Interview Skills: 7 Easy Ways to Impress Your Interviewer

Inthe world of job hunting, there is nothing more daunting than the jobinterview. Everyone gets nervous when faced with being put on thespot. With all the build up to an interview, many people go infeeling like one misplaced word will be enough to lose them theopportunity. It doesn’t need to be so hard.

Hereare seven things you can do to improve the impression you give in aninterview situation. These apply equally to agency interviews andinterviews with the potential employer.

Be prepared, but notover-prepared

Thereis often a lot of emphasis placed on the need for interviewpreparation: research the company, research the people, research thefavourite colour of the boss. In truth, while some research is a goodidea, going to excess can be detrimental. The interviewer is moreinterested in you than in what you know about the organisation, soconsider spending more research time reminding yourself of your ownbackground, and particularly achievements you may have forgottenabout.

Get the simple stuff right

Thereis no point doing any research if you don’t do the simple stuffright. Present yourself smartly - with clean shoes. (I’m amazed howoften the shoes are overlooked.) Be on time. Introduce yourself witha confident handshake and look the interviewer in the eyes. Andsmile! A smile can really set the interview off on the right track.

Listen to the questions

Thisis one area where over-preparation can be a trap. It is easy startwaffling on in answer to a question you anticipated rather than thequestion that was actually asked. This has the same effect on theinterviewer as sending a form letter: it leaves them wondering if youreally want this particular job or would be happy with anything.

Pause. Think before you answer

Thereis nothing wrong with taking your time to answer. Again, inpreparation, we can convince ourselves that unless we have the rightanswer on the tip of our tongues, we will look unprofessional. Infact, taking the time to think looks far more professional thanshooting with the first thing that comes to mind. After all, in mostcases, the ability to think will be a requirement of the job.

Treat the interview as aconversation

Itwill be easier all around if you can play your part in making theinterview a conversation rather than an interrogation. So think aboutit as that - a conversation - before you go into the interview room.Remember that an interview should be about you testing thesuitability of the job to you as much as it is them testing thesuitability of you to the job. It’s a two-way street.

Be yourself

Wesometimes get so caught up trying to present ourselves as what wethink the interviewer is looking for that we forget to be ourselves.Don’t fool yourself: interviewers can see through this and theywill quickly discount you if they don’t feel they are getting tosee the real you. In the end, if you can’t get the job by beingyourself, why would you want the job in the first place?

Forget the opposition

Anothertrap is worrying too much about the other applicants, especiallytowards the end of the interview process when you know you’re downto the last two or three. This can be hard to avoid but it isessential. If there is a better candidate than you, there is nothingyou can do about it. On the other hand, if you are the bestcandidate, the only way you’ll miss out is if you don’t make thatclear. So focus on your own achievements: not the achievements youimagine others might have.

Interviewerssee a lot of people every day. They are often disappointed bywell-qualified people who forget some of these basics in a vainattempt to present as the perfectly prepared candidate. This makesthese people very hard to consider seriously. Don’t make the samemistake yourself.

David James Brewster, is a writer for Classifind.com.au. Classifind.com.au is Australia's largest search engine specialising in jobs. Hundreds of thousands of job listings from major Australian job boards are brought together in one place, reducing search time.