Landing an interview can be scary and exciting at the same time, no matter how many times you do it.

But it needn’t be a nerve-wracking experience as the recruiter already has an idea of your skillset. And the interview only determines whether or not your goals, visions, and personality align with that of the company.

Here are 5 tips that’ll help you create a great impression on your interviewers and reduce the nervousness surrounding an interview.

1. Don’t Show Up Too Early

Sara landed an interview for her dream job. She wanted to make a great first impression on the interviewers.

So, she arrived at the venue 30 minutes early to show how dedicated and punctual she was.

Sarah had the best intentions at heart. But her hiring managers weren’t pleased as they had to wrap up other tasks and weren’t expecting her to show up early.

Showing up too early for an interview is like showing up early to a party. The host is obliged to entertain you instead of preparing for the party.

Similarly, recruiters must put their other tasks on hold to interact with you or make you wait. And long wait times also affect the interview performance as candidates tend to be more nervous.

Surprising interviewers by showing up way before the stipulated time also shows that the candidate lacks time-management skills.

Does that mean you must be late?

Absolutely not.

You need to be pleasantly punctual.

Arrive at the venue with 30-40 minutes to spare for the interview, but you don’t enter the office premises or check-in until 15 minutes before your interview.

This way, you’ll save yourself from creating a bad impression and give the other side enough time to prepare for the interview.

2. Keep Your Answers Relevant

Candidates tend to go on a tangent and give irrelevant answers if they get nervous. This might annoy the interviewer and throw you off rhythm if they ask you to get back to the point.

The only way to prevent this from happening is to prepare beforehand for common interview questions.

For instance, when the interviewer asks about your work experience, speak of related achievements or tasks. Keep the answer concise and add relevant statistics whenever possible.

If you’ve limited professional experience, briefly explain your role and highlight how your current skills will help the company.

3. Prepare for the Interview

Apart from having a basic idea of the role and gauging the company’s needs from the job description, you can do the following things to prepare yourself better for the interview.

●    Check out the company’s Linked In page and connect with the people who work there to know more about the culture and their requirements.

●    Login to Glassdoor to check out interview questions and written accounts of interview experience from people who previously interviewed at the company.

●    Give company press releases a good read and look for more information on the organization on third-party websites and blogs. Also, make sure that you’re caught up with important industry news.

●     Sign up for the company newsletter and follow their content on social media.

4. Use the S.T.A.R Method to Answer Tough Questions

STAR is an acronym for Situation, Task, Action, Result. It’s a framework that helps you answer tough questions like resolving differences between employees, fixing mistakes at work, etc.

Here’s how it works:

Situation

Explain an instance that occurred at your workplace.

If you were the project manager, you might have faced various instances that required diplomacy to get the work done. An example for this might be:

We weren’t able to meet project deadlines because of a few issues within the team.

Task

While the Situation statement explains a problem or setback, the Task statement suggests all possible ways to remove yourself from it.

Here’s an example of a Task statement:

We knew we couldn’t afford delays. So, we set out to find alternate solutions to deliver the project on time.

Action

This refers to the action or steps taken.

Here’s an example of an Action statement:

We set out to find alternate resources and tools wherever resolution wasn’t made possible.

Result

This refers to the outcome of the situation.

Here’s an example of a Result statement.

We delivered the project on time as our employees sorted their differences.

5. Address Concerns in your Resume

There are chances that your interviewer misunderstood some of your answers or has some objections to hiring you.

That’s why you must always ask the interviewer about any concerns they might have at the end of the interview, even if they addressed major concerns during the interview.

For example, Sarah had a great interview, but her interviewer was concerned that she lived far away.

Once the interviewer brought up the issue when she asked if they had any concerns, she assured them that she’d be relocating for the job.

Conclusion

Interviews might give you the jitter, but they’re only a formal discussion to see if you’d be a good fit for the company.

So, remember to show up 15 minutes before the interview, speak concisely, answer relevant questions, and address objections towards the end for a smooth experience. All the best!