, and enthusiasm. Smile confidently, but not to the point where you would appear to be over friendly.
- Emphasize your strengths and qualifications that make a compelling reason that you are the ideal person for the job.
- Don’t dominate the interview. Time does not equal quality.
- Manage weaknesses or barriers so that they appear to be indications of your strengths.
- Be attentive. Listen carefully and don’t interrupt.
- Close the interview with a strong statement.
- Thank the interviewers. Shake their hands individually and thank each interviewer by name.