According to Statista, as of July 2020, there were roughly 6.62 million job opening here in the United States. Although that is a ton of opening that needs to be filled, the job you're looking for isn't always easy to land. You have a ton of competition and your interview itself is going to paramount to whether you get the job or not.
That's where training interview skills come into play. A successful job interview is going to include having confidence and knowledge of what to say and when. One of the best ways to do that is through practicing and exercises.
So we've put together this article just for you. Let's take a look at the 5 best activities for your next interview!
You have probably heard the phrase "practice makes perfect", whether you have or not though, this phrase holds true when it comes to preparing yourself for an interview. For this exercise, you can either set yourself up at home and have a friend or family member come over and help you out.
Start by dressing for success. You are of course going to dress your best when it comes to the real interview, so you should do the same for your mock interview. Dressing professionally can help boost your self-confidence and make you mentally and emotionally ready for something important (such as an interview).
From there you can basically role play and pretend that you are actually in your interview. Have your friend or family member be the interviewer. Use flashcards, record yourself, and practice common questions with prepared best responses.
Wait... What doe playing games have to do with interview skills?
Interviews can be stressful and make you feel like you have a ton of pressure on your shoulders. This is after all your possible future career and way of making a living. One of the best ways to relieve some of that pressure and make you feel at ease is by playing games. Not any games though, we're not talking about Monopoly, we're talking about games that can teach you valuable lessons that will improve your people skills.
There is an actual board game that is called "Interview Challenge" and it teaches you interviewing skills. The game will ask you common interview questions that will help you find the right answers. Not only that but it will also help you prepare for proper body language, help you think about your personal qualities as well as not so good qualities. All of this is important to remember for a future interview.
If you're not into board games, there are also great games online you can play to help you out as well. A quick simple search for interview simulation games will give you plenty of choices. Many of these will provide you with practice questions and give you an idea of how your interview can play out.
Whether you like board games or online games more, these are both excellent ways to help you prep for your upcoming interview.
Communication is key, so you want to be able to talk without fumbling for words. One of the best ways to practice this is by making up stories. Start by choosing a random word or sentence, from there you have to create a story based on that.
This will help you think and react faster when dealing with unexpected questions (which will most likely happen during your interview). Practice this over and over again with a friend until you find yourself not fumbling or at a loss for words.
Another thing to practice for communication is vocal warm-ups. This is a series of exercises that are meant to help you prepare for clear and concise speaking. It will help warm up your voice, stretch your vocal cords, and helps clear your throat. As well as helping you with your breathing.
When you talking about a person's personal relationship, character, and attitude skills, these are all called soft skills together. These are all skill sets that involve you as a person talking and interacting with other people. These are critical when it comes to a successful job interview.
By practicing and nurturing them, you can greatly increase your chance of a perfect interview. You can start by making sure your communication is clear. You'll need someone to practice with. Try choosing a random topic and then try to stay on a topic and make focus points that are relevant to the subject.
Make sure that you make eye contact by meeting their gaze eye to eye. Face your body towards them and hold your shoulders up with your back straight. Practice the interview by sitting up and leaning slightly forward. Practice this with someone several times and try to not let any of these slip while having a focus conversation.
It's always important to prepare right before your interview, but practice preparing for your interview is also helpful. What do we mean? Try preparing for your interview as if it was the day of. Go through all of your strengths and weaknesses either in your head or with someone. Go through your flashcards and practice questions. Get dressed nice, sit down, and keep your composure while you review everything.
Once you've done that, do it again. Knowing yourself is key to having a good interview, you are essentially selling yourself and your skill sets to the interviewer. Practice your preparation for the interview several times over leading up to the day of.
Interviews can be difficult and stressful, that is why these training interview skills are so important to practice. If you want to land that career job, then implementing all of these together is paramount. Don't get caught off your guard because you didn't properly practice. Know yourself and learn these skills.
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