How To Nail A Job Interview

Job interviews are scary. Some would go as far to saying that they are more nerve wracking than sending out job applications… And they are not wrong! In the span of as little as fifteen minutes or for as long as one hour, the trajectory of your career-life could change for the better… or worse. Your fate is completely out of your hands.

What’s not to be afraid of at a job interview, am I right?

We could go on and on about how job interviews could leave us petrified in our seats and give us an unnecessary amount of stress but that would probably not do us any good… Instead, let’s find some solutions to this nail-biting problem!

Forget nailing a job interview, I can barely survive. If that’s what you are thinking, this article is about to challenge that notion and help you nail your next job interview!

Follow our steps of how to nail a job interview and keep your worries at bay!

How To Nail A Job Interview

Here is a small overview of how to nail your next job interview.

• Create A Strong First Impression

• Body Language

• Use The STAR Method

• Things To Prepare

Now, let’s start with our first step of how to nail your interview! Because we know that waiting is not so pleasant! (:

Create A Strong First Impression

We know how important first impressions are, especially when it comes to job interviews. In the matters of minutes and seconds, you have to make yourself sound convincing and trustworthy. This is where you would want to take extra precautions to how you dress for the interview, the way you speak, the formality of your speech— whether those job interviews are remote or not. If you want to nail a job interview, have a keen eye for details!

And now for the tips on how to nail a job interview.

How To Create A Strong First Impression

• It’s Not Always About Button-Ups, Blouses, And Suits

Rule number one of nailing a job interview is to know the corporate culture. Are they traditional and strict or easy-going and fun-loving? What about their history and origin?

Dress appropriately and accordingly! (It shows that you take this interview seriously..)

• Be Well-Prepared

You certainly cannot nail a job interview that you show up late to, especially if you are applying for a large multinational company. So, arrive before time. If the interview is at ten on the dot, you don’t want to show up at the company at ten...

The rule of thumb is to be at least fifteen minutes earlier than the expected time! Plan ahead of how you are going to commute, if the interview is happening in-person.

But being well-prepared does not only apply to time and showing up on-time. It applies to other aspects of preparation for the interview, too! You are highly advised to study your CV or resumé, the job description, and the company itself.

What Not To Do

• Not Paying Attention To Company Core Values And The Job That You Are Applying For

Always keep in mind that companies have their own beliefs, cultures, and values. Showing up in bright and colorful Aloha shirts to a formal auditing interview at a Singaporean company would not leave a great impression.

• Going Into The Interview Underprepared

Glossing over your CV/ resumé, the job description, and the company overview is not good enough to help you nail your job interview. Arriving at a job interview without a solid understanding of any of them could severely damage your chances of nailing the job interview.

Body Language

It should not come as a surprise that spoken language is the single most important part of the interview because it is not. Body language or unspoken language is another important factor when it comes to nailing a job interview. You can tell a lot about someone without having spoken a word to them by merely observing their facial expressions and body language.

• Make Eye Contacts

They say your eyes are the window to your soul. And they are right about it! Averting your eyes and avoiding eye contacts can be a telltale sign that you are uncomfortable or having a hard time answering a question. On the contrary, making regular eye contact with the interviewer could suggest that you are razor-focused on the interview and exert high self-esteem.

• Be Yourself

Your abilities and skills are not definite determinants of a successful job interview. What a shocker. Your interviewers are on a lookout for key characteristics and personality traits that best fit the role, the team, and the company. Remember that skills can be gained and trained but personalities are harder to change.

Being your true and authentic self is always the way to go. Staying true to yourself and your personal values can benefit you down the road. Even if you get accepted into a company, your work life could be putting a lot of toll on your mental health when you are not being your most authentic self. Being happy during an interview can do a lot of good to your overall performance and help you nail a job interview of your dream.

Use The STAR Method

To successfully nail a job interview, follow the STAR method to the best of your ability! The STAR method response gives the interviewer a general idea of how you would behave in and respond to a particular situation from your past experience.

What STAR Method Is

STAR method is defined as a systemic response specifically designed for behavior-based interview questions. Interviewees are ought to provide responses with the following format, starting from S-T-A-R. The ‘STAR’ from STAR method is an acronym for Situation, Task, Action, and Result.

