How to Show Confidence in a Job Interview - Career Sidekick

How to Show Confidence in a Job Interview - Career Sidekick How to Show Confidence in a Job Interview Interview Preparation / https://www.edenscott.com/blog Its no secret that employers like to hire people who are confident in their interviews.But how do they judge this? And what are the best ways to show confidence in an interview so you can get hired faster?Here are the best ways to accomplish thisHow to Show Confidence in Job Interviews:1. Eye contactPractice keeping good eye contact while listening, and equally important- while speaking! (Most people find this harder to do when speaking).Theres nothing more important than eye contact when it comes to showing confidence, and its extremely noticeable if youre staring down or to the side when you talk.2. Body positioningOnce youve made a habit of maintaining eye contact, its time to think about your body positions.You want to stand and sit in open positions arms by your sides, not crossed. Make your body take up a lot of space, rather than making yourself smaller. This is how to seem confident.Photo example: This is the opposite of a power stance. This i s how NOT to sit. See how she looks folded up and is occupying the least amount of space possible?You cant even see the womans face in this photo yet you can tell shes apprehensive and not confident at allIf you want more info and help with body language and power stances, heres a full article on the best body language tips.3. Dont fidgetBe still, and make controlled, calculated movements. Dont hold a pen or paper and fidget constantly. Be careful not to tap your hands or feet either.Its okay to be animated and talk with your hands. Its probably even a good thing in most interviews to show enthusiasm. But dont move your hands around when you should be listening! (More on listening coming up)4. Smile and try to enjoy the processConfident people smile. Nervous people grimace or wrinkle their face up and look super serious or distracted.So along with making eye contact like we discussed earlier smile and try to hold relaxed, calm facial expressions.Its okay to show youre thinking about an interview answer, or deciding what to say, but you shouldnt constantly look like youre strained and having a miserable time.5. Practice your handshakeNothings worse than a limp handshake. It shows a lack of experience in interviews, and a lack of confidence.So practice with friends or family at home. Get it firm but not too aggressive/strong. You need to find a good balance.6. Talk slowlyDont blurt out answers and dont rush yourself. Confident people take their time, and arent afraid to say, thats a great question, let me think for a secondOnce you blurt out an answer in your interview, you cant get it back. So never be afraid to pause.Also dont be afraid to ask them to clarify the question if youre not sure. This is MUCH better than just guessing or winging it and blurting out a bad answer before you understand the situation.I talk about this a lot more in my premium interview guide because its one of the areas where I see job seekers cost themselves job offers a lot!7. Intervi ew THEMWant to show confidence in your interview? Act like you have a lot of opportunities and are picky and selective about where you go next in your career. This is how the top job seekers treat their job hunt.Youre not looking for any job, or the first job thatll hire you. Youre looking for the *right* job.If you take this mindset, youll seem much more appealing to them.To pull this off, you need to  ask great questions throughout the interview.  Youre interviewing them while theyre interviewing you.Dont be cocky or arrogant. You still need to sell yourself and impress them. But youll definitely seem more confident if you act like youre weighing numerous opportunities and that youre focused on finding the correct fit, not just any job.You dont have to lie to do this either. If youre just starting your job search and they ask whether youve had other interviews, or how things are going, you can say:I just kicked off my job search very recently. Im just beginning to have phone conve rsations for the most part. Its going well but its still very early in the process.That sounds a lot better than, Youre the only company who Ive met face-to-face.8. Dont be desperateDont be a push-over. Dont give references on a first phone interview. No top-level job seeker would do this. Are you going to let every company who does a phone interview with you call your references? Thats crazy.Act like youre in-demand, and if something doesnt seem right say so!Im not saying you should look for confrontations. Be respectful and work with them. Be willing to be flexible. But dont bend over backward at every request (unfortunately employers make some pretty ridiculous, demanding requests sometimes. And I can tell you the top job seekers the most confident ones tell them no when necessary).Usually it wont come to that, and it just comes down to small interactionsIf you cant make a certain interview date they asked you about, tell them and propose a new date.If they have a few requirement s or policies that youre not 100% comfortable with or arent clear on, ask them. Dont be afraid to speak up and ask questions about the process.Dont just say yes, okay to everything they tell you. You have just as much control of the process as they do IF you can get this mindset down! Theres one of you, and MANY jobs out there. Act like it.9. Listen, dont wait to talkWhen youre nervous you tend to plan what youll say and miss an opportunity to bond with the hiring manager. Focus on listening.If they make a joke, you want to catch it and laugh. If youre too busy thinking about what to say next, youre going to mess this up and seem awkward and tense.So actually listen, and then pause and think about how to respond SLOWLY (I mentioned this earlier. If you skimmed the article instead of reading you missed it and a lot more).Dont sit there planning your responses and waiting for your turn talk.10. Know what you want in a jobIf they ask why did you apply for this position? or why do you w ant this job? you need a good answer. They arent going to hire someone who doesnt seem to care about what type of job they get.The most confident job seekers know exactly what they want, and can explain it clearly and quickly.Confidence Gets You Hired!Showing confidence in interviews will help you make a better first impression and be more memorable so you can get more job offers.Youll also start to FEEL more confident if you use these steps in your interviews. So its a win-win. Youll be more relaxed and be able to give much better answers.