Wednesday 3 February 2016

How to Develop Interview Skills: Get Geared!


1. Until you actually attend an interview you cannot be sure of the atmosphere or settings. To get yourself prepared try different setting as you practice all scenarios and see how you fare! To master interview skills Do a mock interview with a friend first, then in the next scenario answer the questions in front of 4 or more friends or colleagues. Alternatively, you may practice answering questions on telephone so that you may alter voice modulation. And lastly answer the same questions looking into the camera. You might want to really observe how different you sound in each of the methods. You must ensure you remain equally confident and likeable in all scenarios.
2. Irrespective of the type of interview, the most common question is bound to be regarding your personal traits, likes and dislikes. Practice answering this question in a confident manner and ensure you don’t sound over confident and cocky
3. Request a friend to write a few random questions of different topics of his choice and you pick any one of them. This is to check your spontaneous responses to unexpected questions. Ask your friend to include one question in which you might not know the answer, this helps to gauge how you will manage to answer a question to which you do not know the answer
4. Watch videos of some standard interviews, and before the interviewee answers a question, pause the video to answer them yourself. This will help you understand how your responses are different from those who got selected. This can help you immensely not just with answers but also in eye contact, expressions and body language. 
5. Body language is a sure shot indicator of your personality and confidence than any other! Consider watching your own practice video with zero volume and see what your expressions and body language are showcasing . You could ask a friend to watch the video as well and see how they perceive your body. Try practising various other expressions and see the feedback they receive.
6. Interviews can sometimes last really long and sometimes can be very crisp. It becomes important to put forth your answer in such a way that it gives complete details, whether you have less time or more. For this communication skills come to play! Practice answering each question in different lengths of time, short, medium and long. Just be sure that your shortest answer must not skip any key-points. And your longest doesn't shift focus from the main concept. In this case soft skills training also will help a great deal.
7. Mock and be the interviewer and ask a friend to answer the questions instead. It really helps a great deal to be on the other side and observe what you expect and how they would like you to answer the question.
8. Have loads of fun! Look at it as an opportunity to to explore and learn. There is no point in being dead serious anyway! Always put a smile on your face and carry a positive spirit, even when you practice. Your good mood can influence others so keep the positive energy coming.

0 comments:

Post a Comment