Interview Guide

It is perfectly natural and healthy to be nervous ahead of an interview. This nervous energy, when properly harnessed, will enable you to present yourself with energy, passion and conviction. Nerves can give you the edge that you need to perform well. However, in order to do so you will need to harness and control your nerves in a positive way.

If you are too calm immediately before an interview, then you may be underestimating the challenge. Alternatively you may be suppressing your own nervousness. Neither scenario will help you to make an effective case for selecting you.

It takes energy to stay calm, energy to speak in a lively and interesting way and energy to pay attention to the needs and requests of the interviewer.

Since you only have a finite amount of energy available, learning to control your nerves is important as it lets you focus all of your efforts on interacting with the interviewer in an effective way.
 

When you attend an interview, you are likely to notice one or more of the following:

Firstly, your temperature is likely to increase and you may notice that you have sweaty palms, that you feel slightly flushed and maybe even clammy.

Secondly, adrenaline may be pumped into your system and this may make you feel shaky.

Thirdly, your respiration rate is liable to increase and this may make you feel stressed and panicky.

Finally, nervous energy may cause you to consume body sugar with the result that your mouth starts to feel dried out.

These effects - increased temperature, shakiness, panic, stress and a dry mouth can interact to make you feel extremely nervous, uncomfortable and tongue tied. However, research has shown that they are not necessarily signs of fear but may indicate that you are gearing up to perform. Many entertainers, public speakers and competitive sports people report the same four symptoms immediately prior to performing - often before giving the best performance of their lives. In the context of an important interview that is precisely what you should be aiming to do.

Therefore, recognizing the symptoms for what they are shouldn’t panic you, as they may well enable you to perform better.
 

You must arrive in time for your interview, arriving late means you start at a disadvantage to your competitors and it may even mean that you will not be considered.

You should calculate your journey time and allow a margin for delays and other eventualities. Check all the available travel information before leaving and amend your journey plans if necessary. Always carry a mobile phone so that you can summon taxis or other assistance whilst travelling.

With this careful planning you should arrive early for your interview - ideally about 20 minutes. Where you should then wait will depend on how early you are. Anything over 20 minutes early and it is advisable to wait in a nearby café, coffee shop or other public building. This has the advantage of helping to relax you and not risking the impression that you are a desperate candidate.

You are on show from the moment you arrive at the place of interview, so act accordingly. Is there any pertinent information that you could scan? Perhaps a notice board or glossy brochures from head office. Be busy and be seen to be busy, as nobody will pay you to sit around dreaming! Remember, it is not only the interviewer that is assessing you but any number of staff may be subsequently asked their opinion of the candidates.

Take the opportunity to ask the receptionist to look after any excess belongings, as you do not want to walk into the interview room loaded with clutter. Try to arrive at interview with just a single briefcase, document wallet or bag.

Finally, by arriving early you will have the opportunity to benefit from a slightly longer interview, if the previous candidate failed to turn up.
 

You must do everything you can to make a positive first impression when you meet the interviewer. Above all make sure you remember the names of all of your interviewers, this means paying particular attention to them when you are first introduced, and taking a mental note of their various roles.

There is a common misconception that type of handshake and personality is in some way connected. In the interview context there is very little information to go on and so, like many other things, the handshake takes on undue significance. The best advice is to use a firm (but not hand-crushing) handshake, remembering to make eye contact and smile at the same time.

Some people suffer from the dead fish handshake; one that is weak and clammy. If so, it is worth practicing your handshake until you feel more comfortable with it. If you do suffer from sweaty palms, sometimes associated with interview nerves, then discretely wipe your palm just before shaking the interviewers hand.

It is important that you are not seen to do this, as it is a very subordinate sign - showing you feel unworthy of the meeting. Never wipe your hand just after the handshake, as this implies that you felt dirty after touching the other person.
 

Management Training Tips – Assessing the Degree of Formality

You have now met the interviewer and, like it or not, your own first impressions are already forming. You are starting to judge their interview style but another powerful clue to this can come from the layout of the interview room itself. There are three basic layouts used by experienced interviewers:

Across the table:
This is the classic negotiation style, eye to eye.

