The Secret to a Successful Job Interview: Less is More
We all know that person. They corner you at an event or party and talk your ear off. It’s hard to follow what they are saying as their stories drone on and on with intricate detail entangling you to paralysis. Mesmerized by their vocal cadence, you finally avert your eyes to others in the room, silently pleading for an SOS. Yeah, you know that person. Go on, say their name aloud!!
The gift of gab is truly not a gift when it comes to the job interview process. Your verbosity may actually blow your opportunity at a job you really want. A “yak-a-doodle” nature can be annoying, preventing the hiring manager from connecting with you and properly assessing your qualifications for the job.
Hiring managers are only human. They will lose interest if you blab on and on. If your vocal pattern happens to be of a melodic quality, don’t be surprised if you see their eyes fluttering and then finally close! It’s important to hold their attention to effectively communicate your experience and worth to the company.
Michael Neece, a contributing writer for Monster, writes, “After you’ve been speaking for 90 seconds without interruption, the interviewer is barely listening at all.”
Most experienced hiring managers are experts at appearing interested in what you are saying even while they are daydreaming about what they will eat for lunch! They have perfected the automatic head nod causing you to believe they are really present, listening, and carefully following your every word. Below are some serious hints that you have lost their attention.
Eyes glazing over. Even though most managers are skilled at looking interested, eye glazing is hard to disguise
Tapping of a pen or drumming of their fingers
They completely stop taking notes and gaze around the room
Glancing at their watch, phone, or computer
Heavy sighing. If this happening, you just better pack your bag!
Organizations schedule job interviews on specific days in order to minimize disruption of work routines. The job interviews may be scheduled in back-to-back time slots. If you talk too much, exceeding your allotted time, the entire interviewing schedule will be off and that does not make for a happy hiring manager. It is also rude to the other candidates and company staff members who organize the interview schedule.
The job interview is all about you and how you best present yourself to the hiring manager, but it takes a 2-way conversation to fully engage. The interviewer needs to see your enthusiasm for the job, consider all of your talents and abilities while feeling confident that you can properly converse with others in a business context without monopolizing the conversation.
When nervous or during silent pauses, people tend to speak, whether they are a “talker” or not. This unnecessary verbiage fills the empty, awkward spaces between questions while the hiring manager may be writing things down or simply taking a breath to choose the next topic of conversation. Here’s a hint. When your point has been made, shut your mouth! The interviewer probably has more questions to ask and you are preventing this by continuing to opine.
A smart interviewer will also “plant” a long pause during the interview in order to see how you will react. Will you rush in, vomiting unnecessary comments, possibly saying something that may very well hurt your case? This happens, so don’t take the bait!!!
If you are a person who tends to blabber on, you may be unaware of this trait. (Trust me, everyone around you is aware!) Ask a brutally honest friend if you indeed are “that” person. To prepare for an upcoming job interview, start practicing now on making appropriate length responses to typical job interview questions. Become more aware during your everyday conversation to point out only the important, powerful portions of your stories leaving out the mundane minutiae.
Modulate your voice, placing verbal emphasis on your accomplishments. This tonal difference will focus you on a slower pace keeping the interviewer engaged as you complete your employment stories. Practice choosing words most appropriate to your thoughts. Succinct speech is powerful. Train yourself to utilize pauses in order to catch your breath. This will give the hiring manager a chance to ask a follow up question.
In any job interview, the object is to persuasively sell yourself to the hiring manager. To clarify, this blog is not about the length of time or the amount of words it takes to carefully, concisely promote yourself. This blog is for that person who just talks to hear themselves speak and really doesn’t say much, wasting precious time while abusing the “Queen’s Language”!
Members of the Greatest Generation had a phrase that was used in my home while I was growing up. The phrase is “economy of words.” That phrase isn’t used much today and the word “economy” is now used mainly in financial or economic terms. I was always encouraged to choose my words carefully and precisely in order to relate my thoughts succinctly so that others were allowed adequate time to participate in conversation. Rambling on and on was considered very rude in the past and the more a speaker spoke, the more they were usually ignored.
There are gazillions of beautiful words in our language that can be associated to all of our thoughts and emotions. We don’t have to use them all to make a point. Make your words count. When it comes to over-talking, remember: less is always more!
I offer a free ½ hour introductory job interview coaching session. Contact me today to prepare for your tomorrow!