Having conducted thousands of job interviews over the years, the fact remains that the majority of people do not interview so well or could definitely use some practise. Over answering, providing incomplete answers, mumbling, and simply not answering the interview questions well tops the list of job interview mistakes. These issues are noticed not only from my experience but also from other hiring managers, recruiters and colleagues I have spoken to.

Unfortunately most job seekers don’t improve their job interview skills mainly because they are unaware of their opportunity to improve. For those of you who have had the opportunity to hire in your work history, you will confirm this to be true. For those who have not hired, go and ask any professional recruiter, HR and hiring manager to comment on how frequently they see the mistakes mentioned above. Ask how often they felt like pulling out a pillow during an applicant’s long-winded response. The honest ones will tell you that many people do not interview well. More importantly, many qualified people don’t interview well.

So how would you if you are one of the unskilled and unaware? What can you do about it? While you can consider online job interview courses or seek a professional coach, it can be as simple as getting a friend who is willing to role play a job interview with you and video tape it! Video is the most honest job interview coach you will ever have. See for yourself, how you interview. Look for missing answers, over-answering or rambling and the ever common “ums”, “ahs” and “like”.

Now if technology is a challenge, then do the above exercise without the video. Instead just ask your friend for feedback (while you will not need technology for this option, you will need an honest friend). An important note here is if possible try to get someone who has some experience in hiring, before seeking their advice.

Lastly, if an honest friend is the challenge, then just practice in front of a mirror playing both the role of the interviewer and applicant. This is a simple and effective way to improve your job interview skills (but I must caution if someone catches you talking to yourself in front of a mirror, I cannot take responsibility for what they might think).

Information provided by HR Difference.

Our HR team specializes in providing small and medium sized companies with cost-efficient and customized human resources consulting solutions and learning management systems to meet your need and budget. We also provide custom resume writing and telephone job interview coaching for job seekers.

“We are your HR Difference“