9 Powerful Ways To Be More Convincing At Interview

we all know getting a job is not just about what you can actually do, its about convincing the interviewer that you are the best candidate for the job. You could be the most competent and skilled candidate in the selection pool, yet you may lose out to an inferior candidate simply because they were better at convincing the interviewer of their suitability for the role.

So, while it is important that you spend your career developing your skills and making outstanding achievements,you must be constantly developing your self promotion and influencing skills, and, in particular, your ability to convince interviewers that you are the best person for job.

Arguably, your ability to progress in your career may depend as much on your ability to convince interviewers that you are the star candidate as it does on your actual under-lying skills.

So, below I have set out 9 powerful techniques you can adopt to help you to be more convincing at interview.

1.Convince the interviewer of your presence and ability to make an impact, by making a strong and long lasting first impression.Research from Harvard Universityshows that interviewers make their mind up about you within the first 30 seconds of meeting you. You must therefore make a strong impression of meeting by engaging in a firm handshake, (at least matching the pressure applied by the other party), by maintaining eye contact while shaking, and by smiling and looking positive.

2. Convince them of your confidence and conviction by making regular eye contact during the interview.Asurvey bycomerecommendedhas found that 67% of employers cite that ‘failure to make regular eye contact is a common non-verbal interview mistake – so make to make regular eye contact during the interview

3.Convince them of your genuine interest in their company, byresearching the company prior to the interview.47% of employers in thecomerecommended surveycite that the most common mistake made by candidates is having little or no knowledge of the company prior to interview – so do your employer background researchprior to interview. Don’t just learn basic facts like where there office is, learn pertinent facts like what their top selling product was last year.

4. Convince them that you are credible by using ‘I’ statements.When talking about your achievements and contributions, use‘I‘ and‘me’as opposed to‘we’,‘us’where appropriate of course. This makes it clear to the interviewer that you played the central role in all your stated achievements and were not peripheral. This is an important part of convincing them that your stated achievements are credible.

5. Convince them of your competence by answering behavioral questions using the STAR technique.Most interviewers employ a behavioral interviewing style; it is based on the idea that past behaviour is a reliable predictor of future performance. A behavioural question is a very specific situational based question requiring the applicant to describe specific behaviours that were under taken to resolve a business problem.

To properly answer a behavioural interview question there is a three step process referred to as “STAR”. The interviewee must clearly describe:

1.) The Situation or Task they were in.

2.) Action that they took

3.) Result of that action

6. Convince them of your credibility by leaving them with at least three qualified references at the end of the interview.

Why?In arecent Careerbuilder study, seventy percent of workers reported that they provide three or more references when applying to jobs, so you need to put yourself up with, or ahead of the game by showing that are plenty of independent respected professionals who can vouch for your skills.

7. Convince them that you are confident in your own abilities,by offering to show them a sample of your work at the end of your interview.

8. Convince them of your genuine interest in the company,by asking pertinent questions. Why? Because the majority of good employers will be expecting you to ask questions at interview. Failure to ask questions can make you appear disinterested which will not reflect well on your application.Don’t just focus on salary in your questioning. Consider all the keypull factors, such as: company culture, great products, working practices, career development opportunities, exciting role etc…, to show that you want a properly rounded view of the business. This more expansive approach will demonstrate you to be a more genuine candidate with much more commitment than someone adopting a more singular, money centred approach.

So, make sure you prepare several pertinent questions to ask when prompted.

9. Convince them of your culture fit by name dropping people that they know.

But, choose the names that you drop carefully, e.g. mention people that you know are respected by the company, and ideally mention the context in which you have collaborated which should be substantial. This means that you should mention things like you worked together on a specific project or assignment with a successful outcome, rather than ‘you drink together regularly’. This is effective name dropping.