3 Tricks to Influence the Interview
The job interview is a tricky arena, where everyone is competing for the job offer.
Who gets the job, isn’t always the best job applicant. In fact interviewers are easily influence, so the best interviewee is the one who knows how to influence the job interview.
Everyone of us is influenced on a daily basis – most of us don’t realise this. We are influenced by anything from brand advertising to social proof. You can use these same techniques and make them relevant to the job interview.
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Influence The Interview Trick 1
You don’t even have to be an expert to win job interviews you just need to come across as an expert – what is an expert anyway?
It is just someone who can remember more about one subject or niche than others, so all you have to do is show you have this in-depth knowledge (don’t worry you will learn how to remember vast amounts of information later using the Memory palace technique)
If you’re passionate about the career and the industry you have chosen or you just want to pass your job interview, you need to become an Industry Expert and you can become an expert or sound like an expert in just one week.
An industry expert will have extensive knowledge about your career sector, the leading companies in this industry and the industry jargon employer’s use.
7 Quick Steps to Cheat the Interview and become an Industry Expert in just One Week:
Use A Search Engine:
Open a web search engine such as Google and in the search box write “Your industry name” and “Job profile” example “Web Designer Job Profile.” Once you open a Job Profile, go down to the bottom of the page, as you will find links to industry websites such as the sector skills council websites. These websites are valuable and record a large amount of information and can be used to research the industry and future job trends.
Match Your Skills to Your Career:
The job profile will also record the job duties, skills and qualities often required by employers. Highlight the skills and qualities you already possess and the duties you would enjoy undertaking if you were employed in this role. If you have highlighted at least 80% of these, you have found an industry that you should excel in, as the job duties already match the motivational part of your personality. While answering interview questions give examples of the skills you possess that are recorded on the job profile
Set up Industry Alerts:
Set up Google alerts to receive relevant daily news feed, blog articles and website updates on the industry you are interested in applying for. You need to search for the following on Google Alerts then read and quote interesting and relevant aspects during your interview.
[Insert Job Title] News
E.g. Marketing Assistant/Accounts Manager/ Graduate Internship News
[Insert Job Industry] Industry News
E.g. Marketing /Accountancy/ Publishing/ Hospitality and Catering Industry News
[Insert Job Industry] New Contracts and Funding
E.g. Social care/Financial Services/ Beauty/ Public Services New Contracts and Funding
Twitter:
Follow “Industry” tweets to receive industry news feeds, industry job adverts and updates. Set up an “Industry” list. After a while Industry twitterers will search and add to you. Use twellow to search for twitters by industry. Don’t be afraid to ask tweet questions to these people – even asking answers to potential interview questions, twitterers love to reply to tweets, they will feel flattered that you have picked them.
Social Network Sites:
The social network sites for businesses is growing, join 3 of these such as linkedin and join industry forums, discussions and join in asking questions around the industry growth and decline and learn the meaning of industry jargon. Set up your own online industry profile-this needs to be a professional, polished page.
Ask Facebook:
On Facebook search for “Friends” under “Co-workers”, searching for them typing in their company name. You can befriend people working in your industry and then ask them questions or ask them to complete a questionnaire or poll – social networkers are normally keen to respond to this.
Network:
Attend industry network events, always dress smart and be prepared to distribute your business card to other professionals. This is a great chance to update your industry information and meet industry leaders. Many job hunters establish productive links in this way and gain offers of employment or inside knowledge of when recruitment is upcoming.
Influence The Interview Trick 2
Confident handshake
A handshake like all body language gives away how you are feeling – nervous or confident?
And employers prefer to offer jobs to confident interviewees. Employers are not taught what a certain handshake represents but unconsciously your handshake and body language will give clues to the employer’s subconscious mind.
If your Palm is facing up this can be taken as a sign of submission
A palm facing down can be taken as aggressive
A palm facing sideways is taken as a sign of equality
If an interviewer uses the Palm Facing down handshake (aggressive)on you, you can counter this by putting your second hand on top of their hand and slowly turning their Palm up (this needs lots of practicing for it to look natural)
Employers will probably not remember the handshake itself, they remember the unconscious image they create of you from the handshake, just like our body language gives non verbal clues, and so does your handshake.
What makes a good handshake? A firm grip, eye contact and an up-and-down movement. Now you know what makes a good handshake, don’t fall into the trap of stupidity and make a common handshake mistake:
The Bone Grinder
Don’t turn a handshake into a competition to see who is the strongest.
The Extended Handshake – a nervous interviewee will be pre-occupied with making a good impression and overcoming their nervous, that they will forget to let go of the interviewer’s hand.
Slippery Eel
Again this one can often happen to nervous interviewees, the more nervous we become the more we sweat, remember to sneakily wipe your hands before the handshake.
Influence The Interview Trick 3
Question the questioner
Throughout the interview, when asked a question you will end each interview answer with a summary relating back to the original question, highlighting one of your unique selling points, creating a mini loop from the opening of the answer (answering the question in the first line) to the question end (the summary)
At the interview end when you’re requested to ask the interviewer any questions, ask a few planned questions and then end the meeting by summing up the whole interview. Use this point to emphasize your unique selling points, creating a persuasive loop from the interview beginning (tell me about yourself – question) to the interview end (do you have any question for me – question)
Summaries in a way that seems to the interviewer that you have just decided to say this rather than the interviewer knowing you have planned a summary. You can see examples throughout this book where I have referred to earlier techniques, in later chapters to reinforce the importance of several Rules of Influence.
In your end of interview summary you need to:
- Highlight your selling points
- Show your enthusiasm
- Confirm how well you would fit in with the job/working for their company
You need to summarise after you have asked the interviewer several job related questions and to make this statement sound like it is unplanned “off the cuff”
Example
“I just like to say, I’m really excited about everything you have told me about the company, I know my experience will fit in well with your company and I am already thinking of several ideas that will help us sell x”
