INTERVIEW SPECIAL 8 Psychological Tricks To Help
You Nail the Interview of Your Dream Job
Why You Should Focus on Psychology in Your Next Interview
Whetheryou realize it
or not, psychology impacts every aspect of your life. For example, color
psychology is used by marketing companies to influence the products you buy.
You can even use color psychology to help make a good first impression, which
is something we’ll touch base on in more detail later in this article.
It doesn’t matter if you have ever taken a
psychology course or if you have a lot of preexisting knowledge about this
topic. What’s important is that you learn to use a few psychological interview
tips before you attempt to land your dream job. After all, you only get one
chance to make a good first impression.
The information you’re about to learn will
greatly increase your odds of getting off on the right foot with the hiring
manager. In fact, putting these tips to work for you could make the difference
between ultimately loving and hating your job. When you consider that more than
half of workers hate what they do, it makes perfect sense to give yourself
every possible interview advantage.
Dress for Psychological Success
What qualities do you want to highlight
during your interview? The answer to this question lies in the type of job you
desire, along with the team culture of the company interviewing you. If the
perfect fit for the position in question is a bold risk taker, make sure you
have at least a splash of red in your outfit. Do they need someone who is
trustworthy and dependable instead? It’s best to go with blue.1
By using color psychology, you can subtly
tell the interviewer that you have the qualities they need for their open
position. The colors listed below can be incorporated in your shirt or added
more discreetly into a tie or broach.
• Yellow: Warmth, clarity and optimism
• Orange: Friendly, confidence and cheerful
• Red: Bold, excitement and youthful
• Pink: Wise, creative and imaginative
• Blue: Strength, trust and dependable
• Green: Peaceful, health and growth
• Light Gray: Neutral, balance and calm
• Four or More Rainbow Colors: Diversity
Some of the qualities that hiring managers
frequently look for are assertiveness, friendliness and the ability to be
competitive and cooperative at the same time. Therefore, you might want to add
a few colors into your interview outfit. However, be careful not to wear a lot
of orange because it’s sometimes viewed as unprofessional.
Make Sure Time Is on Your Side
If an interviewer offers you only one time
slot, be sure you take it. Otherwise, it’s wisest to look for an interview slot
between 10 and 10:30 a.m. on a Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday. There are many
psychological reasons for this such as the importance of avoiding the first and
last appointment of their day.2
As you undoubtedly know, it’s harder to focus
during these late and early time frames, just as it’s easier to lose focus
right before or right after lunch. By steering clear of weekend bookends, lunch
time and the start and end of the day, you can help ensure that your
interviewer will be in a better head space to pay attention to your answers.
They’re also more likely to be in a decent mood, which will make it easier to
build a rapport.
Match Your Interviewer’s Style and Body
Language
Let’s face it; your interviewer is going to
base a major part of their decision on whether or not they like your
personality. Therefore, it makes sense to meet them in the middle by presenting
information in a way that makes the most sense to them. Fortunately, their age
can give you a big clue about how to conduct yourself during the interview.3
• 20 to 30 – Pointing out your multitasking
skills and providing samples of your work in a visual format will impress
Generation Y interviewers.
• 30 to 50 – During an interview with someone
from Generation X, talk about the way your life/work balance boosts your
success and be sure to emphasize your creativity.
• 50 to 70 – Demonstrate that you respect the
Baby Boomer and their achievements. Make it clear that you’re a hard worker.
• 70 to 90 – Commitment to previous jobs and
loyalty are your psychological keys to a good interview with members of the
Silent Generation.
Another way to match their style is through
mirroring their body language. This will unconsciously make the interviewer
feel more comfortable with you.
Point Out Positive Traits You Have in Common
Who do you feel the most comfortable with?
The odds are high that your answer includes “people I have things in common
with.” This is a basic psychological fact, and you can use it to help get your
dream job. All you need to do is conduct a little prior research into your
interviewer and look for the right traits.
A prime example would be looking for a way to
slip a shared interest in community service and volunteering opportunities into
the interview. However, you don’t want to make this technique obvious, so don’t
bring something up that makes no sense in the context of the interview.
Be Sincere and Non-Promotional in Your
Compliments
It’s possible to compliment the organization
and interviewer without seeming like you’re merely trying to get on their good
side. However, many people ruin these efforts by finding a way to tie in a
self-promotional comment.
Resisting this urge can give you a big
advantage over other candidates. This is because studies have found that
schmoozing without promoting yourself is one of the best ways to get hired.4
Speaking expressively during these
compliments, and throughout the interview, is another prime way to capture
attention. Interviewers also tend to pay a lot of attention to body language.
You can non-verbally express sincerity by holding your palms open. When you
want to look confident, switch to making a steeple with your hands.
Feel More Powerful with a Power Pose
This psychological interview tip needs to be
used by you in a private place before you meet with the interviewer. There is a
growing body of research that states it’s possible to be more commanding and
confident after holding a power pose.
For instance, you can stand in the Superman
pose with your hands on your hips and your head angled upward. Holding this
pose for a moment shortly before entering the interview should help you appear
more confident and powerful.5
Utilize Strong Eye Contact at the Start of
the Interview, but Don’t Smile Too Much
Although there is no proven link between eye
contact and someone’s intelligence or trustworthiness, most interviewers will have
a better impression of you if you make solid eye contact for a few seconds at
the beginning of your interview. It’s also wise to make eye contact off and on
throughout the entire interview.
When it comes to smiling, though, you need to
be cautious. Studies have discovered that excessive smiling is not a good way
to impress your interviewer. Yes, you need to smile when you meet them and
steer clear of having a frown on your face, but too much smiling will look
fake.6
Be Honest About Your Greatest Weakness
One of the most common interview questions of
all time is, “what’s your greatest weakness?” You don’t need these interview
tips to tell you that you shouldn’t say something that’s going to make you look
extremely undesirable. At the same time, though, it’s important to provide an
honest answer.
In case you weren’t aware, the greatest
weakness question is asked so frequently because it helps point out the people
who are blatantly lying. Everyone has a weakness. Maybe you’re not as organized
as you’d like to be. You can acknowledge this by saying, “I’m not always as
organized as I’d like to be, which is a weakness that I’m committed to
improving.”
Honesty will get you much better results than
trying to lie or humblebrag. In fact, according to researchers at Harvard
Business School, providing a humblebragging answer to this question is a big
turnoff for most hiring managers.7
Land Your Dream Job!
Are you still trying to figure out exactly
what your dream job looks like8 ? Take some time to sort
out your personal and professional priorities to help ensure that you choose
the right fit. Once you’re ready, put all of the previously listed
psychological interview tips into action to boost your odds of success!
REFERENCES
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http://www.lifehack.org/595118/8-psychological-tricks-to-help-you-nail-the-interview-of-your-dream-job?ref=mail&mtype=daily_newsletter&mid=20170526_tuning_v1&uid=687414&hash=707e797f7e757e6d794c856d747b7b3a6f7b79&action=click
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