12 secrets to getting through job interviews

I have recently attended a course in Human Resources Directorate. The professor who has taught it is an expert in personnel selection and has shared with us some tips and common mistakes that we all make when faced with a job interview. Some are very obvious and some are quite curious:

12 secrets to getting through job interviews

1. Do not shake hands if they do not offer it to you

In the same way that you do not shake hands on the street with strangers, you should not give it to the interviewer unless he offers it to you first. There are people who practically walk into the interview room with outstretched hands looking for the interviewer. Big mistake. You must enter calmly, naturally and wait for the interviewer to offer you his hand. Then that will be the moment to return the greeting. At this point there are several errors in the way of shaking hands.

A good interviewer will be able to extract the information implicit in these errors. In point 2 I will explain what you should avoid when shaking hands.

2. What to do when shaking hands

• Avoid swaying: Many people have the habit of swinging their arm slightly up and down when they hold the hand of the other person. You are greeting someone for the first time, you are not asking them to dance. Avoid swaying. The grip should be firm and without movement.

• Just pressure: The grip should not be too strong or too loose. Squeezing the hand strongly denotes security and a great personality, but if we go overboard with the intensity we can approach rudeness and denote a negative attitude. On the contrary, a loose grip (the well-known "lettuce grip") denotes weakness and shyness.

• Offer your whole hand: There are people who only offer their fingers when shaking hands. Error. You must extend your hand far enough so that the recipient can fully grasp it.. Not giving the whole hand also denotes shyness.

3. Don't sit down if they don't offer it to you

If you walk into the interview room and there is an empty chair in front of the interviewer, you should wait for him to offer you a seat. If they don't, you can ask their permission with politeness.

What you should NEVER do is take the liberty of sitting down without asking first. If you do, you run the risk that the interviewer will color you out with phrases like"But who made you sit down?"

4. Not answering personal questions

Many times when the interviewer asks you something, in reality they do not want to know the answer but to observe your way of reacting to said question. Imagine for a moment that the interviewer asks you how you get along with your parents.

What would you answer?Well? Wrong?. Error. The interviewer is not interested in that information. You should answer something like "That question belongs to the private sphere and I prefer not to answer it".

You must also learn to differentiate what pertains to privacy and what does not. Do not make the mistake of thinking that your hobbies or hobbies also belong to the private sphere. The company may be interested in knowing this information to plan leisure activities outside of work..

5. Talk about yourself

It's a no-brainer that many people forget. You should always be the interviewer.

6. Dress as you would go to work

Many people tend to dress up a lot for the interview. This is a job interview, not a wedding. You should feel comfortable in the outfit you choose. It should be something normal, just like you would go to work on any given day.

7. Beware of makeup

What was said in the previous point about clothing can also be extrapolated to makeup. Make up as you would go to work. You should also take special care with makeup in summer. I have heard some anecdote about job interviews in summer and without air conditioning ...

8. Make it known that time is important to you

Imagine for a moment the following situation: you have a job interview and they give you an appointment at 10 in the morning, however, they don't let you in until 10:30. Once inside, the interviewer tells you that he is sorry he made you wait. Surely your answer would be "do not worry" or "nothing happens". Error. Yes it happens and a lot. They have made you waste 30 minutes of your valuable time and you must answer something that shows it.

Logically you cannot be disrespectful or say it in a brusque way. There is a friendly way of saying that time is important to you: "Don't worry, I took the time to make a couple of calls that I had pending", or any similar answer.

To say that you have been updating the agenda would also be valid. The important thing is to note that you have taken advantage of those 30 minutes to do something useful and you haven't wasted them. In this way, the interviewer will know that you value your time very much and that is an essential characteristic that every worker should have..

Your time translates into money for the company. Worrying about your time is worrying about the financial situation of the company you work for.

9. Let talk

The conversation has to be normal and relaxed. You should not interrupt the interviewer or tell him hastily your whole life with the first question he asks you.

10. Focus on work

Imagine that the interviewer tells you to tell him about yourself. Where would you start? In the park where you played as a child with your friends? For the places where you used to spend the summer with your parents in the summer? Error. The interviewer is not interested in this information at all. If he tells you to talk about yourself, you should start by telling him about your professional career, the jobs you have had, the functions you have performed, etc..

11. Be specific about the salary

If the interviewer asks you how much you would like to charge, your answer may be "The minimum interprofessional wage". Error. You must answer a specific number and according to the position for which you choose. If you give a figure that is too short, it indicates that either you do not value yourself too much or that you are not familiar with the responsibility that comes with the position..

If, on the other hand, your figure is too high, it is possible that you will be discarded to avoid future frustrations and cause the company to leave. You must not forget that the role of the interviewer It is not selecting the most educated person but the most suitable person for the position being offered.

Hiring someone very good but you know that after 2 months he is going to get bored and leave the position is a big mistake that entails loss of time and money for the company.

I know a girl who was asked the salary question. His answer was 3000 euros. But she also added that she was going to show them that that was the price she was worth. He told them that during the first 3 months they would pay him what they wanted, but that from the fourth month they would realize that his value was that. By the second month I was already charging 3,000 euros.

12. Avoid criticism

You should never speak ill of your previous companies or the bosses you have had. The interviewer may think that tomorrow you could also speak ill of your new company. If you are encouraged to talk openly about the reasons that led you to leave your previous jobs, you can just say that you wanted to explore new professional alternatives.

In addition to these tips, there are also a number of very common questions in job interviews that should be considered.

Do you have any tips or anecdotes to share about job interviews??