Our 4 tips to convince in minutes
9 February 2015
Read by 3604 persons
Talking about yourself in an interview... Anxiety? Yes, if you are not prepared. To avoid what could be a very awkward moment, here are 4 tips to make a good first impression.
1. Prepare some key points. You can choose to let yourself be guided by your inspiration. But we are not always well inspired. And above all, we risk going all over the place and speaking at length, where your interviewer only expects a short presentation. They will have plenty of time to come back to the points that interest them later in the interview. To avoid these pitfalls, have in mind a few key elements of your background, so as to have some guidelines, but don't learn a speech by heart. It will inevitably sound false to the recruiter's ears, who, through this exercise, also wants to learn more about your personality.
2. A presentation adapted to the context. At the end of this short presentation, your interviewer should have in mind your education, your main experiences (internships, extracurricular activities), your skills, your main achievements, your professional project and your motivations for the position. If, from one interview to another, the main lines of this presentation remain the same, adapt to the context: according to the requirements of the position, highlight the elements of your background that best correspond to what the recruiter expects.
3. Stay professional. Needless to say, a recruiter is not a psychologist! If they want you to talk about yourself, it's not to learn more about your family or your nostalgia for your university years. Focus instead on anything that may be of professional interest, including your background, your profile and your interest in the position. "It is also important to take into account the role of your interviewer," says Corinne, head of recruitment communication in the banking sector. "A recruitment manager will be interested in personality and the ability to evolve, while an operational person will be more sensitive to technical skills." That said, if personal elements can explain part of your background, address them very briefly, keeping it as simple and neutral as possible.
4. Be specific. You may have been preceded by a candidate and it is likely that another will follow you. If you want your quick presentation to stand out from the others, be specific: give 1 or 2 examples of situations (preferably positive and interesting!) that marked your first experiences, such as your internships or summer jobs. And don't forget to show enthusiasm. Not easy in the first few minutes of the interview, of course, but don't forget: sometimes, what interests the recruiter in this introduction is less what you are going to say than how you are going to say it...
Apec.fr
Posted online on February 9, 2015.
1. Prepare some key points. You can choose to let yourself be guided by your inspiration. But we are not always well inspired. And above all, we risk going all over the place and speaking at length, where your interviewer only expects a short presentation. They will have plenty of time to come back to the points that interest them later in the interview. To avoid these pitfalls, have in mind a few key elements of your background, so as to have some guidelines, but don't learn a speech by heart. It will inevitably sound false to the recruiter's ears, who, through this exercise, also wants to learn more about your personality.
2. A presentation adapted to the context. At the end of this short presentation, your interviewer should have in mind your education, your main experiences (internships, extracurricular activities), your skills, your main achievements, your professional project and your motivations for the position. If, from one interview to another, the main lines of this presentation remain the same, adapt to the context: according to the requirements of the position, highlight the elements of your background that best correspond to what the recruiter expects.
3. Stay professional. Needless to say, a recruiter is not a psychologist! If they want you to talk about yourself, it's not to learn more about your family or your nostalgia for your university years. Focus instead on anything that may be of professional interest, including your background, your profile and your interest in the position. "It is also important to take into account the role of your interviewer," says Corinne, head of recruitment communication in the banking sector. "A recruitment manager will be interested in personality and the ability to evolve, while an operational person will be more sensitive to technical skills." That said, if personal elements can explain part of your background, address them very briefly, keeping it as simple and neutral as possible.
4. Be specific. You may have been preceded by a candidate and it is likely that another will follow you. If you want your quick presentation to stand out from the others, be specific: give 1 or 2 examples of situations (preferably positive and interesting!) that marked your first experiences, such as your internships or summer jobs. And don't forget to show enthusiasm. Not easy in the first few minutes of the interview, of course, but don't forget: sometimes, what interests the recruiter in this introduction is less what you are going to say than how you are going to say it...
Apec.fr
Posted online on February 9, 2015.
