Don’t compromise your career-starting interview with a weak delivery.
I love working with college students and young adults as they launch their careers. It’s rewarding to help them navigate the transition from academics to real life. So I was happy to step in recently as an interviewer for an Alpha Kappa Psi mock interview event at Oregon State.
The students arrived well prepared with good experience to share, and fairly good responses to my practice questions.
What I noticed, however, was that many interviewees didn’t spend as much time preparing for the delivery of those answers, as they did on the development of them. By “delivery” I mean the way you communicate using elements other than your words. For example:
- body language
- facial expressions
- gestures
- eye contact
- the volume, tone and inflection of your voice
Why does this matter to you? Some researchers assert that 55% – 80% of communication is non-verbal. Let’s assume this applies to interviews as well. That means I’m evaluating you not just on what you say, but how you say it.
Think of the interview as a way to leave a “whole person” impression of who you are, what you know and what it will be like to work with you. An excellent delivery will help you accomplish that.
When you think about it, if delivery didn’t matter in an interview, I would ask you to e-mail written answers to my list of questions, and we would go from there. But that’s not how it works.
So as you prepare for an interview focus on both your verbal and non-verbal behaviors to tell your story in a way that:
- is authentically you
- flows comfortably and easily
- includes non-verbal cues that support your engagement in the conversation
- exudes confidence in your answers
- is professional and respectful
- showcases you as the potential employee this team will want to work with
Investing in the extra time to prepare will really take the anxiety out of the interview experience, improve your outcome and boost your confidence.
In my next post I’ll cover 6 steps you can take to prepare your delivery and bring the very best “you” to the table!