What to Say In a Job Interview

Preparing for an interview is a highly controlled process. You can manipulate it as you like and focus on various little things that could help you during the interview. However, that day has come. You enter the room and see your interviewers. How would you like to proceed? What to say in an interview, and what phrases are absolutely prohibited? Our career coaching team decided to share some tips.

General Guidelines for How to Speak In an Interview.

• Your speech must be clear and intelligible.
• Don’t let a long pause hang for long.
• Light humor is allowed, but it should not be cruel or touchy jokes.
• Your speech should be smooth and intelligible, do not allow yourself to mumble
• If you feel like it might take you longer to answer a question, say slowly, “What a good question, I think I should say…” However, don’t use this phrase too often.
• Know how to continue the dialogue and seem like an interested interlocutor.

How to Start a Conversation?

• Greet people politely and express your gratitude for giving you a chance
• Say that you have already learned a lot about the company and would like to learn more
• Express your desire for this position. Show your passion in simple words like: “I am happy that this position is available.”

Best Things to Say In an Interview’s “Tell Us About Yourself” Question

It is probably one of the first things you will be asked.

The most infamous question baffles many. Many answer it incorrectly and become uninteresting in the eyes of the interviewers.

Why Are They Asking This?

Although this information is already on your resume, recruiters are interested to know exactly how you will answer this time. They are most interested in what exactly you choose to talk about. They can also find out if such questions confuse you.

• Your goal is to leave a good impression of yourself. You must try on the role of a specialist that the company needs.
• Don’t retell your entire resume or sad life story. Focus on saying a couple of sentences about the past, present, and future. In this way, interviewers will be able to understand who you are and what exactly you want from the company in the future.
• Start by talking about your position at the company you last worked for. Keep up a positive conversation about it as an invaluable experience you have gained.
• You can also start by talking about your strengths. It is especially true if your strengths are related to the desired position.

In general, the problem of the question “tell us about yourself” is in practice. Even after attending many interviews, it is difficult for people to change the template and adapt to new requirements quickly. This simple question can define all your distant dialogue literally. Therefore, we recommend that you practice it as much as possible. It is where our team can help. A career coaching service allows you to gain as much practice as possible. That is what makes you more confident in all your answers.

What to Say During an Interview?

We have already mentioned the most popular interview questions in our article on how to prepare for an interview. Their whole point is to determine your value to the company.

1. Tell them why you deserve this position. Highlight the primary skills that this position needs. If you have spent a lot of time learning as much information about the company as possible, you might have run into some problems. Talk about how you could solve one of the problems with your knowledge and skills. Interviewers will not be able to forget this.
2. As trite as it sounds, you should sell yourself to this company. Show your best side in a way that is beneficial to your position.
3. It is worth noting that you are constantly developing and learning new trends. Sometimes it will be a plus to mention the platforms you regularly take training.
4. Your motivation and desire to work in this position will not leave interviewers indifferent.

Even though these recommendations are simple, there is a whole list of things that absolutely cannot be said. Otherwise, even after making a good impression on the interviewers, your application will remain unanswered.

What Shouldn’t You Say in an Interview?

“My boss was just a terrible person, and the company did not follow their rules and obligations.”

Although the interviewer may indeed ask you about what you didn’t like about your previous position, this question is not so simple. It would help if you found a positive answer to it and not to offend the previous company and its employees. Instead, you can casually mention mistakes or that the company, unfortunately, does not have vacancies for a promotion.

A favorable response will reassure interviewers that you have gained valuable experience. Moreover, they will be able to say for sure that you will not spread bad information about the desired company.

“I do not know the answer to this question.”

Although honesty is a good characteristic, it is inappropriate in an interview. The inability to answer can be equated to frivolity. Interviewers may think you don’t really want to work for this company. Instead, ask for a moment to think about the answer.

“What about salary, holidays…?”

You can politely ask about this already at the end of the interview. However, asking such a question directly is impolite. First of all, it is you who must show yourself, not the company.

“I have three higher educations, and I am competent.”

Even though the interview is your chance to show off, there’s no need to boast. Interviewers have already read your resume. It would be best to focus only on the information and skills needed for the position.

“I don’t have enough experience, but I can do anything.”

If you are talking about a lack of experience, you are not confident in your skills. That shows your incompetence. Instead, focus on what you do best.

Do not use clichéd phrases to answer.

It won’t help you stand out from the crowd. On the contrary, you will be equated with the rest of the “average” candidates.

“Um, well, like..”

Filler words will significantly harm your speech in general. In addition, try to avoid informal speech and slang expressions. It is also a kind of “interview etiquette.”

“You already read it on my resume.”

That is a rude expression that indicates that you do not know the content of your resume. You are required to summarize your skills and experience again.

“I don’t have any questions for you.”

Such a phrase immediately makes others think that you are not interested in the company. Take care to learn more about the company before asking a question. You can gently lead to this by mentioning your knowledge. For example, ask what the company plans for the next quarter.

Unfortunately, mistakes cannot be avoided. Especially without regular practice before the interview. Trust the professionals and go through a few rounds of popular and tricky questions. Only in this way can you control your speech and statements.

Conclusion

Even though calls or zoom have become popular options for conducting interviews, the rules have not changed. What matters is how and what you say.