by Chris Ziembko
Editor of TheDailyIntern.com
The fact is, interviews are not a meaningful way to evaluate job candidates. At the most, they are a mediocre way of evaluating the candidates’ personal skills. They don’t tell the employer what the candidate can do or how he or she will fit in at the office. The guy who nailed the interview could end up being an arrogant know-it-all at the office, and the guy who was nervous at the interview could end up being the one everyone liked. But until a better system comes along, we’ll have to make the most out of the interview process.
Interviewing is a skill. Some people are great at it, and some people aren’t. For those of you who are good at it: way to go, you can stop reading this. For those of you who haven’t mastered the interview: you can learn, improve, and become an expert.
When I have sought interview advice, a lot of people have told me, “Relax and be yourself.” I have never found this helpful, and it’s the first thing everyone tells me. Instead of this vague guidance, I’m going to give you a concrete checklist to help you master the interview. If you follow this 10-point checklist, you WILL show your value to employers and you WILL have your best shot at landing the job. This is personal advice that you won’t get from your career center.
Remember that employers want to hire you. It’s easy to forget this. Your interviewer WANTS you do to well during the interview, and your interviewer WANTS to hire you.
1. Have some conversation starters/topics ready to go. Practice them. Seriously, it helps a lot.
2. Focus on being social instead of answering and asking conversations. Obviously, you will be answering and asking some questions. But make it natural and let the conversation flow.
3. Convey the right amount of status. You deserve to be there, so act like it.
4. Have confident and relaxed body language. Be sure of yourself. There is nothing wrong with this. Fidgeting and quick movements say that you are not sure of yourself.
5. Have a confident and relaxed voice tone. Speak slow and from the stomach.
6. Maintain good eye contact. Eyes are the window to the soul, and good eye contact conveys confidence and trust. 7. Quick eye movements and looking away show that you lack both of these.
8. Have your professional story together. The interview is a balance between professional and personal. Be able to talk intelligently about your studies and any past internships.
9. Assume that your interviewer loves you and can’t wait to hire you. This is a very simple and very effective mindset to be in. Get in any other helpful mindsets while you’re at it.
10. Don’t put the interview or the job above yourself. You are equal to the job and your employer.
Another thing that helps me is remembering that I have nothing to lose in an interview. I’m just some guy in the 1:30 slot. My interviewer has probably interviewed hundreds of people in her career, and she’ll go on to interview hundreds more after me. Even if I don’t get the job, I’ll have more experience for the next interview.
______________________________________
Read 8 quick internship interview tips!
