I am not good at the interview. I have a tendency to ramble too much, a desire to fill the empty space with my talking. And whilst I am talking I can't think of the things I wanted to say. My elevator speech sounds more like a linear story of my progression rather than a sales pitch. All of the key points I try to remind myself ahead of time to bring up, all the ways to suggest I can really bring something of skill to the hiring manager, are forgotten in the heat of the moment.
Obviously next time I need to remember to have handwritten notes. Knowing ahead of time what I want to say is no good when I get nervous and blank out. But what else, how do you sell yourself?
The biggest this for interviews is practicing. And, if you have a friend that you know has a bit of a mean streak when they want it, ask them to interview you and don't be nice about it.
ReplyDeleteIn my practice interviews, I was routinely crushed by one Prof who said there's not way he'd hire me after my interview. His interview was about 10 times more difficult than any that I actually had.
Also, practicing your elevator pitch and your presentations in front of the mirror is good (awkward, but good). You start to notice your little ticks and fidgeting and it helps you get it under control.
The last thing is to give a presentation with someone counting every "umm" "uhh" "hmmm" etc etc. You'll probably start with 20+ "umms" per minutes but with some practice, you can get that down to 3-5, which is acceptable. Once you do that, you'll start to notice it your daily life as well. If you notice it and correct it then, you'll sound much better and a lot less nervous.
Do a visualization exercise for 1 minute right before the interview. Imagine yourself being in the interview, relaxed, confident, and answering questions perfectly.
ReplyDeleteThose are both great ideas, thank you both. I will be trying them soon and report back!
ReplyDeleteGood luck!
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