How To Voice Your Value In An Interview
No matter how good you are at a certain type of job, if you’re no good at telling interviewers just how good you are, you’ll never get the job you want!
Learning how to discuss your accomplishments and accolades with a recruiter is key to making sure they see the value in hiring you. But to most of us, it doesn’t come naturally.
We worry that we’re saying too much, or not enough, or not saying the right things. We get anxious from all the things going on in our lives and the stress of the interview setting, or we draw a blank when it’s our turn to speak.
But since the skills you need to own any interview aren’t necessarily intuitive, it means that all those nerves are perfectly natural!
But if we can arm you with the tools you need to voice your value clearly to a recruiter, then you can start showing up with confidence and resolve.
So let’s have a look at the 3 best steps to overcome interview anxiety about telling them just how great you are!
It’s Okay To Brag
One of the main reasons interview settings can cause so much anxiety is because they’re not normal conversations. They are a very formal and somewhat uncanny situation that can take some getting used to.
But because they’re slightly outside the norm, we need to have a slightly different mindset about what is and isn’t acceptable.
In your normal conversations with friends and family, you would probably feel uneasy about talking only about your own achievements. After a while, it would just sound like bragging.
In our daily lives, we need to leave room in the conversation for other people to talk about themselves, and we can feel embarrassed when we speak about ourselves at length.
Fortunately, all that goes out the window when you’re having an interview! For one, your interviewer isn’t there to talk about themselves. And second, they are there for the sole purpose of getting to know you.
So don’t feel bad about bragging! Don’t hold back from sharing the stories of your successes and whatever events in your past define you as an ideal candidate.
Talk About Your Tenacity
One of the most common interview questions in the world is “tell me about a time when you had an obstacle and how you overcame it”.
And one of the most common mistakes that job seekers make is thinking that that’s the only time they should be talking about overcoming challenges.
The truth is, you should spend as much time as you can showcasing your behavioural and problem-solving skills. Questions like the one above are designed to give the recruiter insight into how you analyze problems, and lets them know if you have what it takes to face challenges head on.
There are simple strategies you can use to tell the stories of your success. One is the “Experience + Learn = Grow” model, where you highlight what happened, what you learned, and how you’ve developed as a result. This is great for proving you have a growth mindset.
Another method is the “STAR” technique. In this one, you describe the event in 4 parts as follows:
- Situation
- Task
- Action
- Result
All-in-all, the point is to show that you have the wherewithal to admit there are things that challenge you, and that you have the tenacity to overcome.
Paint A Picture By Numbers
They say a picture’s worth a thousand words. But without numbers, that saying wouldn’t even make sense.
Quantifying the contributions of your past positions using hard data is learning to speak the same language as your potential employer.
Employers need to analyze their business using hard figures, and are motivated to deliver certain statistical results. So when you can lay down exactly what value you’ve proven you can deliver by numbers, they’re going to see the bottomline value of bringing you on board.
Don’t just say you increased sales. Tell them how much you increased them.
Don’t just say you saved time by coming up with a new process. Tell them how much time you saved.
Don’t just say saved money by taking on another role. Tell them how much money you saved.
You won’t just be better at interviews. You’ll be 110% better.
Conclusion
We all wish our work would just speak for itself. But sometimes, you have to speak for it.
And when you follow the advice from today’s article, you’ll be able to head into any interview ready to be loud and proud about why YOU are the most valuable candidate!
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