An interview is a rather stressful time for everyone. In order to make it less stressful for yourself, check these simple recommendations for interviews and prepare for the meeting with an HR manager in the most effective way. Remember the suggestions made in this article and you will be able to avoid various unpleasant situations.
Do not criticise your previous place of employment
It is quite possible that you have left your previous job because of rather bad working conditions. There might have been a lot of thing you did not like starting from rather low salary up to a toxic environment. Even if you have all of the rights to be rather frustrated because of your previous experience, it is rather important to describe it in a neutral way when an HR manager will be asking you about that.
In case you start criticising your previous working place, it might give a hint about your own personality to your future employer. Do not forget about the possibility of getting a job in a new company which you may be willing to change in a couple of years. Needless to say, your future employer does not want you to tell similar things about his or her company in the future.
Still, it does not mean you have to pretend everything was fine. It will be a good idea to focus on the real problems rather than on judging the things you have experienced. You can mention such problems as an inability of developing your skills and using your potential, no perspectives for carrier growth as well as a long distance from home. What you certainly should not do is criticising people with whom you used to work.
Do not praise yourself too much
Certainly, you should appear pretty confident of your skills and experience, however, it is never a good idea to praise yourself too much in front of a potential employer. Some people are going to the extent of literally making up facts which is the worst thing one can do as almost all of these things can be checked by an HR manager.
Yet, even if a person is fair about one’s achievements and still he or she is showing them to an HR manager with exaggeration, it can make one wonder why such a talented and skilled person needs to find a new job.
Do not forget to mention any positive aspects of your previous job under the condition you actually feel positive about anything. Showing some gratitude to your previous place of work will your potential employer a hint of you being a loyal person.
Try to behave in a natural way
It is extremely difficult to behave in a natural way during an interview for the majority of people. If you are experiencing serious problems with managing your stress, you should at least try not to behave downright strange.
For example, some people pretend to be very playful using jokes as their coping mechanism with stress. Cracking jokes with an HR manager is not necessarily a good idea. Some people are trying to use their attractive appearance and charisma in order to get a job and are ending up with attempts to flirt with a potential employer. Furthermore, some candidates are even using various means of manipulation in order to get a job.
As you can imagine, an experienced interviewer will notice all of these strange behaviours and will certainly not be happy about them.