This is one of the best interview strategy videos I’ve seen and had to share. The fact that it’s from 2013 just shows how timeless the guidance is, and how in touch it was with the tips on Skype interviews. One of the best 5 minutes you can spend.
How to Ace an Interview: 5 Tips from a Harvard Career Advisor (youtube.com)
Linda Spencer talks about this 5 interview tips:
- Do your research.
- Practice your responses.
- Make a good first impression.
- Prepare for different types of interviews.
- Determine next steps and follow through on them.
You don’t have to be looking for a new role to do this. In fact, the practice and preparation takes time so that when it is time for an interview, you’ll come across natural and confident in conversation. It can also be applied in your day-to-day interactions, when meeting new teams, vendors, or introducing yourself and initiatives in a presentation.
And just like learning a new language, it is so critical to practice out loud, mistakes and all. Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately), most people can’t hear the voices in your head. Talk to yourself in the car, in front of the mirror, or while out walking. If you can find people to listen and give feedback even better! In fact, a colleague and I just did this for some upcoming training presentations, and the dry run and feedback will make the actual sessions that much better. I realized that I need some time to warm up and have better notes handy to keep myself on track, the type of commentary you give yourself after a presentation where you wished you could do it over. So do some dress rehearsals prior, and let the actual interview or presentation be the “do over”. If you don’t have another warm body to listen to you, record yourself on your phone or virtual meeting app, turn on the virtual speaker coach function, and then watch yourself back as painful as it can be at first.
And for myself, I realize my body physically reacts at times to these situations and causes dry mouth. So if you’re like me, make sure to counteract this beforehand with some dry mouth aids. How’s that for an interview or presentation tip! 🙂