How It Works

Some of the more common behavioral interview questions like ‘What is your typical way of dealing with conflict? Give me an example.’

A STAR response to this particular interview question can be:

• Situation: My coworkers and I could not agree on when to work on our new marketing project.

• Task: My goal was to reach a satisfactory agreement between me and my coworkers

• Action: I went ahead and created a schedule for our new project with all of our available date and time slots on a spreadsheet. I had also set up a poll for us to determine on a day of a week in which we would solely spend on this project.

• Result: We reached a mutual agreement with me being able to put in 55% of my time to work on the project and my coworkers, the remaining 45%.

In order for you to nail your job interview, it is highly advisable for you to avoid bringing up past experiences that could put you in a bad light when using the STAR method to answer interview questions!

Things To Prepare

From what we have discussed in 1. Create A Strong First Impression, we know that preparation is one of the most quintessential parts of nailing a job interview. Preparing for a job interview is something commonly practiced; and easy, to an extent. In fact, what is challenging is not how frequently you practice for but what to prepare before you go on to nail a job interview!

Here is everything you need to know in order to prepare yourself for a job interview!

Research The Company

An easy way to show interest in the company in which you are going into an interview and nail a job interview is to do a thorough and sophisticated research on the company itself.

Get information about the following information about the company!

• What Values And Experiences Are Companies Looking For In A Candidate

See if your values and experiences align with their expectations! Visit their careers page to find out more about what specific values and experiences they would appreciate in a candidate.

• What They Do

It would be a complete disaster if you were to go into an interview without a single clue of what the company does! Not only does this display your disinterest in the role, it could discredit you, too, in the long run. Know what their services, products, and customers are to show that you are well-prepared!

• The People Conducting The Interviews

Doing some research on your interviewers is a great way to make your interview stand out and memorable. Being inquisitive can also help bring out the best in both you and your interviewer as well as reducing the stress that comes with a job interview. And when the pressure is off, you can boost your chances of nailing a job interview!

• Company History

Having a basic understanding of its history: how the company came to be and where it is at this moment in time can give you a fuller grasp of why they do what they do and whether or not you would be a good fit for them!

• Mission Statement

The company mission statement could be a good way to test or gauge how you can grow alongside the company. When your values and beliefs are in line with theirs, work becomes less of a hassle.

• Competition

Mention their competitors and how they could best cope with them in your responses to help highlight your strengths in problem-solving and critical thinking skills! Nailing this aspect of the interview shows that you are committed to them.

• Unique Selling Points (USP)

Researching the company’s USPs could give you a competitive edge in highlighting your expertise in the field that you are applying for. It’s a way of telling them that you know what you are talking about!

• Corporate Culture

Gaining some insight into the corporate culture could give you an idea of how to behave, communicate, and dress up for the interview. They are more likely to be more affectionate towards you if you speak their language!

• Leadership

Who is in charge of making decisions in the company? You can learn a lot from the people at the top of the pyramid! The chances of you nailing your job interview could dramatically increase when you are able to successfully communicate that you are well aware of which direction the company is headed and how you could be able to assist them achieve their goals!

• What Has Been Written About Them In The News

Being up to date with what’s going on in- and out-side of the company shows to them that you are devoted to the company and are highly likely to remain loyal to them for long periods of time!

Know Your Job Descriptions

For you to nail your job interview, you must be able to answer why you are a good fit for the position or role in which you are applying for. And you can only accomplish that by demonstrating that you have met the key qualifications and requirements mentioned in the job description!

Learn them by heart!

Concrete Skills

It is always a good idea for you to brush up your concrete skills as it is typical for interviewers to test out what you really do know, what you don’t, and to determine whether or not you require additional training in case that you are being selected for the job!

Examples of concrete skills that could help you nail a job interview include computer skills, analytical skills, management skills and many others!

Final Words

We hope that you have more or less gained useful and applicable information on how to nail a job interview!

We would love to use this opportunity to give you some final words before you go on to ace your job interview in the near future. We hope that this article will help you nail your job interview and land you the job of your dreams!

We wish you the best of luck!!!

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