How To Deal (and not deal) With Job Interviews

Now I'm not pretending to be an expert by any means on this subject. I'm not schooled in the art of advice giving, but it's a subject that I've not only been researching recently, but have been participating in. Most online articles out there seem to give you advice and example question answers that are so clean-clipped and unrealistic that you would only ever hear them spoken on an educational school DVD. I'm generally pretty confident, but you can't pretend that trying to sell yourself to strangers is the most pleasant or relaxing experience. 

I hope these tips are a little more helpful. They're probably nothing you haven't heard or tried before, but if you're new to the interviewing world I hope they help...

1. Dress comfortably
I don't mean whap up in your Primark onesie, I mean wear something that you actually feel smart, confident and good in. Feeling good about yourself is the first step to confidence and it's going to shine out of your every pore. Honest. A couple of interviews ago I squeezed myself into a dress that I shouldn't have been trying to squeeze myself into and spent the whole interview panicking about sitting up straight to avoid a muffin top. 

2. Plan... But don't over-plan
I started off going to interviews with a practice script. I think I thought I was going to auditions, and whilst this helped me in some respects, in others it really screwed me over. Thinking of sample questions and answers is obviously a must, but just give yourself some key bullet points of ideas you want to get across for each answer, not a blow-by-blow answer. Read the job description and try to see how you can prove you fit each point. It's very unlikely that they're going to phrase the question in exactly the way you've rehearsed it, and having a scripted answer can throw you off guard. I'd once rehearsed answers to both 'what can you bring to the role' and 'what interested you about the role'. When they asked; 'what are your thoughts on the role', my mind went into a mini meltdown of trying to mash up my two answers in a vaguely coherent way. Bullet points are definitely the way forward. I've found that answering questions unprepared can sometimes be for the best, and make you appear much more truthful and like a real human being. 

3. Think before you speak
I am not one for awkward silences. Oh nonono. This trait has meant that in the past I've exclaimed 'super!' rather loudly in the middle of a silence for absolutely no reason at all. It's also caused me to exclaim to another interviewer that I had clammy hands. (Who even says super or clammy anymore? I'm starting to see why Uni friends used to think I belonged in an Enid Blyton novel). There is most definitely a difference between being yourself and being weird. Pauses and thought-gathering moments are FINE. 

4. Laugh at their jokes, shake hands firmly and smile. 
In my eyes, you can't have a bad interview if you do these three things... Even if you do share your woes of having clammy body parts. They're only human, and aren't there to catch you out. If you feel it all does go terribly wrong, just tell yourself that you'll never have to see them again so it's fine. Unless you get the job...

Ps. If you've got any tips or little lucky quirks, I'd love to hear them. When I did piano exams I used to paint a blob of nail varnish on each of my little fingers. But now I've grown out of that and just wear my lucky knickers. 

x