How Introverts can Convey Confidence at Interviews

What can you do to convey confidence at interviews, both verbally and nonverbally? Improve their presentation skills and job interview skills, by following these ten tips, with some special insights for introverts.

1. Rest up, prepare, and practice.
This simple rule works for everyone and anyone. However, introverts benefit more by resting up during a sel imposed quiet or preparation time, to refuel their social energy.

Preparation and practice are essential for introverts, because they are more thoughtful in their responses and less inclined than extroverts, to respond quickly on our feet.

Also, they like to concentrate fully on one task ata time and are therfore, not multi-taskers by nature. So the better they prepare communications for job interviews, negotiations, presentations, and other meetings, the more likely you’ll come across as confident.

2. Make a positive first impression.
Decades of research in social psychology illustrate the surprising power of first impressions. From contexts as diverse as evaluating classroom teachers, selecting job applicants, or predicting the outcomes of court cases, human judgments made on the basis of a ‘thin slice’ of observational data can be highly predictive of subsequent evaluations.

This is particularly important for introverts who don’t make friendly connections quickly. Instead, they are more cautious, taking time to build relationships over a longer time.

That’s acceptable in normal life but at job interviews you nned to make an instant impact and consider how you come across, your appearance and demeanour or attitude, the moment you walk through the door.

3. Keep your emotions cool.
Great leaders are in control and don’t get agitated. They don’t shout and scream and they don’t have tantrums. They control and, in some way to conceal emotions. They are respectful and don’t belittle others in public, they are calm, responsive and empathetic. These things can be learned and practiced offline and fit comfortably with being introverted.

4. Listen attentively.
Introverts spend more time listening than talking. Use the information you are gathering to your advantage. Collate it and start forming intelligent questions to ask. Write them down as they occur, for future use and as an indication that you are being attentive. You’ll come across as interested, informed and more confident. We need to ask questions to learn more but also to show interest and empathy.

5. Stand up.
If you sitting at your desk and a more extroverted person enters your office. Stand up, it shows respect and puts you on an equal footing. How you stand is also important but that is a separate blog on it's own. Sufficient to say, this is your space, you control what happens there and you should stand your ground with relaxed confidence.

6. Command your space.
Take commnad of your space and use it confidently and comfortably. Don't coil up and shrink, spread out but don't sprawl. You can easily extend your space by gesturing and extending your arms. Practice this to get attention in a busy shop, you will be suprised as to how much more attention you will receive.

7. Stand with your feet slightly apart.
Some Psychologists recommend a wide stance with one foot forward pointing in a direction to suggest “some dynamic motion” If you want more excellent information on Body Language, do some research on Joe Navarro. His writing is a treasure trove of information on the language of the feet, legs, arms and hands.

Navarro believes that feet are the most honest part of the body because, as he says in the book, “the behaviour is a limbic brain response that has been hardwired into our nervous system during an evolutionary period that spans millions of years.” Consequently, our brains are unconsciously attentive and responsive to the position of other people's feet.

8. Interact and interject.
Extroverts enjoy the cut and thrust of boisterous meetings and lively networking events but these can be especially challenging for introverts.

How can you project confidence in these events? You need to be seen and heard. You need to join the throng! Interaction only comes from interjection, in these cases.

Lean forward, raise a finger, hand or arm, depending on the level of excitement at the event. Make good eye contact with the person speaking, say her or his name, smile, and just jump in.

You may not like to interrupt anymore than you like to be interrupted. However, if you don’t interject, you can appear worse than under-confident, you’ll become invisible and irrelevant.

9. Modulate your voice.
A simple mistake at job interviews is betraying their nervousness by speaking at a monotonous, boring and impassionate level. Relax your voice and practice “punching” key words. You’ll sound more compelling and you’ll come across as more passionate and confident.

10. Avoid verbal filler.
Speech hesitation is not the same as a pause. There is nothing worse than listening to someone um-ing and er-ing at an interview. Avoid punctuating your speech with um, er, you know, like, and other dialectic fillers, which makes you sound less than confident and more lightweight.

If you need extra time to compose your thoughts a little, which is not unusual for introverts, simply say, “Let me think about that for a moment” or “That’s a compelling question. Let me ponder on it for a moment.” You can also ask the interviewer for more information or to explain the question more.

If you are feeling a little lost or confused during the interview, try turning it back on the interviewer by asking; "Why is that issue so important to what you're trying to achieve in the organisation?" This should trigger a short respite for you and will provide you with more information to construct a response.

In conclusion, prepare well for any important events and look your best; arrive early and go through your confident relaxation routine; be aware of your posture and your voice; control your space and try to enjoy the opportunity to share your knowledge and views.

Change your attitude, then your suit

Studies have proven something that we have always known, there’s such a thing as the 'beauty dividend', which means, good-looking people get hired first, receive more praise and get more raises.

Unfortunately, not all of us look like George Clooney or Madonna. We do not have the time money or motivation to go through complete re-constructive plastic surgery, prior to an interview. We simply have to accept how we really are and make the best of it, warts and all.

Most of us have to work hard at getting hired by simply being better at what we do, and be prepared to fight for recognition and scant rewards in an unfair and highly competitive world.

Fortunately, there is something more valuable and important than good looks and charm, Something we can use to our advantage. We mere mortals have the 'attitude dividend.' If you ask any HR professional to name the most coveted attribute in a candidate, they will almost always respond with; “We’re looking for a positive can-do attitude.”

The good news is that a positive attitude is something people can actually work on developing and improving, to the point where it comes across loud and clear during your interview. 

You can get somebody to notice you for one day by paying for a spray tan, an expensive make-over and changing your suit but you can get people to notice you for a lifetime by your strong positive attitude.

Lookout George we are after your crown!

HR: Dress Well and Look Clean Cut for Job Interviews

When seriously looking for a new and challenging position, have you considered the fact that not only your CV is a little scruffy but that your appearance may also need a bit of polishing, too.

Well, you could be right, because that is just the conclusion of a recent survey of 514 HR professionals.

The survey results emphasise the role personal grooming plays in one's career growth and job search success. 90% of the HR professionals surveyed said that a job seeker's visual appearance i.e. whether he or she looks presentable, neat and clean, is the most important factor to making a good first impression prior to a job interview.

Your appearance is more important than eye contact and a firm handshake. It's an arguable point, that well-groomed candidates project more confidence than candidates who don't pay close attention to their appearance. This is certainly backed up by more than 90 percent of the HR respondents.

Candidates who show up for job interviews with a five-o'clock shadow, grit under their fingernails, wearing wrinkled or dirty clothes, or with their hair in disarray, come off as unprofessional and put themselves at a serious disadvantage, allegedly.

More than 50 percent of HR professionals surveyed said that candidates who show up for job interviews looking slovenly or unkempt give them the impression that they are not fully committed to the situation and may not even want the job.

What's more, well-groomed employees tend to be more successful than slovenly employees: 84% of HR professionals said that neat, clean employees climb the corporate ladder faster than employees who aren't well-groomed. HR professionals estimated that 20% of their employees are 'slobs'. How very judgemental!

Lest you dismiss these HR professionals as shallow and superficial, you should consider the fact that many of the non-HR IT executives interviewed, say that candidates should always show up for job interviews looking well-groomed.

Some more enlightened IT executives and professionals believe that 'substance' should always trump 'style' in a job interview i.e. that an individual's personal appearance shouldn't matter so long as he or she possesses the knowledge, skills and experience required to do the job.

The HR Response to this is that those IT professionals who prefer 'substance' need to accept that 'substance' and 'style' are not mutually exclusive and that the best candidates can house both.