How to Interview with Confidence
Exuding confidence is key to acing your job interview! Whether you are feeling confident or not, your interviewer will be looking for signs that you are comfortable in your own skin and can handle the pressure of a professional setting.
The good news: confidence is a tool that can be sharpened just like any other skill. Here’s how:
1. Focus on Your Interviewer
By focusing on your interviewer you will both show them that you are paying attention and also force yourself to stay present. If you are hanging on to the words your interviewer is saying you won’t have time to let your nerves get the best of you.
2. Posture
As humans, body language is one of the top ways we assess someone when we first meet them. To embody confidence in your posture do the following: sit up straight with your shoulders back, smile, don’t fidget, and make eye contact.
3. Shake Hands
Shaking hands when you first meet your interviewer is a sure way to show them that you are confident. It’s hard to go wrong with a handshake—and going for it will make you stand out as polite and professional.
4. Stay Positive
This tip includes staying positive both about yourself as well as about your work experience. Whether you have years of experience in the apartment industry, or none at all, stay positive about the skills you do have and how they can contribute to your next job.
5. Prepare
Preparation is one of the greatest keys to confidence–How can you be confident proving you should work at an apartment job when you don’t know anything about the property? Make sure you’ve got the basic facts about the property and job down before your interview.
6. Take a Breath
The apartment industry is dynamic, fast moving; but this doesn’t mean that your interview has to go a million miles a minute. If you feel your confidence lagging, slow down and take a breath. Often, when we are nervous we tend to over-talk and ramble, but pressing pause for a minute will stop this.
Even if you walk into your interview without confidence, practicing these few things will convince you and your interviewer that you’ve got it. There’s no need to over-do it or force these habits; but you will find that they will come naturally once you give them a try.