Interview skills to exceed the interviewer’s expectations

Beyond the curriculum, the expertise and the confidence there are certain skills that are expected of the candidate. A thorough knowledge on the skills required and sharpening these skills will help you to stand out of the lot. An attempt to exceed the interviewer’s expectations will win a chance to serve the company.

Learning the kind of interviewer / interviewers

The interviewer may happen to be a single person or sometimes a panel of 3 to 4 people from various departments in the role of scrutinizing your various specific capacities. The aim of the panel collectively could be to analyze your people handling techniques. The call for an interview will have a mention of the person/ people with whom you have to be communicating. So prepare yourself in all the perspectives accordingly. When one of them throws a question at you and in the course of your answer if another intrudes in between, answer to them specifically rather than addressing collectively. Do not lose your temper or your rhythm in tackling multiple questions.

Listening & responding skills

You are expected to have Active Listening skills. The interviewer might have a message delivered in parts. Sometimes the question might be long and with a twist at the end. Listen to the question carefully till the end, pause for a while and then start answering. If the question is tricky, ask questions for clarity and then respond. If the interviewer intrudes wait for him to complete and then answer back in a composed manner. The strategy is “ Do not react to the questions but smartly respond”.

Give real and workable strategies

During situational questions when you strategize, give real and workable solutions. Giving attractive solutions just for the sake of answering will depreciate your value. The strategies that have already been practiced earlier and are successful can be presented. Train your mind to present more than one solution and highlight your skills by recommending the best out of them with proper and apt justifications.

Presentation Skills

Most of the interviewers expect you to give a presentation. Preparing for a presentation is very important. The topic may be assigned by the interviewer or sometimes you may be asked to choose one. Fix a topic that will make sense to the career that you are about to choose. Meticulously study the topic, make a synopsis of it, plan the presentation and prepare the aids for the presentation. This is a phase which lets them understand your Public speaking skills and Communication skills. Proposing a key message, clarity in speech and creating an impression in message delivery and sticking to the time schedule for your presentation are the ground rules. Predict the questions that will arise and be prepared to answer them intelligently.

Negotiation Skills

The most crucial part of the interview is the salary negotiation skill. Try and make this part to be the last of all. Before you could come to the salary part, the interviewer should have understood your worth and should be in a position to make an offer for you. Know the compensation standards prevailing in the market and have a check with friends working in the company on the trends prevailing. Let the compensation be fixed for your deliverables in the job and not based on your previous salary. Do not be modest. Know your worth and ask for the right compensation.