How To: Job Interview Tips

These are my job interview tips. Now, I have spent three years talking to actors for my book, The Star Qualities, and finding out all that tips and tricks for confidence, and actors are really good coaches for job interviews and the reason is the actors go to lots and lots and lots of auditions. Actors do auditions every single week of their working life. So, they have also some advice that can really help you and it certainly has helped me to make really impressive job interviews. The first thing that I think is useful to remember is what the actor Bill Nighy said about interviews. He says that he has learnt a lot by sitting at the other side of the table. He has been a job interviewer and he has learnt that actually, as a job interviewer, you are terrified of getting it wrong because if you get a wrong person, that makes your life very difficult. So, you got to remember that they are just as scared as you for different reasons and that can already make you feel more relaxed. The other thing he says is that you got to go in with the idea ""How can I help"" because actually, it is not really about you, it is about making them and you feel that this is a good relationship, a good connection and that you can work together. So, you got to go in really noticing them and thinking ""How can I help"". The next tip is make sure you prepare. This is something that Ewan McGregor talked about. He said he has had years of going to auditions and not being prepared and that he learnt to his cost at an audition with Emma Thompson that this was not good. You really got to get prepared. If you do not, you are going to stumble over answers, you are going to look nervous. You need to research the person that you are being interviewed by, you need to find out that what it is that they want, you need to think about stories that you can tell, examples that you can give in answer to the questions that are going to come up. The Jobs Pack will help. It will give you all the things that they are going to ask you about, so find a couple of examples for each of the things on the jobs pack that show off what you can do. Once you have done your preparation, it is really good to practice. It is useful to sit in front of a mirror at home and run some practice answers or even better get someone friendly and supportive who has recently been doing job interviews to run a few questions that you do want and also a few questions that you really do not want because often, those are the questions that you need to practice. So, you have done your practice, you have done your preparation, and it is the day of the interview. You got to get focused. In the morning, think like an actor, do everything you can to get calm and confident. Do not pack your day with lots of musings, do not rush around, get quiet, get calm, and make sure that you get to the interview early, at least half an hour in advance, because then you can sit quietly in reception and get yourself really calm. That was something that Kate Winslet said, it was something that Ewan McGregor said, and these are actors who get lots of work. So, when you are sitting there, be really present, notice your breathing, notice the clothes you are wearing, notice what is going on around you and just tune into that, do not think too much, do not run questions in your head, do not check emails, just really get present. And then, there comes the moment where you walk through the door. Keep breathing, do not rush. You almost have to go super, super slow because nerves are going to speed you up. So, you walk through the door and you put the brakes on and then you wait for them to tell you what to do next. Do not try and leave the situation. This is something the actor Emily Mortrimer talks about. You look stupid, you are not host of the party, they are the host, let them lead you. That goes for answering questions. When you answer a question, keep it short, give the input information, then zip it. Let them ask the next question. You do not have to fill the silence. The actor Ewan McGregor says that and also Rufus Sewell told me that he had learnt that sometimes, he talked himself out of a job because you rush, you say too much and actually, people do not want that. Say your answer, pause, let them ask the next question. And finally, remember that nothing is perfect. You cannot be perfect in an interview. You do your research, you do your preparation, you get calm and confident and then you do your best and as Kate Winslet says, you walk out of the door and you let it go. You do not obsess about it, you take the learning, and you move on to the next one. So, those are my top tips for job interviews.