Interview Skills: How to Ace Your Job Interview

9 August 2024

Interview Skills: How to Ace Your Job Interview

After days or even weeks of waiting, you may have finally gotten contacted by a prospective employer
saying that your resume caught their eye and that they’d like to invite you for a job interview. The initial
happiness may eventually give way to nervousness or even anxiety about what comes next. How will
you be able to make a good impression, and what do you need to do to prove that you’re the best
candidate among several others for the job?

However scary they may seem to you, remember that interviews are just another step in any ordinary job hiring process, whether for a remote, onsite, or hybrid job. The interview allows the company to assess the skills you’ve listed in your resume and ask you some questions to determine whether you’re a suitable pick for the position. On top of taking the opportunity to convince the company that you’re the right one to hire, look at the interview as a means to learn about the company culture and industry you’re getting into. Now is the right time to practice some aptitude-related skills and soft skills that will get you ahead in the interview and, if everything goes right, will serve you well in your new job.

To that end, here are some skills to work on to help you ace that upcoming job interview!

1: Research Skills

It bears repeating: never go to an interview without doing your research beforehand. Read up on the company’s profile, the products or services they offer, the key people in their organization, and their core values. Having this knowledge enables you to better answer the interview questions because you’ll have complete context of where the company stands in the industry and what they value as an organization.

Use your research skills to read up on the latest news about the company as well, just in case the opportunity arises to discuss these updates in the interview. Did they recently launch a new product or partner up with another company? Bringing up such details during the interview—so long as they’re relevant—can be a huge plus, as this will demonstrate your thoroughness, initiative, and interest in the company’s affairs.

2: Verbal Communication Skills

Another subset of skills you’ll need to demonstrate during your interview relates to verbal communication. In that regard, making a list of common interview questions and rehearsing your answers for them can help you feel more confident during the actual interview and help you come across as a skillful, thoughtful communicator.

Questions about your strengths and weaknesses and what kind of future you see for your career may seem hard to answer if you aren’t prepared for them. It helps to have an outline of potential questions and a list of keywords you think would be good to use, especially with regard to your expertise, your interests, and experiences that are relevant to the position you’re applying for.

This technique can also help you overcome interview jitters, given that you’ll be recalling an answer you prepared beforehand instead of trying to come up with one on the spot. While there’s no guarantee that the questions you compiled will indeed be asked, you may still find some of the answers useful for other questions.

3: Social Skills

A good first impression will help your interviewer remember you and distinguish you from dozens of other applicants who want the job. In order to achieve one, you’ll need to practice the social skills that are most closely associated with professionalism and getting along well with others.

Dress appropriately for the interview, choosing something that makes you appear polished but not overdressed. Be courteous with your interviewer and the other staff you’ll encounter, such as security guards and the front desk officer. Also try your best to smile and gesture politely to your interviewers in order to create a pleasant atmosphere for everyone, as this shows that you’re happy to be given the opportunity to be there.

4: Creative and Critical Thinking Skills

Also be prepared to exercise your creative and critical thinking skills at your interview, for example by backing up your answers to interview questions with concrete examples. Find creative and relevant ways to communicate your aptitude and how it supports the case for the company hiring you.

For example, when asked if you work well under pressure, don’t just say yes and leave it at that. Rather, support that answer by talking about a project in your past role (or during college, if you’re a fresh graduate) where you were working under pressure—perhaps because of a tight deadline or a demanding client—and yet were still able to accomplish the task satisfactorily.

5: Active Listening Skills

Remember that a job interview isn’t a one-way Q & A. It’s also your chance to ask questions about things that you’d like to know more about with regard to the company and their culture. Do avoid asking questions whose answers can simply be searched online. Instead, bring up questions that’ll start a substantial conversation and express your genuine interest in the company. This initiative will also allow you to practice your active listening skills.

Asks questions about what a day in the role looks like, what the company culture is like, what types of projects they have lined up, and how the company has evolved over the last decade. This will give you a better understanding of how your professional life might look like while also showing that you’re eager to be part of the team. To fully demonstrate your active listening skills, ask follow-up questions that are detailed and thoughtful.

Remember to Show Your Best Self

As cliche as that might sound, many people still get so caught up with what they think the interviewer wants to hear that they forget to showcase their own unique strengths and skills. This may lead to a generic or lackluster performance at the interview itself.

Don’t be afraid to let your personality shine through during the interview. Being genuine can also reduce your nervousness, as you won’t feel like you’re putting on airs. Likewise, your interviewer will certainly appreciate your honesty and sincerity, and overall, this may make the job interview feel more like a conversation than an interrogation.

Job interviews don’t have to be a nerve-racking experience, so long as you come prepared and with a positive mindset. Use the tips discussed above to level up your interview skills and bring you closer to your dream job.

More career development tools and thought-provokers!

In these trying times, your next big career move may have been forced on you. If so, you might find some helpful tips in our article: Dealing with Job Loss: Survive and Thrive with ‘Plan A’. Or for more career development resources look at our great-value guides. These include some excellent tools to help your personal development plan. The best-value approach is to buy our Personal Development bundle, available from the store.

We’ve bundled together these five e-guides at half the normal price! Read the guides in this order, and use the tools in each, and you’ll be well on your way to achieving your personal development plan. (5 guides, 125 pages, 26 tools, for half price!)

Manage Your Own Performance (28 pages, 6 tools)
Managers Make the Difference (27 pages, 5 tools)
Managing from Strength to Strength (22 pages, 5 tools)
Making Change Personal (22 pages, 5 tools)
Re-defining Middle Management (26 pages, 5 tools)

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