1. Bring yourself to the interview.

 

2. Ask questions during the interview.

 

3. The Beer Factor

 

4. Stories

Before we talk about the 4 things, I need to let you know one important thing. You are as much deciding if you think they are the right fit for you, as you want to be the right fit for them.
 

If you don’t like them, or the interview doesn’t feel right to you, then you need to pay attention to that too. Do a gut check and assess any red flags that might be coming up for you.
 
 

 
 

For more information on finding the right fit, check out my other post titled: “How To Tell If a Job Will Be a Good Fit For You”

Let’s get into the 4 things you can do, if you already know they are the right fit for you, and now you just need to convince them that you’re the right fit for them.
 


 
 

➢ Let your own personality come out when you are speaking to them.
 

They talk to a lot of robots and drones throughout the day, and sometimes people can make the mistake of coming across as too polished and too professional in such a way that it’s difficult or not possible to really make a human connection with them.
 
 

➢ Here’s an example of how to do this.
 

Say they ask you a question about how you normally react when you get stressed out, or what your weaknesses are.
 

You can make a little joke and say that you have a weakness for chocolate or cheesecake (if that is of course the case).
 

I hope you see what I mean here about just making the interview a bit lighter when possible by letting them in on a few details about yourself that are innocent but show you as being a human being.
 
 

 
 

The reason for this is, if you ask the hiring manager a good question, for example: “What is the biggest stress that you face on a day to day basis and how could the successful candidate help you out with that?”
 

Once you get an answer for that, you can do many things with that answer.
 
 

➢ You can relate to them depending on what the stress is.
 


 
 

➢ You can talk about ways that you would solve it.
 

When you start getting into those conversations, that’s when their ears perk up, because they know someone really understands what they need.
 

So ask questions during the interview to get information that can help you throughout.
 
 

 
 

➢ The beer factor means that you want to be someone that the interviewer wouldn’t mind going out for a beer with.
 
 

➢ In essence, likeability can often trump hard skills and experience.
 
 

If the interviewer likes you, they are going to be more likely to choose you, regardless of your technical skills or experience.
 

The reason is psychological and a lot of interviewers don’t even know they’re doing it – it’s just human nature.
 

There was a study done by Harvard business review and it proves this. I’ll link up the study below so you can take a look. It shows that people would rather work with someone who is nice (and someone they like and get along well with) than someone who is super smart, but kind of a jerk.
 

Some jobs will even be filled mainly due to a personality fit.
 
 

 
 

Stories help you do so many of the things mentioned in this post all in one full swoop.
 
 

➢ They help you show up as your genuine self when you infuse your own personality into them.
 
 

➢ They help you connect and be likeable.
 
 

➢ They help you keep the interviewer’s attention and be interesting.
 
 

➢ They can help you show your value by talking about how you’d fill their current need.
 
 

I have a post on how to tell compelling stories in interviews. I will link that up below for you to check it out.
 
 

 
 

So there you have it: 4 concrete things you can do right now to make interviewers see you as the right fit for their organization (assuming you have already decided that they are the right fit for you).
 

Remember that answering questions is one thing, but there is a lot more to interviewing than just answering the questions.
 

In fact, if all you do is answer the questions alone, you’ve already lost at the interview.
 

There is a whole interview strategy at play, and if you’d like to learn more, you can get started with me by clicking the link below to grab my free guide:
 


 
 

What you’ll get inside the guide:

• Top-ten examples of stories that have proven to be impressive interview answers

 

• The S.A.R.I. formula breakdown of how to answer these questions

 

• The step-by-step of why it works

 

• Fill-in-the-blank templates for each question so, you’ll be able to fill in the blanks and get going!

 

• Now you’ll need to come up with your own stories! (You can steal the ones in the guide if they apply to you though too, I don’t mind)

 

If you are still getting stuck because you can’t think of your own stories…

I’ve included 25 questions that you can ask yourself to come up with your stories much quicker!

You’ll get all this in a beautifully designed workbook prepared specifically for you to prepare for your interviews.

By the end of working through this guide, you’ll be feeling confident and ready for any situational interview that comes your way!

Here is some feedback I’ve gotten from this guide, and I get new emails like this every day, and they NEVER get old!

Do you know one person who could benefit from the information in this post? If so, do your friend a favour and share this info with him/her.

And remember, the current system isn’t perfect, but you can outsmart it. I’m here to prove to you that you do have what it takes.

I’ll see you next time and I can’t wait!

In Work & Life

I’ve got your back

-Natalie