Hello my professional friends. Welcome to my 6th article. This time I am going to share more on art of doing interviews. What I write here is based on my personal experience and insight of 14 years on both sides of the table: interviewer and interviewee. Big chance my experience will be different from other people but I hope this can be used to enrich your own personal style when doing interview.
Interview, for me, is a very exciting thing to do. As interviewee, it is my chance to market myself directly for the job and simultaneously market myself to the interviewer. As interviewer, it is my chance to assess and filter whom I will put in my several list of potential candidates for specific assignments. All in all, interview session is very exciting as both parties can share, learn, and expand their knowledge, branding (both corporate and personal), and network at the same time. We can have multiple interviews for a position so I want to focus on the first interview. First interview equals to first impression from you to the opposing party, whether you are the interviewee or the interviewer. It is your (most of the time) only chance to guarantee your ticket to next recruitment process.
Without further ado, these are what and how you can do in your first interview to strike excellent first impression:
This is a classic point. Very basic but, in reality, most people do take this lightly. Being on time is directly related with your time management skill. If you can manage your own time management skill, don’t be surprised that people will not trust you to manage any other things. By being on time, we also respect the other party. Remember that we are the busiest person in this world. If you are afraid you can’t be on time please make sure to inform the other party 3 hours at the latest. If you have another meeting afterwards, please do inform the person you are talking to before starting the interview.
I always try to arrive 5-10 minutes earlier so I have time to catch my breath, do final touch on my appearance, make spare time in case of traffic jam, or simply prepare myself to be present and ready for the interview.
Do little research about the company or person you are talking to on their culture so you will blend perfectly when talking to them. Psychologically we will be inclined to talk more and share more when we have something in common. That is why equal appearance can be the key during first meeting. When in doubt, overdressed is better than underdressed.
Learn about the person and the company he/she is working for. You can simply use internet to do this. You can impress them with the information you read and do not hesitate to ask questions about their role and what the company is focusing this year. This shows you are enthusiastic about the person, the company, the role.
Most people think the more talking, the bigger chance they have. The more important skill I want to highlight here is to listen. By listening, you will get the idea where the conversation is going. If you a trained listener, you can actually steer the conversation to certain direction.
If you want to talk more, make sure the person you are talking to is jotting down your points. If not, just talk and answer in concise way and deliver the important points. It is less likely he/she will remember all your long answers.
This part usually occurs in the end of interview session. Whether you are the interviewer or the interviewee, do not waste this part. It can be the opportunity to ask and to know missing or extra information for both sides. And as mentioned in point 3, this can also be a good indication of your enthusiasm level.
Please do tell this if you are the interviewer and do ask this if you are the interviewee. This is the end of the interview session. Please remember both parties have allocated their time to meet and talk. Therefore, I think the interviewees have the right to know what is the next for them in recruitment process.
There you go. I hope you enjoy reading what I just shared. I hope it can help you leave excellent professional first impression when you are doing interviews. Stay safe and stay productive!
