Whenever I’m running a workshop helping people to land their next job, one of the questions I ask delegates at the start of the day is what they want from the workshop.
One of the most common responses is that they want to be more confident in job interviews.
I guess it’s not that surprising that many candidates lack confidence.
After all you never tend to do so many job interviews that you become completely confident.
Equally you probably are fairly emotionally attached to the outcome too, not least because you have invested time and effort.
Of course there’s something you have to understand.
Confidence is an outcome. A bit like profit in a business.
The outcome arises as a result of what you do and don’t do ahead of during the job interview.
So here are 3 practical ideas to be a lot more confident in your next job interview.
Ramp Up Your Preparation
There’s a saying that goes along the lines of “proper preparation prevents pretty poor performance”
Conceptually people get this.
On the other hand what people get conceptually and do is often very different.
Almost without exception, accountants and professionals don’t do enough preparation.
How can I say this?
Well I’ve polled literally thousands of accountants and professionals.
The results don’t make great reading.
Only about 15% of those polled do enough preparation.
You might wonder how much is enough. My view is at least 10 hours.
Keep The Job Interview In Perspective
Yes you would love to get offered the job.
You might get that offer or get rejected.
Going into the job interview you have to keep a sense of perspective.
Without a doubt it’s an important meeting.
At the same time it’s not life or death.
Change your perspective. Take the importance of the job interview down a notch or too.
See it as a meeting where you as the candidate are letting the hiring manager know what you can offer. The hiring manager is looking to see if there’s a fit between your offer and what’s needed.
Be Positive
Self belief and self doubt can hinder you more than you think.
Go into the interview believing you have something of value to offer.
Don’t get overly hung up on your weaknesses- we all have them.
Speak up about what you can offer.
You don’t have to be salesy.
You can be authentic. Using examples is a great way of being authentic without being salesy.
In truth there are always going to be those areas of nagging doubt. Doing the right things and ahead of and during interview will in my experience help you be more confident.
