Six Strategies to Appear Bold or More Confident in Interviews

Interviews can be difficult hurdles for many applicants who seek to gain admission into educational institutions. Many job seekers are often faced with difficulty of passing interviews before being offered job opportunities.

Interviews can be daunting most especially for those appearing for the first time and by the time you finished reading you would have learned one or two techniques to ace your upcoming interviews.

Prepare and rehearse adequately for the interview: Prior preparation prevents poor performance, research about the institutions or the company, the composition of the panel and possible questions that you could be asked during the interviews. Adequate preparation is gonna boost your confidence level. But you also need to be a good listener during the interview that will enable you to give accurate answers to questions asked. Always keep your answers simple and in a clear language so that the panel can follow your train of thought in a logical, coherent manner. Rehearse your responses for top likely questions over and over until you're happy with your results. This point will prevent you from fumbling or not knowing what to say during the interview.

Remember your worth or value: Take note that you probably qualified to be selected, that's why you are shortlisted for the interviews in the first place because they won’t invite you if you don't meet the selection criteria. Sometimes, it’s easy to forget your value and you begin to focus on your shortcomings more than the positives you've already. In interviews where you are competing with potential, equally qualified applicants, one needs to look confident to stand out among the lot in order to leave a lasting impression on the panel. Make every moment count and excel, come out of the interview with your chest high, knowing you've given out your best.

Master the top interview questions: Having ideas about some of the likely questions that could be asked during your interview can help in easing your nerves. How would you feel when you sit for your final exams and all questions come from areas you adequately prepare for?. As you prepare for the top interview questions, be prepared for some random questions and be honest if you have no clue about the answers, the panel doesn't expect you to be a walking encyclopaedia or google search engine. Practise over and over until you're happy with your results.

Improve your appearance and posture. Keep your hair at an acceptable level and dress to impress the panel. You have one opportunity to make your first impression count. Proper dressing is gonna boost your confidence level both inwardly and outwardly. Make good eye contact with the panel to show you’re not scared of them, after all, they are also human beings sitting opposite to you. Never forget to maintain good body posture.

Visualise yourself passing the interview -Seeing yourself performed tremendously throughout the interview and you're among the few selected. Imagining your success before it materialises will surely boost your confidence and help you give out best in the interview. Think positively that your interview will go well be helpful for you

Work on your nerves: Get into the habit of practising deep breathing exercises. This will calm your nerves down. Too much anxiety can ruin your interview, preventing it from happening should be your priority.

My final thought: Ask yourself what are the things you do when nervous? The chances are  those things could show you are less confident. It’ll be helpful to identify them and work on each of them before your interview. Some of the Examples of those things could be:

1. Speaking very fast, making it difficult for others to understand
2. Fidgeting with your hands and keeping your head low or no eye contact with the panel
3. Forgetfulness or thought blank -only remember the answers after leaving the interview panel. It’s very painful.
4. Setting your own question and answering them due to passive listening.
   

The following are some of the ways to resolve some of these issues

1. Get a recorder or use your mobile phone to record yourself answering the interview questions. You can ask your friends to be your panel and they should be tough on you as well. Remember the harder the training, the easier the battle becomes. In the absence of friends or family, practise in front of a mirror to watch your demeanor. Fix areas that need fixing.
2. You might wanna slow down your speaking if you realise your speed is going overboard.
3. You can watch my YouTube here.