Psychology – 10 Techniques to Help Your During Interviews

Hiring decisions are made on more than just skills and experience. It’s also about gut feelings and instinctual reactions. All sorts of subtle psychological factors come into play; so here are ten techniques which can help you give the interviewer the feeling that you are the one.

1. Schmooze but don’t self-promote

Schmoozing is good. The students who did best at interview were the most ingratiating: they praised the organisation, complimented the interviewer, showed enthusiasm, discussed common interests, smiled and maintained eye contact.

In contrast blatant self-promotion was surprisingly ineffective.

2. In control

You should emphasise how you controlled these difficult situations, rather than letting them control you  Employers want to see you are taking the initiative yourself.

3.  Do Not Talk to yourself

Just don’t talk to yourself out loud and in front of the interviewer…

4. Mental imagery

Those who used mental imagery performed better at a simulated job interview than those who didn’t. The mental imagery group also experienced less stress.

5. Cut out the fake smile

False smiling during an interview results in less favourable evaluations than does genuine smiling

6. The famous handshake

A good quality handshake did affect hiring recommendations. The importance of a firm shake appears greater for women.

7. Be defensive (if required)

Some research suggests you shouldn’t worry about being defensive if the situation calls for it.

8. Be upfront about weaknesses

It seems that we find honesty refreshing so interviewees should be upfront about their weakness. Exactly the reverse is true for strengths.

9. Try to, like, cut out the, err, you know, like…all the fillers

That interviewees who overuse the word like, and put in, like, too many, errr, fillers, were found less professional and were less likely to be hired.

10. Be unique

Interviewees who answer standard questions in novel ways are at an advantage.

Choosen excerpts by JMM from

10 Psychological Techniques to Help You Get a New Job — PsyBlog.