We’ve already talked about typical questions that an employer may ask you and how to answer competency based questions. But how do you sell your personality in an interview? Often, we can let our nerves get the better of us *queue the shaky voice and clammy hands*, concentrating so heavily on the technical side that we forget to really sell ourselves and what we have to offer as an individual. Nowadays companies are much more flexible about the type of experience that they look for and are more focused on getting the ‘team fit’ right, so here is our advice on how to conquer the nerves and come across as yourself.
Practice
If you don’t have much interview experience, practice with a friend or family member going through the typical structure of an interview. Get them to ask you some of the typical questions https://lilyshippen.co.uk/officemanagersinterviewtipslondon/. This should hopefully put you at ease if you are nervous and allow the actual interview to flow better. If you are more at ease, then your personality will naturally come across.
Take the Lead
When an employer asks you to tell them about yourself, don’t be afraid to take the lead for 3-4 minutes. This is your real opportunity to sell yourself and talk through your CV with passion and enthusiasm. Even if you are trembling inside, try your absolute best to come across as confident and to the point. We would recommend starting from your education and working your way through your CV, going into more detail for your most recent three or four roles. You don’t need to go into an enormous amount of detail but if you can tell the interviewer what projects you took on in a specific job, what challenges you faced or what you enjoyed about a particular job / company, this will naturally make you come across as being passionate about what you do and will in turn, sell your personality.
Body Language
This may seem so obvious but this is key to coming across well in an interview. Many HR experts agree that body language literally accounts for 93% of messages you send out during the interview. Make sure that you stand up when the interviewer walks into the room, greeting them with a firm handshake and maintaining strong eye contact throughout the interview. Avoid crossing your arms too and most importantly, smile!
Be yourself
It is important that you are yourself in an interview. The employer needs to imagine what type of environment you will work best in and this is in your interests too. If you are the type of person who is chatty and outgoing, you want to be sure that this comes across so that you don’t accept a job in an office where no one talks to one another! Be yourself and let your personality shine.