The ability to present oneself is an important skill, especially useful in an interview. After all, the personnel manager takes into account not only your professionalism and business qualities but also confidence, speech literacy, and many other parameters. However, in addition to personal data, there are also psychological techniques that help faster and easier to get a dream job. These psychological tricks and tips help you get interviewed.
It turns out that even slight experience in managing people, it greatly contributes to your self-confidence, and even more surprisingly, memories of this experience also work. This is what professors from Columbia and New York universities say in their study.
To increase self-confidence before the upcoming interview, remember the whole leadership experience and write on the sheet: you were the captain of the school math group, organized a community workday, led the project team - everything is suitable for inspiration. By the way, do not forget to add this leadership experience to the resume.
If you need to look smarter in the eyes of the HR specialist, keep talking expressively and energetically. There is one interesting example: if two people pronounce the same text, but one of them speaks a little faster, louder and with fewer pauses, then he seems smarter than the other person. So try to avoid “um”, “so...” and the same sounds.
Another useful tip is a need to change the pace of your speech. You must slow down on key points and speed up on unimportant things.
Fight shyness and look into an employer's eyes, especially at the first meeting. Researchers from Northeastern University experimented: participants needed to watch video recordings of two people talking and asked to rate which of the interlocutors was smarter. The results displayed that people rated the person who looked into the interlocutor’s eyes more often and did not lose eye contact.
A study at Gelf University found that strong excitement significantly reduces the chance of being selected as a recruiter. Anxiety may seem to be the result of self-doubt, so work on yourself and look for suitable methods of dealing with fear and excitement.
Do not focus on the interview about your past achievements, but on the skills that will bring results to the future employer - show what useful companies will be.
Stanford University, together with Harvard Business School, conducted a study on the social assessment of a person. Participants received information about a hypothetical candidate for work: half of the people said that the applicant has two years of experience and a high score in the leadership exam; the others were convinced that the candidate had no experience, but received a high score for testing leadership potential. The results showed the participants with great potential won for the position, rather than participants with experience. So, experience does not solve everything!
Perhaps the recruiter will not ask you about the reasons for a long break at work or leaving the previous place, but it is better to be prepared for the worst and prepare answers to unpleasant questions in advance. You will find typical questions for preparation in article 10 most common and tricky interview questions.
John Less, an HR expert, advises one simple and tricky tip: When answering a question, for example, about the dismissal, do not linger on the reasons, but proceed to discuss the positive points that you learned from the situation. As an example, they took a fresh look at their career plan, worked on the mistakes, decided to learn new skills. Try at the interview (and in life) to turn all negative situations into your advantages and points of growth.
It turns out that at some interviews, a Hollywood smile can interfere with getting a job. One study of behavior described an experiment on college students: participants needed to conduct an interview. As a result, “candidates” for the post of a newspaper reporter, manager, and assistant lowered their chances of hiring if they smiled during the interview. For people who are looking for a job as sales representatives or sellers, a smile, on the contrary, can bring its fruits.
Psychologists J. Golding and A. Lippert state that people who are actively demonstrating enthusiasm and passion are more likely to receive an offer than less emotional candidates.
An incredible desire to work is visible not only in “burning eyes,” but also in the voice: energetic speech, lowering and raising the tone are indicators of excitement in the good sense of the word and that a person is impatient to get to work. The cold calm and measured pace of speech do not mean, that the candidate does not want to work in the company. But it is better to show your enthusiasm for the recruiter.
We are talking about a small talk before the very start of the interview. It is useful to talk about the weather, the office of the company, or on another relevant topic. As practice shows, small talk can have a big impact on the interviewer's impression of you.
Researchers conducted a study at universities in Texas and Georgia. The candidates with whom the recruiter had a nice chat before the interview, he later evaluated higher than less sociable candidates.
You know that the interviews have the same case scenario: the recruiter asks questions based on the resume, and your task is to answer. To stand out from others, you need somehow to diversify the conversation, within reason.
Here is the case: at the very beginning of the interview, one candidate told the recruiter: “Let me tell you some interesting things that are not in my resume.” This phrase will catch the interviewer and switched his or her attention from the resume to the candidate. Take into consideration this way.
The question “Why did you invite me for the interview?” make a difference and set you apart from other candidates. According to psychologist Robert Cialdini, such a question positively affects the further decision about your candidacy. You make the recruiter talk about your merits, praise you, and also show that you are not a timid one.
To ask a recruiter questions is a good move: you will learn more about the company and position, support the conversation. Also, you can find the article How to Talk About Salary in a Job Interview.