Across the corner of the table:
This is a more informal, conversational colleague style layout

Across open space:
The classic friend-to-friend style of open discussion

These three options range from formal to informal and is often a big cue as to the interview style: structure, semi-structured or unstructured. The more informal the setting the more the experienced interviewer can gain. Where the interview is held across open space the interviewer can read far more from your body language than they can when a desk is between you.

The more informal the setting the more attention you should pay to your non verbal communication, whilst at the same time adopting a slightly more relaxed and informal style in the way you answer questions, although your key messages should be the same.
 

Management Training Tips – Getting Comfortable

It is good practice not to sit down before being invited to. This is not only polite but also gives a nervous interviewer confidence by letting them direct things.

Ideally you should sit at a slight angle to the interviewer, as this is more relaxed than the eye-to-eye head on position. To show how bright and alert you are lean slightly forwards in your chair. This is dealt with in more detail in the next section.

The accepting of refreshments can be a tricky area. The best advice is to be comfortable; to help you feel relaxed. So, if you are thirsty accept a drink but if you are very nervous bear in mind that any shakiness of the hand will be magnified when holding a drink.

However, when it comes to food the golden rule is don’t. You are at the interview to communicate a strong case for hiring your services. Communicating effectively whilst eating is very difficult and can only detract from the impression you wish to create.
 

Management Training Tips – Recovering from a Poor First Impression

The first impressions reaction cuts both ways and you will also be meeting them for the first time. Whatever your true feelings, make sure that you react positively to them, smile warmly and ensure you maintain positive body language. Even if you think you have just met the interviewer from hell you must proceed with your main objective - to win at this interview.

You may be convinced that they have formed an unfavorable first impression of you. Ignore this thought. Professional interviewers and other managers are increasingly trained to overcome their initial reactions and to apply more scientific interview techniques.

Even if you have stumbled and made a weak first impression you can turn their opinion round, so keep working hard at making the right impression throughout the remainder of the interview.

The first impression is important but approach the interview in a holistic manner, you are a winner and you are at the interview to win!
 

Management Training Tips – Positive Body Language

Body language is a very important part of any communication. Your body language will be analyzed by the interviewer; even if they are unaware of this at the conscious level.

A brilliantly prepared interview delivered in an interesting voice will fall well short of the mark if accompanied by negative, intrusive or hostile body language. This section explains aspects of body language communication as it applies in western society.

There are three main aspects of body language that you should consider: what to do with your eyes, what your facial expressions indicate and the positioning and movement of your body and limbs.
 

In any intimate communication there is a natural tendency to mirror the body position of the person you are talking to, and this behavior tends to result in a more relaxed and agreeable atmosphere. You can help to put the interviewer at ease by being aware of this and making a positive but subtle effort to mirror their body language.

The concept of mirroring is based on the well-known human trait of like attracting like. People generally like people that appear to be similar to them. Therefore, by observing the interviewers body language and reflecting this back at them they are likely to feel more at ease and friendly towards you.

An individuals facial expression, tone of voice, body posture and movement often convey a world of detail about what they are thinking and feeling and how they are reacting to what you are saying.

The effective use and interpretation of body language communication will help you to identify subtle aspects of the interviewers attitudes and reactions. This understanding and interpretation of body language is a key component of intelligent listening.
 

As most interviews are held with both parties seated it is important to convey a positive message in the way you sit. In particular, this comes down to the placement of your arms and legs.

With the upper limbs the guideline is that the less a person moves their hands and arms, the more powerful they are. This supports the view that they are used to people listening to them and they therefore do not have to resort to gesticulation to get their point across.

The technical term for this is Low Peripheral Movement, or LPM. When being interviewed maintain LPM and you will make a more impressive impact with your interviewer.

Try to keep your hands lower than your elbows, rest them on the arms of the chair, your thighs or even make a low steeple with the fingers of both hands.

The everyday seating position, with legs crossed high-up is not suitable for the interview setting because in this intimate context it actually conveys a defensive attitude. Your legs need to convey confidence and there are two key positions that can communicate this - the low cross position and the athletic position.

The athletic position is where one leg is brought under your chair so that only the toe of that shoe is in contact with the floor. The other leg is firmly planted on the floor, parallel with the direction of the chair, with the entire sole of that shoe on the floor. This is a powerful position, conveying a readiness for action.

