Top 5 Skills for Interview Success and How to Use Them
Andy Agouridis
Andy Agouridis | 21 Jul 2022
It’s no secret that employers are looking for skilled candidates during job interviews. While each job has its own requirements, there are some skills that are required in any interview. They are called interviewing skills and if you have an upcoming job interview, you need to know about them.
Interviewing skills allow you to put your best foot forward, boost your interview performance, and impress interviewers. Essentially, these skills allow you to plan, deliver, and close interviews successfully. The good news? Anyone can build or refine their interviewing skills.
On this note, we’ve compiled a list of the top skills for interview success along with information on how you can apply them in practice. Let’s get started.
Table of Contents
If you are serious about interview preparation, research skills are key. Researching allows candidates to understand the requirements of the interviewer, the job, and the business. This information empowers applicants to focus, prepare accordingly, and stay relevant.
Specifically, knowing what to expect enables candidates to create content for successful answers. Then, they can rehearse these answers to perfect their delivery and boost their confidence. Lastly, interviewees can use information about the job and the business during their interview to showcase their effort for, interest in, and commitment to the opportunity.
Needless to say, employers love candidates who understand their business, demonstrate their relevant skills, and are motivated to work with them.
- Start from the employer website, focusing on the Careers, About, and Investor Relations sections. Browse through looking for information about their mission, vision, values, products/services, performance, and plans.
- Move on to the employer’s social media. Scroll through for posts related to their products, workforce, and plans. Also, observe their culture, language, and tone of voice.
- Use Glassdoor to access inside information from current and ex-employees. Focus on information around the employer’s interviewing practices, culture, and working environment. Salary data can also be key in negotiating successfully.
- Search for people with experience in a similar role using professional networking platforms. Focus on understanding key steps to succeed in the interview and role. If needed, reach out to them requesting a meeting.
- Reach out to your recruiter contact and ask them for additional information about your interview. Here are some questions that can be helpful:
- Could you please share more information about the agenda of the interview?
- How long will the interview be?
- Who will be the interviewers?
- Do you have any tips on how to prepare?
Raw information won’t help you get far without the power of analysis. Applying analytical skills allows a candidate to process all the information they get throughout the recruitment and assessment process. This process can be key in making sense of the job and the employer.
Savvy candidates start by analysing the information they gather about an employer during their research. At this stage, looking for patterns can help candidates to unearth important intelligence about an employer’s needs, plans, and culture. Then, analytical thinking can also play a crucial role when it comes to employer-candidate interactions. For example, interviewees may be able to get a better understanding of the hiring manager’s profile and what they’re looking for.
- We suggest using multiple sources to triangulate information. For example, instead of relying on the employer’s website, you can also get information about them from third-party sources, such as Glassdoor, which are typically more objective.
- Look for patterns that develop from the information you get through different sources. If there is consensus, it is a good indication that the information is accurate. However, sometimes you will come across conflicting views. In this case, analyse the situation and focus on the most reliable and objective sources.
- As you navigate through the recruitment process, you are likely to interact with a number of stakeholders, including the recruiter, the hiring manager, and perhaps other members of the team. We recommend practising active listening and observing their non-verbal cues, as analysing this information can be invaluable. Keep applying this process throughout the assessment process to refine your understanding of the business.
No matter if you are in Product Management, HR, or Finance, commercial awareness is always invaluable. To put it simply, a strong business acumen allows candidates to see through a job and business and understand what they really need.
While a good job description provides accurate information about a role, its depth is limited. Top interviewees would use their business acumen to process the info they have about the position and deepen their understanding. This also applies during job interviews, as being commercially astute is key when it comes to processing case studies, hypothetical scenarios, and other interview questions.
- Ask important questions. For example, aim to understand why the vacancy you’re interviewing for was created. Then, focus on what the hiring manager is looking for in interviewees. Also, try to get an understanding of the employer’s current situation, with a focus on the challenges they’re facing.
- Filter information. Part of the info you come across during the recruitment process may be inaccurate or presented in an unclear way. Creating a filter to focus on important, relevant, and accurate information can make a tremendous difference.
- Read through the lines. The information you get during the assessment process may be unclear, confusing, or superficial. In these cases, it’s key to use your business acumen as a means to achieving clarity.
Being creative can have a tremendous impact on your job search. While following the standard process reflects the basis you are expected to meet, creativity can enable you to go above and beyond expectations.
We recommend applying your creativity throughout the recruitment process. Standing out can help you land interviews and turn them to offers. However, make sure that you remain relevant to the employer’s needs.
- Standing out for the wrong reasons causes more harm than good. On this basis, we suggest applying your creativity in a way that demonstrates that you’re qualified for the job. To achieve this, focus on being practical and specific.
- If you’re looking to present a creative solution to the employer, consider working on a value validation project, where you prepare a one-pager with recommendations relevant to the job. You can share this with the employer during the interview.
- Also, you can follow up after the interview to provide additional information about a topic of interest that was discussed. Sharing this information with the hiring manager via email is typically the best way to proceed.
Regardless of your line of work, it’s safe to assume that there are other great professionals with similar skills out there. This is the reason why personal branding can be so important, as a strong brand can be your unique selling point.
Like businesses using employer branding to hire top talent, you can use your personal brand to stand out and convert an interview to a job offer. However, if you’re looking to impress employers, you should focus on showcasing parts of your brand that are relevant to the employer’s culture.
- Start by considering your strengths, likes, and working style. At this stage, it may be a good idea to seek input from managers, colleagues, and team members.
- Craft your personal brand intentionally based on the things you are good at and like doing. Then, start projecting it in interactions with potential employers.
- When interviewing, try to get a deep understanding of the employer’s culture. Then, tailor your personal brand accordingly to showcase the most relevant elements.
Interviewing is all about communications. However, communication skills are wider than what you may think, which is why investing in refining yours is so crucial.
From understanding the interview requirements to delivering at a high level during the interview to following up to close, you need sharp communication skills. A complete communications skill set includes writing, speaking, non-verbal cues, listening, and processing information. These skills are the cornerstone of building rapport with employers, which in turn is key in getting job offers.
- Take the time you need to process incoming information. When you receive an email from the recruiter, read it twice. When the interviewer asks a question, take a few seconds to think about it before answering.
- Keep your emails sharp. Include only important and relevant points to grab the reader’s attention. Use short and well-organised sentences to make your messages easy to process.
- Use a steady speaking pace and try to organise your thoughts. Try to avoid too short or long answers. When you are interviewing, you want to keep your answers between 1-2 minutes as a rule of thumb.
- Use non-verbal cues to your advantage. Apply gentle body movements and facial expressions to complement your points. If you feel uncomfortable, practice in front of a mirror or with friends.
Andy Agouridis
Andy is on a mission to help candidates do what they love. Apart from being a Glassdoor contributor, he is the Director of CareerHigher, a career writer, and a speaker. He has a background in HR with Fortune 100 businesses, holds an MSc in HRM, and is a Chartered member of the CIPD.
