How to Be Authentic in an Interview
Authenticity in an interview not only benefits your potential employer but you as well. Take these tips that we discovered on Entrepreneur and use them in your next interview.
How to Be Authentic in an Interview
An interviewer is less concerned about how “perfect” your answer is, and more interested in understanding three core aspects about you:
- Will they enjoy working with you?
- Are you genuinely excited about the opportunity?
- Do you have the core capabilities to do the job?
The best way to answer these questions for the interviewer is to present your authentic, true self, and here are some techniques to help you just do that.
1. Clearly highlight the aspects of the job that excites you most.
One of the most common mistakes candidates make when answering the question “Tell me about yourself” is the list out their prior roles and accomplishments like a set of transactions. In doing so, you are missing out on an opportunity to talk about why you pursued certain opportunities and what excited you about those roles. For example, a marketer explaining that they enjoyed engaging with customers while building out campaign strategies will be more compelling than simply stating they have worked on 10 marketing campaigns.
Moreover, talking about aspects of the job you enjoy will naturally bring out your enthusiasm, and generate a smile and positive body language, while also humanizing the conversation.
2. Be precise about your interest in the company and role.
One of the most common interview questions candidates get asked is why they are interested in the opportunity. And, often, candidates will answer by simply praising the company in a vague manner. For example, “I think your company is doing great things in the industry.” An imprecise answer like this lacks thoughtfulness, and can also be construed as ingenuine.
Instead, it is better to give specific reasons you are interested in the opportunity, which can include discrete aspects of the company culture, the impact on others and the specific problems you would be solving.
3. Do not be self-deprecating in the pursuit of humility.
There is a common tendency for candidates to be self-deprecating and point out imperfect aspects of their candidacy. For example, they may discount how much they contributed to accomplishments they listed on their resume, or diminish the importance of a prior role.
This is a common instinct from candidates who are trying to protect themselves from being “grilled.” But, instead, this creates a disconnect between the pitch you are making to get the job and the evidence you are sharing in support of your candidacy.
Given this, a helpful exercise to do before an interview is to go through your resume and make sure you can confidently describe the actions you took in delivering the results you outlined.
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