The word “interview” conjures up feelings of apprehension, nervousness, and in some cases, downright fear. This is exacerbated by the fact that most people tend to find themselves in interview-preparation mode only when they are actively job searching, and so they feel additional pressure to make a positive impact.
There are countless tips available to help prepare you for a variety of interview formats, whether they are competency based, behavioural, case studies or even panel interviews.
I regularly advise candidates to utilise the STAR (situation, task, action, result) method, which in essence prepares you to be able to create stories that tie together specific situations and projects you have been involved in.
Our careers are essentially a narrative made up of stories and these get told in a variety of scenarios, not just in interviews. It may be with friends, colleagues, family, or during more official occasions such as interviews. The point is, you can practice telling your career narrative whether you are looking for a new job or not. The better you are at this, the better you will perform in those high-pressure interviews.
When someone shares his or her story with you, it is more than likely that you will find yourself relating to it in some way and are instantly more engaged. In an interview setting, this can lead to building that ever-important rapport which is often the deciding factor when it comes to which candidate gets the job.
Required skills are of course important, but “chemistry” is absolutely critical in this job market. Incorporate storytelling into your daily interactions and you will come out on top in that next high-pressure interview.
