With these tips you can impress perfectly within every job interview:
23 application tips on how to make an impressive appearance at the interview:
PDF checklist available as a free download at the end of the article
Equipment for Interview
Application equipment
Absolutely accurate shoe heels, flawless shoelaces, briefcase and writing board or writing book – preferably A4 format for notes – A4 looks larger and more professional than a small notebook.
For women, not a small handbag, but rather a business handbag that can hold a tablet, notebook or A4 writing book.
For women and men, a high-end tablet without a fan with a pen, ideal for taking notes – so the flow of speech is not impaired and a very modern IT lifestyle is conveyed.
It is inappropriate to put your own writing pad on the boss’s desk if the interview is not taking place in a conference room but face-to-face at the work table of the employee or boss. Under no circumstances should you show up on site with a backpack. Brand accessories can support your appearance in a very high quality.
Cell phone configuration while interview
Mobile phone on airplane mode
If you don’t think about switching off your mobile phone before entering the company premises or at least activating the flight mode, you have a 50:50 chance of embarrassing yourself in the interview.
Even experienced applicants often get confused by unexpected calls. Switching to mute is not enough, because a vibrating jacket will embarrass you unnecessarily.
Application clothing
Label Looser
Young professionals as well as experienced applicants are reliably disqualified if the price tag under the sole of the new shoes has not been removed. When you climb the stairs at the latest, it becomes clear that this applicant is wearing his business outfit for the first time.
Even worse: the brand label on the suit or costume on the outside of the sleeve cannot be removed. At trade fairs and in job interviews, this is the easiest way to identify who has never worn a business outfit.
Mental preparation
Vacation and sleep
Be rested and get enough sleep before the appointment. The interview is particularly important to you and you are probably working for a current employer at the same time.
Not only take the application day off, but also the day before. So you are mentally perfectly positioned for a focused and impressive appearance.
Perfume only discreetly in the job interview
The smell of success
Body fragrance: A subtle perfume is appropriate, but please no perfume cloud to be sure to smell good. Less is more. After all, you don’t want to stun your counterpart, you want to convince them.
How do I get my application on time?
Arrival time management
Do not travel stressful and plan twice as much time to travel as you normally would. No matter how crazy the circumstances are against you on the decisive day: Whether a train strike or the flood in the basement – especially in Germany, no excuse will rehabilitate you:
Anyone who does not make it to the most important date in their new career on time is also the second choice in everyday working life in terms of self-organization and reliability.
By the way: Arriving late on time helps enormously against nervousness. Therefore it is better to be too early than too late.
How can I practice an interview or salary negotiation?
The dress rehearsal
Practice the interview as a “dry run”: First with confidants who already have professional experience. If no one in your circle of friends comes into question, a Skype session with an application coach can be extremely helpful.
Advertisement: On STARMAZING you can simulate job interviews with real HR experts via Zoom Bewerbungsgespräch simulieren .
You will then continue to practice live at a company that is not so important to you as a possible future employer. This will be the dress rehearsal to then convince your favorite companies.
How do I travel to the interview?
The choice of vehicle
Think about in good time how you will arrive for the interview. Is your private car handsome or would a rental car be more stylish? With rental cars like to upgrade a level, but don’t overdo it either.
The journey in the black 7 Series BMW is suitable e.g. not for the young professional. For a top manager at a company interview, however, it does. Traveling on foot is not recommended. Then you’d better take a taxi. (It is enough if you only take the taxi for “the last mile”).
Where is the best place to sit during the interview?
The right seat
If the reception staff will bring you directly into the meeting room and if it is already occupied by your interview partner, choosing your seat is easy. You sit across from your interview partner or the interview jury.
If you are brought into a conference room with a table and chairs distributed around it and the information that your interview partner will be coming shortly, a phase of uncertainty begins for many applicants. If the room has a window, go to the window side of the table facing the door and stand until your interviewee walks in.
The business etiquette stipulates that guests are given seats with a window behind them and not sit with their backs to the door. If the room has no windows, go to the side of the table opposite the door and wait there.
How does a positive mood arise?
The positive flow
The “ideal world strategy” is recommended so that the perfect appearance for your interview is impressively successful. That means: Everything about your person is positive.
No matter how complicated the journey was in reality, your answer to the Smalltalk question about how you found your way is refreshingly positive: Everything went well and the first positive highlight that you liked on the company premises could come here (should the Be truth).
This will give you a positive start that will give you a start-up bonus in the interview, and it is precisely in this mood that you should succeed in a positive exit. This will keep you anchored in the memory of your interview partner in an above-average positive way.
(For salary negotiations, however, this strategy must be tactically suspended so that you can strictly enforce your claim based on facts.)
How do I increase sympathy in the interview?
Reflect body language
Often times it happens quite unconsciously and most people don’t pay attention. In job interviews as well as in customer meetings, the “mirroring body language” method can definitely bring you plus points:
People who get along well in a conversation subconsciously adopt the same posture as you are facing. e.g. Upper body slightly bent forward and open arms shows great interest.
In your next private conversation, pay attention to the postures of the others and give it a try. You will see that when you mirror your posture, you are subconsciously suggesting to the other: We are on the same wavelength underwergs.
What do I do if the interview does not go well?
When it gets uncomfortable
In headwinds: If the questions go insolently below the belt, you are not forced to answer and you may end up with the wrong employer. However, if an employer is permanently uncomfortable during the interview, instead of negotiating a relationship, it is sometimes better as an applicant to make a clear statement and, if necessary, to leave.
Because if the company presents itself as unpleasant when you apply, what should it look like later at work? The working atmosphere as a permanent shock freezer is certainly not unlikely there.
How does the HR manager see me?
Role reversal
The entrepreneur’s point of view: In addition to all the facts, the job interview from an entrepreneur’s point of view is used to assess the risk of hiring. In Germany in particular, the legal situation is designed in favor of employees. An entrepreneur runs a great financial risk if he backs the wrong candidate horse.
Convey security and self-confidence and show yourself convinced that you have always mastered new situations so far. And if not – then you have learned quickly from it – have grown from it and in the end made it even better than originally planned. And prepare an example from your life beforehand. Because just saying is not enough – this experience works when it is illustrated by an example.
