How To Improve Your Job Interview Skills

Not everyone passes in a job interview; if everyone did then we’d have more successes in the job market than we do today. When recruiters shortlist candidates for a job, they do so to see who is a better fit for the job past their CVs.

They want to know who the job seeker is in person. Are you friendly? Are you articulate when you speak? Can you be trusted to do the job?

For you to become the best fit and get the job, you need to perfect your interview skills beforehand. Whether the most qualified or not, most experienced or otherwise, impressing an interviewer(s) can be a lot of work. You never know what kind of recruiter you meet in the interview room, but whichever character you find, here are tips to have great interview skills.

4 Tips To improve your Job interview skills

1. You must dress to the occasion (interview)
Knowing how to dress for a job interview is one thing, but dressing for the company you are interviewing at is another thing. Not all companies are welcome to suits in the interview room – most are, but not all – so do your research well to avoid repelling your interviewers.

If the company prefers you dress up a little more casual than official, don’t go to the interview with a tie too tight you can’t breathe. Learn the company culture first, and then pick out your outfit.

2. Take note of your nonverbal communication
A recruiter or employer will judge you the minute you walk into the room, even before you say your greetings. From your posture, facial expression, eye contact and your tone of voice, the interviewer can tell your mood for the interview. Then the judgement continues throughout the interview, so be careful the message you convey.

If you are not one to have a poker face, practice to smile and look involved during interview preparation.

3. Let the recruiter lead you through the interview

You may be tempted to talk a lot if you’re quite the talker or find yourself giving short answers to questions needing explanations if you are the quiet kind, Don’t! Just like you have a quiet or talkative character, interviewers are also different and are inclined to judge people based on their character.

To avoid coming out as overconfident because you speak highly of your skills, or disinterested because you keep your answers short, borrow cues from the recruiter. This way, you will know where your limit lies and avoid going overboard.

4. You need to practise the act of listening
During a job interview, listening is very important. You may be in a hurry to answer through the questions that you do not hear what the interviewer is saying to you. You might end up missing out on key things. Don’t be in a hurry to finish up the interview, calm down and fully focus on what the interviewers are saying so you do not have to ask them to repeat their questions, or worse, confuse the recruiter with your answers.

Keenly listening will also give you the basis for your questions.

Nobody is born with perfect interview skills, even interviewers are usually anxious about it, so take time and learn how best to handle a job interview so you can increase your chances for the job.

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