Archive for the ‘Interview technique’ Category
The nervous fire-fighter
I was running a course on interview technique last week with a real variety of people. One of the delegates was a fire-fighter and he certainly had some stories which would make your hair stand on end.
However, as soon as we began the interview role play, he was reduced to a stammering, blushing wreck, speaking in a barely audible whisper. Nerves effect people in different ways but this was a very extreme example. How can a man who faces the fear of real physical danger every day be so terrified of a few questions?
After some coaching it became apparent that this was the first interview he had had in twenty years. Why should he be good at something he doesn’t practice? Also, more office-bound jobs might involve the communication skills which are helpful in interviews. However a fire-fighter will not have these opportunities. So by offering him some relaxation and visualisation techniques and also giving him a clear idea of what he could expect in an interview, he finally began to relax and to be able to tackle the questions.
The key techniques for overcoming nerves in an interview are:
Preparation – get together a list of questions, make notes on your answers (with examples from your past achievements and experience) and then practice OUT LOUD.
Breathing – when we get nervous we forget to breathe. So take two or three deep breaths in and out before you go into the interview and keep checking you are breathing during it.
Pause and slow down – don’t be rushed in to giving an answer. Pausing is not a sign of weakness – in fact it makes you look more confident and thoughtful.
Visualisation – have a clear sense and picture of what you are like when you are relaxed and confident and imagine yourself being interviewed in this way. Don’t allow bad experiences in the past or imaginary fears to intrude. Put those to one side and focus on the successful outcome.
Does anyone have any other relaxation techniques they use to overcome nerves?
What every graduate should know…
I was talking to a senior manager in a public organisation who was despairing of some of the candidates who were presenting themselves for interviews.
“Surely in this hugely competitive market”, I asked, “graduates are having to work harder to be noticed at job interviews?”
“Some are”, the manager replied. “But many others are making some really basic mistakes.”
“Such as?”
Not knowing what the organisation is. One candidate enthusiastically announced how keen he was to work for the Commission for Racial Equality – only to be gently informed that this was a totally different organisation!
Assuming that a good degree is enough to get them the job. Unfortunately most candidates have a 2/1 or higher so employers are looking for something extra. So hobbies, charitable work, work experience, achievements are all very significant.
Using inappropriate examples from their private lives. By all means talk about how captaining your school hockey team taught you about leadership and team work – but avoid the story of how you developed strength of character by refusing to buy cocaine on the beach in Thailand (yes – really…)
Making it clear that you view this job as a stop-gap until you can get a much better paid and more exciting job elsewhere. Employers are looking for long-term commitment and for candidates who are wanting a career, not just a job.
In the end, it’s all about preparation. Take the time to really think through how all of your experience to date can be of interest and use to future employers.
Put yourself in their shoes. Would you give you a job? If the answer is not a resounding ‘yes’ then you still have some work to do….
A fit of the giggles
Anyone who knows me well would not expect me to have a fit of the giggles.
With some people I can react quite badly when they make thoughtless mistakes – one such was the presenter on BBC Breakfast recently when he talked about ‘less’ people. Now if you were Jonathan Swift (assuming that he were still alive) writing about Lemuel Gulliver in Lilliput, then you might have some sympathy; but the thoughtless remark from a so-called journalist and presenter beggars belief.
I think the miscreant concerned meant to say ‘fewer’ people since he was making reference to a numerically reduced number of people. Alas, instead he reduced all those involved to Lilliputian size.
Nevertheless, that was not what gave me the fit of giggles; instead it was a supposedly worthy report, upon which I was asked to comment. Within the report the writer, a lawyer by trade I believe, had made a number of wonderful grammatical mistakes, but two stand out. I quote:
“When the government changed in 2004, the consultants were immediately terminated.”
As one of the consultants to whom the writer refers, I can report that I remain in very rude health and don’t feel in the slightest bit terminated.
His second mistake which reduced me to further fits of giggles was:
“According to the ICR, the project contracted foreign English-speaking consultants who could not communicate directly with 90 percent of the non-English speaking Sri Lankan population.”
Aha! So how did they communicate with the other 10% of the non-English speaking Sri Lankan population? Sign language? Dutch perhaps? Or just shouted in English a little louder?
Or perhaps he meant to say that the foreign, English speaking (no need for a hyphen) consultants could not communicate with the 90% of the Sri Lankan population who do not speak English.
I won’t argue the toss with the writer about the niceties of consulting in a foreign land because, when you read the rest of the report, you soon see that he has a closed mind. However, there is a very simple lesson here; if you insist on writing a report which you want to be taken seriously, then at least get someone to check your grammar. Otherwise you may reduce the reader to fits of giggles.
Training budgets
What seems to be happening more and more is rather than wanting an off the shelf course, companies are more interested in something bespoke and preferably short. They just don’t have the resources at the moment to have staff out of the office on courses for days at a time. And they really want to feel they are getting something that exactly matches their needs. The positve result is that lazy trainers and less good courses will start to disappear. Also there does seem to be a demand for on-site training. I’ve delivered several in-house courses recently like this. Has anyone else noticed this?
The unsmiling interviewee…
Often when coaching in interview skills and other communication areas I use a video camera. Once people get over the horror of seeing and hearing themselves on screen, then it can be incredibly useful. I was working with someone recently who had been unsuccessful in several interviews and was very disheartened. He had received feedback that they got the impression that he wasn’t that bothered about the job (which was certainly not the case.) I could see instantly when interviewing him that he had very low energy, a blank unsmiling expression and also a monotonous voice. However this was only in the ‘interview practice’ not when we were just having a conversation. I gave him this feedback verbally but it wasn’t until he saw himself on camera that he really understood just how unenthusiastic he was appearing. By simply smiling at various points, sitting forward in his chair and getting some expression into his voice, his delivery was transformed. When people get very nervous their expression often becomes blank and rather stern. So the key advice is – remember to smile!
Interview training
As the credit crunch starts to bite increasing number of people are looking for coaching in interview technique. I was running a course in Wales recently where all the delegates had been made redundant from a job they had been doing for many years. Some of them hadn’t had an interview in fifteen years! There was a sense, which they clearly articulated of feeling bereaved and there was a great deal of anger and a sense that a few hours of training wasn’t going to get them another job. I had to spend quite a bit of time dealing with this anger before we could do anything about practicing interview skills. As more and more people find themselves in the situation of hunting for a job it seems that dealing with issues of self-esteem and confidence is as important as working on interview technique.