ALT-2 Impressing an Interviewer
The first thing to remember when attending interviews is that any interviewer worth their salt will know that you're likely to be nervous. It's human nature to have nerves when attending interviews and interviewers expect this. A good interviewer will have the ability to put you at ease at the start of the interview so they can get to see the "real you" during the interview itself.
Several points to consider:
1. Ensure you arrive on time, try to be at least 10-15 minutes early so you can gather your thoughts. Some companies have interviews scheduled one after the other and if you're say 15 minutes late and only 60 minutes was allocated for your interview, you will only get 45 minutes or less to try to achieve what you would have had a whole hour to do if the interviewer has other interviews scheduled after you. This is even more valid if your interview is the last one of the day. The interviewer could be planning to leave work at 18:00 and if you've arrived at 17:00 instead of 16:30 you've potentially lost your chance to have ample time to impress.
2. When meeting your interviewer for the first time; shake their hand. Not a limp handshake that makes you seem like a wet lettuce nor so hard that their arm almost comes out of its socket. A firm friendly handshake is a good start to making a good first impression.
3. Address the interviewer by name; usually the interviewer(s) will tell you their name at the start of the interviewer. It looks really bad if you forget and call them "Paul" when their name is "Peter" or "Maureen" when their name is "Marianne" etc. Don't overuse their name though, just use it in response to a direct question up to 2 or 3 times during the interview.
4. Make sure you've done your research on the company - this might sound obvious but make sure that if you're going to drop in hints about how well you've researched the company you don't say "yes I know you have 30 branches" when the website spiel says they have only 5. This makes you sound as if you've confused the company with another one. If, in doubt, don't try to be clever!
5. Answer questions honestly. I've lost count of the number of times people have written something in their CV/resume and when asked about it during the interview they completely forgot what they wrote. Only recently someone who'd said they had over 2 years commercial experience in one particular area on their CV said during the interview that they had no commercial experience whatsoever. No point in the interviewer deliberately saying "BUT in your CV you said you have been using XXXXX for over 2 years commercially" but this is not going to get you to the next interview stage or job offer stage by any means. If you're going to exaggerate about something in your CV make sure you cover all bases and know what you're talking about when asked in person.
6. When asked to give examples of a fictional scenario, try to have examples already prepared. Some common questions you might be asked include: "Describe a situation when you had to calm down an angry customer" or "Tell me about a time when you had to say no to a senior member of staff and how that worked out" or "Have you any examples of you having to take the lead on a project and how did you handle this?"
7. Have your own questions ready to ask the interviewer and don't waste this opportunity by asking selfish questions such as "How many holidays will I get?" or "How often will I get a pay rise?" Try to ask questions which give you a chance to sell yourself such as "What sort of on the job training would the successful candidate get to ease them into the position? I've always prided myself on being quick at picking up new skills." "I'm very deadline oriented. What are some of the long term objectives you would like to see completed?" and a question that really can impress an interviewer is "Is there anything you've asked me which you feel I didn't answer to the best of my ability. I really like the sound of this position and would love to have the chance to improve my chances of being offered the role by clarifying any points you feel I might not have covered properly."
8. Show that you're enthusiastic. If you're applying for the role of a Sales Person, show that you're bubbly and charming. Don't talk over the interviewer as they'll see this as potentially risky - what if you do that to customers? If you're applying for a role as a Software Developer show enthusiasm about programming. If they're looking for someone who's going to be writing code all day they want to know that you'll enjoy it and won't get bored within a couple of months and look elsewhere. If you're applying for a role as a Secretary, show that you listen to instructions.Don't jump in to answer a question before the interviewer has even finished their sentence. It's rude and unprofessional and you might answer the wrong question altogether!
9. Something a lot of people get wrong is to slate their last employer or boss. This doesn't go down well. If you had a problem with your last manager, don't say to the interviewer "My boss was a joke, he/she had no idea how to manage a team!" or "The company was useless, they didn't know how to treat their staff!" This could really backfire in several ways; one way would be that your interviewer knows the company or the person you're insulting, the other way it looks bad is that shows the interviewer you're not very loyal and would possibly talk badly of this company or staff should you later move on. Choose your words carefully; it doesn't hurt to say that you learnt a lot of things from the company and your ex-manager and hope it's made you more of a well rounded person and a good choice for this role.
Hopefully if you adhere to some of the advice above you'll have a better chance at impressing your interviewer.
Good luck!
