A reader recently asked for suggestions on how to be more confident during job interviews, which are obviously very stressful situations. This topic bridges two of my passions – empowering business people to communicate with more confidence and encouraging candidates to maximize their impact during job interviews.
Here’s a summary of my response for those of you with similar interests.
Gaining – and projecting – more confidence when speaking in general and especially in interviews is very important. Remember that perception is reality. If you look and sound confident, they will think you are. And it’s simple to do that, just not very easy.
Some thoughts on increasing your image of confidence:
- Know your topic – make sure you know a lot about the company you’re interviewing with and the particular job. You can showcase that knowledge simply by asking smart questions.
- Know yourself. Have thoughful and practiced answers to the typical questions interviewers ask, such as those about your strengths, weaknesses, value, etc.
- Know your audience – research the recruiter or interviewer online, through LinkedIn, etc.
- Speak up – talk louder than you might normally to project more confidence and mask some symptoms of Presentation Anxiety.
- Slow down – talk a little slower by pausing longer and more often at logical grammatical points. Allow the interviewer to process what you’re saying or think of another question to ask you.
- Maintain strong eye contact – look at the interviewer a lot. Vary it by looking down at the table, not up or off to the side.
- Don’t fidget – if you feel your nervous energy is causing you to fidget with your hands, put them in your lap so you don’t call attention to them. Gesture above the table or desk often. Don’t fold your hands together.
- Look like you’re having fun – try to relax and look like you’re having fun, or at least enjoying the conversation. You probably aren’t, but it’s important to project that overall image of confidence. So play the part and fake it till you make it
Practice all these techniques with a colleague or friend before trying them out in an actual interview. And best wishes for success in Interviewing with Confidence.