Prepare for a Job Interview in English [6 Simple Tips for Success]

If you've spent any time at all searching online for advice on how to do a job interview in English, I'm certain you've read the advice, fake it till you make it. In other words, pretend that you're confident, and hopefully, at some point, you'll actually start to feel confident. I don't know about you, but if I'm interviewing for a job I really want, I don't want to risk pretending that I'm confident and hope that at some point I'll actually feel that way. As my confident job interview students know, I believe instead in being fully prepared for the interview and being confident in your skills to do the interview. If you don't already know, I'm Anne-Marie with Speak Confident English. Everything I do here is designed to help you get the confidence you want for your life and work in English. One of the ways I do that is with my weekly Confident English lessons, where I share fluency and confidence building strategies, advanced level vocabulary, and training on communication skills, just like this lesson today. So, while you're here, make sure that you subscribe to my Speak Confident English channel here on YouTube so you never miss one of my Confident English lessons. In this lesson today, we're going to focus on how you can be confident and clear-minded with six surprising tips for a successful job interview in English. Tip number one is learn everything you can about the company and the position you're applying for. And I have a little secret for you. Within the first five minutes of your interview, your interviewer knows if you've done your homework on the company and the specific job position. You cannot successfully answer an interview starter like, tell me about yourself, or a question such as, what makes you interested in this position, without having done some research about the company in advance and knowing specific keywords about the position as well. From the very first questions the interviewer asks you, they will be listening for key information, and they will know if you've identified that information in advance in your preparation. The more that you know about the company, including its mission and values, as well as the position that you're applying for, the easier it is and the better you can speak to what excites you about the role and why you're the right fit. And here's exactly how you can do this. In addition to reviewing the job description, make sure that you also spend time researching the company's website and their social media accounts. Most companies include an entire page dedicated to their mission, their values, and what guides them as a company. Knowing those key details allows you to make sure that it's a right fit for you, and it also gives you insight into what's important for this company, and you can speak to those issues in your interview. While you're doing this research, also spend time with that job description. Pay attention to the power words or the key words that are used to identify the expectations and the responsibilities for the position. Those are words that you should absolutely be using in your interview as well. The second tip for a successful interview in English is to take control of your speaking skills. Anxiety and lack of practice can lead to poor communication in a job interview. When we feel nervous, we're more likely to speak too fast, too slow, or mumble, which means we don't articulate clearly, and it's really hard for others to understand exactly what we're saying. Instead, what you want is for your interviewer to understand you clearly, and that means maintaining control and having a calm, clear speaking pace. One recommendation for this is when the interviewer asks you a question, before you answer, take a moment to close your mouth and just breathe. Take a deep breath. Rather than rushing in and immediately trying to answer the question out of anxiety, take a moment to breathe, think about the question that was asked, and give your brain a moment to organize the answer that you want to share. Let me demonstrate how this would sound if I tried to rush in too fast versus taking just a moment to articulate my answer clearly. Let's say that in an interview, the interviewer says to me, Anne-Marie, tell me why you're interested in this position, and I can respond with, well, oh my goodness, there's so many things that I read on your website that really intrigued me about the position, and I'm certain that I have all the skills that you need Do you notice how fast that sounds, and as a result, it's not really clear? I also sound rushed, anxious, nervous. If I just take a pause and allow myself to clearly think about what I want to say, I maintain more control over my answer. So let's try that again. The interviewer says to me, Anne-Marie, why are you interested in this position, and I do this. That's a really good question, and there are several reasons why I'm interested, but the first one that comes to mind is your leadership in this industry as demonstrated by, and then I continue. I had a super short little pause before I started my answer, and it gives me just enough time to make sure I understood the question clearly and I'm able to articulate my answer clearly as well. Now before we move on to tip number three, if you want more help on how to practice these speaking skills, I absolutely recommend that you download my free How to Say What You Want in English training. In this training, I share my number one strategy for how to effectively improve your speaking skills and gain confidence. I'll leave a link to that training just below this video in the notes. Tip number three is level up your EQ vocabulary. Emotional intelligence and its importance is a topic that members of my confident women community have discussed at length, and it is essential in any job interview. There's no doubt that your experience and expertise are important in the job interview process, all of which are clearly laid out in your resume. On top of all of that, a potential employer will