Job interviews can be incredibly stressful, particularly if you are really excited about the opportunity before you. It is perfectly fine to be nervous when interviewing. In fact, surveys have shown that more than nine out of every ten people get nervous when interviewing. However, appearing confident in an interview can score you some valuable points. Here are four tips to appear more confident when interviewing.
Make Eye Contact
You should ideally be making eye contact anyway. After all, it is a cornerstone of effective communication. However, making eye contact can also help you to appear much more confident even if you are quite anxious. Be sure to look recruiters directly in the eye when responding.
If you are in a virtual interview, eye contact can be a bit trickier. We subconsciously want to look at our screen; however, this does not delivery eye contact to the interviewer. Instead, make a conscious note to look into the camera in order to deliver eye contact.
Don’t Fear Silence
One of the things that often creates stress during interviews is when you don’t have the answer to a question right away. Perhaps it is something you haven’t thought about before or maybe you just can’t immediately recall something. Many people are uncomfortable with silence and fill the space with vocal fillers such as “like,” “umm,” and “hmm.”
However, there is nothing wrong with silence. Taking five or ten seconds of silence to think about a response is perfectly fine. Allow yourself to pause a bit and construct what you want to say each time you are asked a question. This will help you respond in a more fluid, professional manner.
Practice Proper Posture
One of the easiest ways to convey confidence during a job interview is to have the posture of someone who is confident. Here there are things you don’t want to do as well as things you want to implement. You certainly don’t want to slouch or frequently gaze downward. These things make you look sloppy and scared.
Instead, you want to practice sitting with your back straight and your head held high. When listening to the recruiter, be sure to lean slightly forward as this conveys that you are listening. Proper posture is a great way to come across as prepared and confident.
Speak Slowly
One mistake people often make when interviewing is to speak in a manner similar to how they would speak in a conversation with a friend. However, interviews typically call for a different form of speaking. If you speak as quickly as you typically do, you can come across as impulsive, disorganized, and unprepared. If you are a particularly fast talker, you can also be difficult to understand.
Instead, take your time and speak with a pace that is a bit slower than your typical conversational pace. This will also help you to better communicate your thoughts clearly and give the recruiter time to process them.
Final Thoughts
While it is perfectly normal to be nervous about an interview, there are strategies that you can implement in order to come across with confidence. In addition to these four strategies, what are some tips you’ve used to help ease your nerves?
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