Page 173 - You're Hired! Interview Answers
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You’Re hiRed! inteRview anSweRS During the interview
organisationally
From an organisational perspective, the things that could go wrong are that
you arrive for interview and reception are not expecting you, or the interviewer
is not fully prepared. This, in our experience, is very rare. More important is to
consider what could go wrong from your perspective – you have some control
over this and our preparation tips should help.
Another possibility is that you are invited to meet some people in the
organisation you have applied to, just to ‘have a chat’. This has happened to a
few people we know, and that ‘chat’ turns into a full-blown interview, for which
the applicant has obviously not prepared. This is a difficult and unfortunate
situation to have to deal with. To avoid this, as part of your preparation make
sure that you find out what the ‘chat’ is about. If you’ve been told that it really
is a chat, then you can feel confident in raising your lack of full preparation if
it becomes something more serious than that. Better still, prepare as though
it were an interview: why would you be asked in for a ‘chat’ if they were not
seeking to evaluate you in some way?
nerves
The most common factor affecting performance in an interview are nerves. All
of us will experience a degree of anxiety before an interview, although careful
preparation will minimise this. Nevertheless, you are likely to experience some
tension and this is likely to show in the following ways.
n Not being completely at ease – perhaps being more formal than you
usually are. This may get in the way of your establishing a rapport with the
interviewer. Whilst it is partly up to the interviewer to put you at ease, you
also have a role to play. Focusing on your breathing and taking slow and
deep breaths before an interview will help to mitigate this. It’s an approach
that performers frequently use.
n Talking more quickly than you normally do – again, use your preparation
to assess if this is a risk for you and whether you consciously need to slow
yourself down. Our advice to people who do talk too quickly is to practise
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