Get Hired Once You Master These 5 Crucial Interview Skills

Before your interview, your potential employer only had your resume to develop a mental image of you, and, unfortunately, your resume can't effectively portray your personality. You need to demonstrate professionalism and social grace in a short amount of time, and that's what makes the interview so important.

In this article, we will cover:

• How To Start an Interview
• Master These Top 5 Interview Skills
• Answer This Question Correctly

How To Start an Interview

According to Forbes, you have seven seconds before someone establishes an opinion of you, so you need to make those first couple of seconds count.

Start by arriving on time and looking professional. The day before your interview, verify the interview time and plan your route. Leave a bit early and kill time at a coffee shop if you arrive too early.

Appropriate interview attire varies from interviewer to interviewer, so you may benefit from some quick research on the corporate environment to learn how conservative or liberal they expect you to dress to match the brand personality. More important than your personal style, you should appear clean and well-put together. Brush your hair, shave, and pick clothes that fit. Any items you have with you should be organized properly.
When the interviewer calls you, approach them with confidence. Wear your head high and walk with purpose. Don't wear a stern face mistakenly, thinking it makes you look more professional. Smile and appear approachable. You don't want to seem intimidating or unapproachable in any way, especially if the position requires you to work with customers or coworkers.
By the time you stand up and greet the interviewer, you made your first impression, and now you can focus on the interview.

Master These Top 5 Interview Skills

These five interview skills matter the most to employers. Practice these skills as they apply to your upcoming interview to improve the likelihood of getting hired.

Exhibit Sincerity and Positivity

Most people avoid disingenuous or fake colleagues, especially at the workplace. Do your best to come across as sincere and trustworthy, but this can prove difficult during an interview when you feel nervous.

Start with body language. You don't want to make any awkward movements in an attempt to overcorrect your position but maintain a relaxed seating stance pointed toward the interviewer (not away). You should also look the interviewer in the eye.

Answer questions with heavy detail instead of responding in vague, short answers. However, stay on topic. Use your true feelings as often as possible to answer questions, emphasizing things that excite you about the opportunity to stay positive.

You want to tell the truth about how you feel, but you also want to respond positively, which can make you walk the fine line between staying positive and lying. Find the balance.

Answer Questions With Quick Witt

Interviewers don't want to hear a script when they ask you a question, but many of us have ready answers to some of the most common interview questions. You need to demonstrate your quick wit instead of your ability to recite what you think they want to hear.
Some interviewers will ask seemingly random questions to watch you work under uncomfortable circumstances. They want to watch you answer quickly while also maintaining your composure. Do not worry so much about the answer but how you handle the situation. Answer quickly and calmly and without showing any anxiety.
Read the interview questions David Thorne asked his group of unfortunate candidates when they put him in charge of the hiring.

Listen

Employers want someone with enough confidence to speak up when necessary, but they value listening skills even more. Do not cut your interviewer off out of excitement. You should wait for them to finish before taking your turn to speak, but keep it natural. You don't want to make the person uncomfortable while you wait 30 seconds to speak after every time they utter a sentence.
Use your active listening skills to avoid appearing vapid and demonstrate you are taking in everything they tell you. Nod at the appropriate times, and repeat important phrases to show you heard the content. Try to think like the interviewer to recognize what items were the most important.

Demonstrate Knowledge

You need to demonstrate knowledge of the organization, the job, and your experience. You will probably not believe how many people don't know what it says on their resume. Brush up on the details of your resume just to put the information back in your head.
You will spend more time brushing up on information about the company and your industry. Start with the company. Find some positive information, such as an invention or charity work, that you can point out that puts the corporation in a positive light while also showing you did your research.
Use your main talking points from your company research and research the industry under the same lens. For a digital marketing position example, you can talk about how their charity event marketing incorporated certain keywords. You can mention that you read about a new advanced keyword research tool and ask if they think it's worth the investment down the line or not.

Sell Yourself

You need to sell in some way or another in absolutely every industry and position. Demonstrate you possess some persuasive skills by selling yourself. Highlight your achievements, moments of growth, and kindness.

Do not sell yourself too much, and keep the conversation light. You don't want to get defensive or get into a minor debate due to your pride. The interviewer may have tried to rile you up on purpose, and you failed.

How Do You Answer Why Should I Hire You?

This question gives you one last opportunity, to sum up what you want the interviewer to take away from the interview. Provide solutions, and show how well you fit in. Some suggestions include:

• you fit in with the corporate culture and current team;
• you can adapt to new systems and want to learn ("trainable");
• you have loyalty and picture yourself with the company for years.