How to avoid getting tongue-tied in your job interview
Do you tend to get tongue-tied in job interviews?
It would be nice if sitting across the desk from your interviewer on Monday morning was more like playing charades with your friends on Friday night. So whenever your mind went blank and you couldn’t find the right words, the hiring manager would jump up and down and say, “Oh, I know it! I know this one!”
But I’m afraid it’s not charades, and the interviewer isn’t going to try to guess what you’re trying to tell them. You’re just going to get a blank stare — and you’re not going to get the job.
Be Prepared
Having command of your words at a job interview starts with preparation. You need to get plenty of sleep. You should arrive early. You should have researched the company in advance. And you should have worked on those bad habits you know you have — like saying “like” too much, for example.
Your interview was no accident. You know who you are. Research a particular subject of significance that you can expound on with professional insight. Learn the vocabulary so you can use it with ease.
An “expert” in one area has the expertise to become one in another. This gives you an opportunity to show your commitment to learning. Practiced phrases ready to make you shine are fine. Just make sure you practiced. You need to learn to express your experience in a convincing way, according to Evil HR Lady, who recently advised someone re-entering the job market to “use the language of HR.”
Know a Little About a Lot
Current events quizzes didn’t end with 8th grade social studies. Read the paper; learn to pronounce difficult names and places; form opinions — not overbearing ones — on the issues of the day.
Give the impression you didn’t jump out of bed and race to the interview. You’re up on the things of life like you will be on the life of your job. What’s really happening in the interview is that the interviewer is determining whether you can indeed communicate.
Drop the quizzical expressions that can trip you up in an interview. Don’t let your face say “huh?” for you. Practice in front of a mirror if you need to: calm and steady does it.
I once knew a very intelligent manager who begged forever to sit in on a meeting with the president of the company. He asked her a question; she didn’t know the answer and her mouth fell open wide. He never forgot. She never got back into his office.
Power Words and Disaster Words
Make two lists and keep them around for your down time so you can read them over for reminders. On one, list the “power words” that impress — “maintained,” “negotiated,” “developed” — and on the other, list those words that do not impress — “like,” “um,” yeah,” — and, well, “you know.”
Power words will help you keep from getting nervous, which can, according to Stephanie Loyd, who posted on Lindsay Olson’s HR blog, cost you the job:
Do not appear nervous or desperate! A client recently told me that their top candidate for a particular position was ultimately not given the offer because he appeared so desperate during his interviews with the hiring manager.
He might have won if it had been charades.
Article by, Thom and courtesy of RiseSmart.com – RiseSmart: Search Smarter. Rise Faster.
