Have you ever sat and listened to someone droning on, and on … and on – and then suddenly wondered what on earth they were talking about? Bet you have!!
When someone displays no enthusiasm, no excitement about the subject they are talking about; we don’t care either. Now in conversation, we can probably get away with just nodding occasionally with our thoughts elsewhere; however, if we are the ones being boring at a job interview we are losing the plot.
On the other hand, remember being enthused and excited when someone has shared their keenness about the topic? Remember how interested you became, and how you wanted to know more? Well, in an interview that is the response we want to kindle in our listeners.
Yes, we need to be keen to kindle interest in our fitness for the job. ‘Keen’ the Oxford English Dictionary tells us means ‘vivid’ and ‘strong’ and what kind of picture does that bring to mind. If you present yourself as a vivid and strong contender for the position then you will stay in the memory.
And again, ‘Kindle’ – means to ‘light a fire’ to ‘set alight’ and that is what we want to do in our interview. Light a fire of appreciation in the interviewers; set them alight with the clear belief that we are the perfect applicant.
But let us not forget that we need to back that up with some other ‘K’ words: ‘Knowledge’ for instance. We might be able to demonstrate our confidence in our ability, but we also need to demonstrate our knowledge of the work required, and how we can use that knowledge to add value to the company. It is fuel to that fire that we hope to kindle…
And so we need to present that knowledge in ways which allows our listeners to grasp the kernel (nucleus and centre) of information which will help to light that fire of enthusiasm for them.
So the ‘K’ words to successful interview techniques are Keenness, Kindle and Knowledge and these are the Keys to being successful.
Michele @ Trischel