There are a few easy things you can do in a job interview (stock photo) (Image: Getty)
A career coach and job search expert has shared her four rules to follow for a smooth .
Shay Loko regularly gives job advice and interview tips online. Preparing for a interview can be a daunting task and many people get nervous before they step into this high-pressure situation.
The career pro, based in , has given advice on how to tackle an interview and approach the person interviewing you. She notes that candidates often let their nerves get the better of them and forget one important thing.
In a video posted on , Shay said: “You failed your last interview not because you were not qualified but because you view your interviewer as up here and yourself as down here. There’s one thing I could tell everyone about interviews that they need to understand is this. Interviews are conversations.
“In order for you to turn your next interview into a conversation, here are my rules that I want you to follow. These are very, very simple. Everyone can do this.”
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Break the mould
Shay’s first rule is to “break the mould” at the start of an interview as you could be the fifth person the interviewer is speaking to on that day so it is helpful to “bring some energy.” The career coach said: “Put yourself in the shoes of the interviewer for a second.
“You might be their fifth interview of the day. They are bored. Everyone is asking them the same thing. When they say ‘hey, how are you?’, you don’t say ‘I’m good, thanks’, you say something different. You bring some energy.”
She recalled a time when she had a flower delivery and she put the flowers next to her ready for a video call interview later so she could show the flowers to the interviewer. Shay explained that the “goal is to be memorable and likeable.”
Don’t leave all of your questions until the end
It’s likely that if you have a job interview you will have some questions prepared to ask the interviewer. But Shay advised not to leave it to the end of the interview to ask your questions. She claimed this is the “key thing behind making the interview a conversation.”
The job search expert said to “make sure you weave questions throughout the conversation.” An example she gave is when an interviewer asks the common question ‘tell me about yourself’ and you tell them about your background you should then ask ‘does that fit with the normal background that you would see someone getting into this role having?’
She explained that asking questions throughout the interview allows you to make the interview a “back and fourth” dialogue between you and the interviewer and it turns it into a conversation.
Ask questions you – and they – genuinely care about
Shay said: “This is now referring to the questions as the very end. Ask about the person that’s interviewing you. Ask them about their background. People’s favourite thing to do is talk about themselves.”
Asking your interviewer about themselves can show you are interested in learning about them as much as they are interested in learning more about you.
Remember they have a life outside of this interview
You might remember being a child and being surprised to bump into your teacher outside of school. Children forget that their teachers have a life outside of school and have other roles apart from just being their teachers.
A similar mindset can be applied to interviewers. Shay said when you remember that an interviewer is a person too with family and friends this will “allow you to be less nervous to come to the conversation with a genuine interest in the person.”
The career coach’s video has received 124,100 views, 10,500 likes and dozens of comments. Her post caption reads: “I promise you’re not bad at interviews. You’re letting your nerves make you forget that this is simply a two way conversation!!”
One user said: “Your personality will always help you land a job.” This is the top comment with 400 likes.
Another user added: “Interview convo as an intro is KEYYY. I always yap eg: ‘yes I’m good, except my cats have been going crazy all morning etc etc!!’ – whole interview turns into a chat and then later, a job offer.”
A third user agreed with Shay about turning interviews into conversations as they commented: “Treating interviews as a conversation is such a game changer.”
Further people praised Shay for her video. They left comments including “love this advice”, “great advice!” and “great tips!”