5. Practice With a Mock Interview
You’re going to phone up your friend who has conducted several interviews, and you guessed, have yourself a mock interview. While this might seem a little juvenile, just remember that even attorneys stage mock trials to work through kinks that might pop up.
The more you practice, the easier it will be for you to work through your toolbox. Oh, right, we haven’t discussed the toolbox yet. Prepare to be dazzled!
When we refer to the Toolbox, it’s your personal collection of stories that can be molded to suit an interviewer’s questions. It helps you to stay focused and respond with the right answers. When you’re working through your mock interview, be sure to make notes and change the script where you might be open to uhms and ahs.
It’s also an opportunity for your interviewer to let you know where you’re doing well or need some improvement.
We all know life can be weird, right? So there are going to be those times where you can’t round up a single friend who can take you through this. Put that impressive videoing capability of your latest mobile phone to the test and, cough, video yourself. Now, watch the video. If it makes you cringe, you guessed it, the interview is going to suck. Make notes of things that stick out to you.
- Are you talking too fast?
- Is your posture too slack or too upright?
- What about your body language?
- Are you making enough eye contact? You can make too much eye contact, don’t be Creepy McCreepster!
- Are you… boring?
This advice is not just for a first-time job-seeker. You might not be a strong interviewing candidate even if you’ve been in the industry for several years.
The lack of exposure to interviews is not the only obstacle to consider. There are serial job applicants that seem to tick all the boxes on paper but when they enter the interview room, the interviewer is already thinking about the next interview. and have some honest internal dialogue. Have you applied for a…
