When you arrive at the office of the company be cheerful and polite with everyone you meet. In case you have arrived early or you have to wait, look around in order to understand what is the office environment, how do people who work in the company look, how do they behave and what kind of vocabulary they use. All this can be very useful when you determine your own strategy for the interview as well as when you make the final decision whether you want this company to be your next employer. When meeting the interviewer be cheerful, have a smile on your face, greet him politely, introduce yourself, firmly shake his hand (“firmly” does not mean using too much force!), thank for the invitation. Pay attention to the nonverbal communication – posture, gestures, facial expression, tone of conversation! Those initial seconds and minutes of your meeting have a great and often decisive impact on the evaluation of your application! Take full advantage of them in order to leave a positive impression!
The first few minutes are also crucial for the direction the whole interview will take. Use them in order to catch up with the interviewer’s preferred tone of conversation (quick, slow, business, informal, cheerful…) and quickly adapt to it even if you don’t like it! If you consider it appropriate you may try to change it during the conversation. But even if you are more experienced let the interviewer take the lead. Listen carefully when he talks about the vacancy and be prepared to briefly present yourself when asked to do so.
Every interview which you attend will be different depending on the company you are applying in, the open vacancy, your experience, the interviewer and a number of other factors. Despite that, there are some common principles which we would advise you to follow in order to achieve a successful outcome:
- Be prepared in advance for questions about the company you are applying in.
- Talk in brief and try sticking to the point of the question you were asked. Don’t let your thoughts carry you away into side issues.
- Talk in numbers, percentages and easily measurable indicators when describing the results you have achieved.
- Express positive attitude towards your job.
- Try to make a link between your achievements so far and the role you are applying for.
- Select a few key points in your resume that are directly related to the open vacancy and put an emphasis on them.
- Ask questions in respect to the open vacancy that are linked to your record so far and show both interest as well as in-depth knowledge of the topic.
At the end of the interview don’t forget to confirm once again your interest in the vacancy as well as your readiness for any follow-up communication or ability to provide additional information and contacts for a reference check. Smile and once again thank for the invitation and for the meeting you have just had. Shake the interviewer’s hand looking him in the eyes with the same confidence with which you did it at the beginning. Be restrained with your gestures and polite with everyone you meet on your way out.