The athletic position is often not suited to female clothing and here the low cross position, where the legs are kept together and crossed at the ankles should be adopted.
 

The face shown has a shaded area that indicates the correct target zone for positive eye contact. That is looking anywhere within this shaded zone represents positive eye contact.
               
Think about where else you might be tempted to look at someone’s face during a conversation; which area of the face do you think would cause the most discomfort to the person being looked at?

Looking at someone’s face anywhere outside of the triangular target zone is likely to cause some degree of embarrassment. However, the no-go zones, shown in red, are both associated with strong adverse reactions.

Zone A represents the intimate zone and by moving just a fraction below the base of the target triangle you will enter it. When this happens people typically react by feeling that the other person is staring at them, or that the observer looks shifty.

Zone B represents a dominant zone and by looking at the forehead of another person you are likely to invoke a reaction that you appear to be arrogant, that you are staring straight through them or more commonly that you are talking down at them.

As well as understanding how to make positive eye contact it is also important to ensure that you do maintain this form of communication even if the interview does not appear to be going as well as you had hoped. If this is the case you will need all of the help you can muster to get the interview back on track and maintaining the correct amount of positive eye contact may help to do this.

Eye contact with the interviewer is an essential part of the interview process. Without it they will feel remote from you and are unlikely to relate to one another, or what you are saying in a meaningful way. Not many people realize how important eye contact is, or how sensitive people are to it. Eye contact should be a positive form of body language communication, but if it is not used correctly it can easily become negative.
 

Understanding where to look to make positive eye contact is only part of the story. You also need to know how and when to use this non-verbal communication. The amount of eye contact you make should differ fundamentally depending on whether you are in the role of speaker or listener.

It is in the role of listener that you should instigate more eye contact and hold it for longer periods of time. It supports your role as an attentive listener, whereas overusing eye contact when speaking may appear a demand for the interviewer to pay attention.

As a speaker holding eye contact initially for 5 to 10 seconds and after that using it in an intermittent way is ideal. This way you do not appear to be lecturing or hectoring and the listener does not feel that they are being challenged to a staring contest. It is normal for the listener to maintain eye contact for longer than the speaker who will typically break off and then revisit this form of contact as they are speaking.

Eye contact when used positively can be a very effective form of non-verbal communication. However, excessive or inappropriate eye contact will prevent you establishing a good relationship with your interviewer.
 

in an interview is best approached as a sales meeting, in which you have to communicate your benefits to the interviewer. At the same time you should avoid, or dilute, any negative aspects of your employment history.
Your aim is to make as strong a case as you can for them offering you the position. In effect you are there to sell - yourself!

One of the keys to this is to ensure that you always remain positive. Good news tends to be accepted at face value, whereas bad news tends to make people sit up and pay attention. If you get the interviewers attention in this way, they are likely to pursue this new line of enquiry aggressively. This would mean dwelling on bad news and facing awkward questions about something you really should not have brought up in the first place.

If you have some career skeletons in your closet, decide ahead of the interview how you can avoid giving too much information about these areas. Is it possible to avoid talking about these issues at the interview? You almost certainly wont have published negative information in your CV. Alternatively can you put a more positive interpretation on events? Stressing the lessons you learned and how you have put these to practical effect sce?
 

DO'S

• Dress conservatively
• Check out what management wears and dress similarly without overkill
• Practice good grooming
• Do have clean, neatly styled hair
• Do have clean hands and trimmed nails
• Do carry a portfolio or briefcase with extra copies of your resume
• Do bring a clean notepad and pen that works
• Do wear basic hosiery (no textured hose)
• Do wear shoes you can walk easily in

DON'TS

• Don't wear torn, soiled, wrinkled clothing
• Don't dress casual
• Don't wear a lot of jewelry (Men should avoid earrings)
• Don't wear a lot of cologne
• Don't wear athletic shoes
• Don't eat spicey, offensive smelling foods prior to the interview
• Don't wear sexy clothing
• Don't wear "cutsey" ties (i.e. a flashing Mickey Mouse tie)
• Don't chew gum or smoke
• Don't wear a mini-skirt
• Don't wear heavy make-up
• Don't carry a purse AND a briefcase