We’ve all been “interviewed” countless times in some form during our lives. Whether it’s for the obvious – a new job – or any of the other times we’ve been questioned or judged by someone for the purposes of fact finding or testing suitability for a task.

Have a quick think now to all the times this has happened to you… to get you started, here’s a short list of the times I can recall from the top of my head:

• Primary School: The time I was told I could not succeed in mental arithmetic.
• Primary School: The time my parents were told that I was immature and never paid attention (I was 6 years old!).
• High School: The time when the careers adviser says I’m probably best not aiming to be an inspirational character.
• High School: The time the Year Tutor decided I was best pursuing a career in a History field.
• College: The time the year tutor urged me to go to university or I would be wasted in society.
• Jobs: The 6-7 job interviews and job applications I’ve been to.

If I followed all of the gems of advice I’ve had over the years I’d be a pretty different character. To give you an idea of how loosely their advice was followed, here’s a summary of my outcomes:

• I got a B in GCSE Maths – not bad for someone who’s told they can’t add up!
• I’m now sat here writing this article and being in ownership of FIVE companies and adviser for another three.
• I’m a motivational speaker, mental coach, and football coach… I’d say that’s pretty inspirational!
• I took Geography in school, attained an ‘A’ grade, and still take an active interest in Geography – I have no interest in traditional History subjects whatsoever, although Geology and Archaeology do interest me.
• I never went to university. I’d like to think my contribution and success is a testament to what can be achieved.
• Every job or promotion that I’ve applied for has been successful. The only jobs I’ve not “won” are the ones I’ve turned down because they didn’t suit me!

So what we can learn from this is that any advice given is not particularly good advice. In fact, most of it in my case was really ill-advised. People in influential positions can only advise you based on the half hour or so that you spend together – and let’s face it, most of the time you’re not going to open up to a person in that time frame. Is it really a surprise that they make such incorrect judgments? In fact, they’re probably making perfectly reasonable judgments based on what they’ve seen. What they see is what we choose to show them.

What does this then say about us? – We’re naturally rather defensive characters. We protect our emotions and feelings by being guarded. We keep our cards close to our chest until we feel comfortable with a person to trust them. None of these emotions and beliefs will really sit well in a situation where we’re going to be tested and scrutinised in a time-limited situation, are they?

One interviewer once told me “You’re completely new to this industry and you’re not the best candidate on paper for the job, but I like you and know that you will fit in well with the rest of the staff and will be able to learn the job”. All I did to achieve this was to follow the tips I’m about to share with you.

What can you do about it?

Be Open

You need to open up. You must “act as if” you are familiar with the interviewer to the extent of allowing them into your space and allowing them to endulge in your real self. In that short time they need to understand who you are, where you’re headed, and what motivates you. If you do not do this, you’ll give out a completely different impression of yourself, most likely either appearing extremely guarded, introvert and lacking confidence, or the mirror opposite – rather arrogant and self indulgent.

I’m sure you’ll agree that neither of these are inductive of a successful interview.

To achieve this: For a week leading up to the interview you should imagine yourself in general conversation with the interviewer. It doesn’t even matter if you’ve never seen them before. Imagine that you’ve been talking on the telephone or via email. Just imagine general flowing conversation and act as if you already have an open (yet professional) relationship with the interviewer. Whatever you do, DO NOT sit in the interview and refer to your imaginary conversations! The purpose of this exercise is to help you to become comfortable with the interviewer, not to scare them!

Be Calm

It’s crucial that you remain calm. Leading up to the interview make sure to practice sitting in silence and relaxing. It’s great to be able to focus and remain calm and comfortable in a situation where you must sit still and attentive. Read a book. Sit outside and watch a spider making a web. Go to a park and focus on leaves blowing in the breeze. Do anything that means you have to sit still and maintain discipline. You need to train yourself to be able to relax and focus on a task when everything else around us wants to get up and be active and fidgety.

Listen

Focus on what’s being asked rather than what you want to say. One of the worst things you can do is run off on a nervous or excitable tangent and neglect to answer the question being posed. The interviewer will be perpexed and wondering what you were hearing, and more destructively you’ll be smiling back at them with a satisfied look because you’re convinced you’ve just given the best answer that they’ve heard the entire day. Just keep things simple and answer the question that’s being asked.

Be Informed

If you’re going for an interview for a specific field, make sure you know about that field or industry. You’ll probably be asked questions which you can link in nicely to your knowledge of the role. Try to find out what they want in a person for the role and mentally prepare yourself to cite examples of those characteristics that you possess. It’s still crucial that you listen to the question and answer it accordingly, but if you can tie in a little piece of backup information, then go for it! Keep it short though. If they’re that interested in hearing more about it, they will be sure to ask you.

Further Reading

These tips should set you in good stead for your interview preparation. Remember that the person interviewing you is just that – a person. They cannot make good judgements or enlightened decisions unless you give them a true reflection of who you are and what you can bring to their company. They will appreciate your honesty. Every interview I’ve been to has been approached using these techniques and tips as a basis. I’ve been honest and frank about my intentions and have been awarded jobs based on my honesty and approachable nature.

To further enhance the chances of your success, Break Your Limits will be releasing additional mental conditioning techniques to help you prepare. We’ll be covering ways of putting yourself into the interviewers shoes and seeing the interview from their perspective, looking into the future and seeing where you really want to end up, and looking at ways of you imagining yourself already in that role and approaching the interview from a whole new perspective! Make sure to bookmark this page and check back for updates!