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How to be Confident in an Interview

I'm Not Good Enough

Interviews are one of the most confidence-challenging situations. We are being judged and judging others, exchanging info and trying to influence one another.

Your objectives are the same: you both want to positively impress one another so that there is interest to continue the relationship. To accomplish this, both parties need to feel confident about one another.

You can easily find interview tips such as what to wear, how to sit, what to put in a cover letter and when to send your thank you note. You can also find lists of potential questions with strategies on how to answer them effectively. However, the interview inevitably ends if either one of you has a lack of confidence that you are the best applicant, vendor, partner, or potential friend.

Remember that confidence is the ultimate attractor. We want to be around people who are genuinely confident. We want to hang out with them, buy from them, talk longer and work with them.

The easiest way to build confidence is to give it to someone else - and you can do that simply by helping the other person know that they matter. Here are five ways to help get a vote of confidence from anyone interviewing you:

1. Smile genuinely and tell them you are truly glad to meet them.

2. Keep friendly eye contact even if they don’t look back at you. As windows to the soul, true confidence is conveyed more through our eyes than anything coming out of our mouths.

3. Compliment them in an authentic way. Say you like the picture hanging behind them or their chosen zoom background. Say that the color of their sweater is your favorite. Never be disingenuous but DO go out of your way to say something personal that can help lower their otherwise impersonal interview barriers.

4. Take your time answering questions. Not only will this reduce your verbal stumbles but you’ll come across as more thoughtful and in control. Admit when you do not know something and never ever try to stretch the truth. As noted before, your eyes will always state the truth.

5. Thank them and ask about the next steps. Show the interviewer - in any capacity - that you appreciate them and the opportunity to meet.

These tips will give you confidence control even with the most aggressive interviewer. You won’t get every job or sale, but you will be in control of your own self-confidence and might have helped the other person gain some, too.

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