want to know how you're going to fit on the team and how you'll fit into company culture. Do your values align with the company's mission? As you prepare for a job interview and practice questions that allow you to highlight your expertise and your background, it's also important to identify vocabulary that describes you, your personality, your values, and your emotional intelligence as well. Now, if you don't know where to start when it comes to discovering this kind of vocabulary, one tip I share with my confident job interview students is to take a personality assessment. There are multiple personality assessments online, and when you complete one, you receive a document that tends to describe who you are, some of your characteristic traits, and your values. These are great opportunities to sharpen your vocabulary when it comes to emotional intelligence, your personality, and your values. Now, before we go on to number four, I have one more tip for you about vocabulary. In addition to sharpening your emotional intelligence vocabulary, it's also important to use power words that demonstrate your skills and abilities. I talk much more about power words in my lesson, Eight Power Words to Use in a Job Interview in English, and I'll share a link to that lesson just below in the notes. And now tip number four, anticipate and practice. There's no question that the more prepared you are, the less nervous you'll feel, and the better you'll perform in your interview. The best way you can do that is anticipate and practice. Now, when I say anticipate, of course, I do mean anticipate the questions you're likely to be asked, but I also mean anticipate the unexpected. Let's start with anticipating questions. In any interview, you're likely to be asked a mix of general interview questions, which you can often find online, job or industry specific questions, and behavioral questions. Not only is it important to spend time anticipating what those questions might be, but you also want to make sure that you take time thinking about, preparing, and practicing your answers. I always recommend practicing them out loud. Now, if you need help getting started with this, I recommend my lesson, 10 Questions You Will Be Asked in a Job Interview. Again, I'll leave a link to that lesson in the notes below. And now let's go beyond the questions and anticipating the unexpected. It's very likely that at least a portion of your interview process will be online using some kind of a video platform. If you're not particularly comfortable with technology, or if you haven't spent a lot of time on a video conferencing platform, make sure that you practice in advance. You don't want to leave anything to chance on the day of your interview. You don't want to arrive late because you weren't sure how to sign in to the video conference. Do everything you can to anticipate the process in advance and be prepared. One thing that tends to be overlooked is the environment you're in when you're using a video conferencing platform for interviews. In my own situation as the interviewer, I see this often. Many individuals forget to organize their background and the environment. You want to make sure that everything around you is professional and that you're in a quiet and calm place so that there's no distraction. And once again, in the interview process, your interviewer can hear you clearly. Tip number five for a successful job interview in English is demonstrate active listening skills. In tip number three, I highlighted the importance of speaking to your emotional intelligence skills. Demonstrating your emotional intelligence is far more compelling than just talking about it. And using active listening skills is a fantastic way to showcase that you're a good listener, which is absolutely one of those EQ skills. Listening skills can demonstrate your thoughtfulness and your ability to work well on a team. Moreover, listening carefully helps you to avoid misunderstanding questions that are asked in the interview and potentially responding in a way that doesn't answer the question that was asked. A key component of demonstrating active listening skills in English-speaking culture is to maintain eye contact. And you'll also notice that English speakers tend to nod their head to indicate understanding and that they're listening carefully. These are skills that you can demonstrate whether you're in a face-to-face interview or if you're doing the interview online as well. Now, if you want to know more about how to demonstrate active listening in English, I have a lesson on that. You may have discovered today, I have a lesson on quite a few things. I'll share a long list of all the lessons I've highlighted today in the links below. You'll find them in the notes below the video. So I'll make sure that there's a link for that lesson on how to demonstrate active listening skills as well. And now our sixth surprising tip for a successful job interview in English. Follow up and express gratitude. You would be surprised how many people do not follow this simple tip and how effective it can be for making a lasting impression. If after interviewing for a position, you are certain that this is a job you want, then take five minutes after the interview to send a simple thank you note. Follow up with the interviewer and express gratitude. All you need for this is a simple email. An email will allow you to thank the interviewer for his or her time and reiterate your interest in the position. Most importantly, a thank you note will help you to stand out among your competition. It will make you more memorable, and that is always a positive thing in the job interview process. And with that, you have six surprising tips for a successful job interview in English. If you found this lesson useful to you today, I would love to know, and you can tell me in one very simple way. Give this lesson a thumbs up here on YouTube, and while you're at it, make sure that you subscribe to this channel as well. Thank you for joining me, and I look forward to seeing you next time.