How to shine in an interview

Maybe you’re looking for a new job or you’re just practicing for interviews to do a little market research. Be that as it may, one thing is for sure – interviews can bring stage fright to even the most confident of us, and then it’s easy for you to not shine as much as you expected  need to. We have written down some important tips on how to succeed in the interview.

Find out more about the company you are applying to

When you’re already applying for a position in a company, it’s a good idea to find out about them and show that you already know something about them. Search for brief information, history and offered services so that you can focus on why this company interested you and what you can offer it. This also means that you should prepare your own questions for the employer that prove that you are really interested in the company for reasons other than financial reasons. Prepare a few questions that will show that you are interested in a specific company and that you are not just applying blindly.

Think about your motivation and reason for leaving your former job

A strong resume and an MBA certainly help you, but the employer also looks at your motivationto get a new position and can very easily sense when you are looking for a job just for the money or in an effort to get more vacations and bigger bonuses. Therefore, you should think about what attracts you to this position and this company, what it will bring you and what you can offer. It is also a good idea to prepare an answer to the question of why you decided to leave your previous job. Phrases like “I don’t like my ex-boss.” Or “I just want more money.” Definitely won’t make an impression. Try to turn the question around and focus on why you want to work in a new company.

Think about your strengths and weaknesses

The question of strengths and weaknesses is such an evergreen of interviews. Strengths are probably better imagined for us, but what should we include among the weaknesses that we want to reveal about ourselves? It is important to think about which weaknesses could have a real impact on the given position and choose those that are not related to the position. Are you afraid of public speaking? Then don’t mention it if you’re applying for a press spokesperson position. On the contrary, you can easily mention this problem for the position of accountant. Typical weaknesses can be impatience, overestimation of strengths or perhaps procrastination. For every weakness, the employer mainly wants to hear that you are aware of your problem and that you are working on it.

Prepare for logic tests or personality tests

Whatever position you’re applying for, nowadays it’s fairly good practice for employers to examine your logical abilities or personality traits. Today almost everyone knows the tree painting test and logic tests or intelligence tests are common practice and you can find hundreds of them on the Internet. The employer not only examines your IQ and ability to think logically, but mainly sees how you react to the test and how your strengths and weaknesses will be reflected in any future position and crisis situations. Definitely don’t worry about such a test – the main goal is not to get everything right, but to show that you are able to deal with more complex, unexpected tasks and that you don’t just get scared.

Pay attention to appearance and demeanor

Unfortunately, it is still true that looks and first impressions make a lot of difference. Therefore, try to spend a little longer preparing for the interview than you might normally spend in front of the mirror. Practice your handshake, which makes a great first impression, and above all, don’t forget to smile during the interview itself. In addition, also pay attention to the arrival: arrive on time, but also not half an hour before. No one is curious about an uninvited guest they don’t have time to attend to. And one last tip at the end: don’t forget that even if it doesn’t work out, it’s definitely not a shot. You are probably not the only applicant for the position, on the contrary, there will be dozens, maybe hundreds. And if all but one winner were to collapse, we’d have a lot of sad faces here.