People usually hire people they like and think they would enjoy working with, so while your skills and experience are important, your ability to build rapport with your interviewer can greatly improve your chances of getting your dream job. I define rapport as connecting with someone during an interview and that feeling of being on the same wavelength. Here are my top ten ways to build a better rapport during job interviews.

1. First impressions count - Even before you speak in a job interview, your interviewer will be absorbing non-verbal clues about you, things like how you walk, how you shake hands and how you smile. It is also important to think about your clothes and hair. For example, dark clothes suggest authority. When you greet the interviewer, maintain eye contact, smile and give a firm handshake. Repeat their names as you are introduced. It will help you to remember them! You can start by asking how he or she is doing and ask them how their day has been going so far.

2. Be Yourself  - I know it’s hard to relax and be yourself in an interview situation but try thinking of the interview as an opportunity to meet someone and get to know them. This will help you to build rapport. You can develop the rapport by talking about work related stories to show your personality. It’s also important to show enthusiasm in an interview, however if you are not a naturally enthusiastic person turn up your enthusiasm a bit but not too much so, it feels unnatural. If you are not being yourself, the interviewer can sense this.

3. Smile and make eye contact - During the interview, try to smile as often as possible. This shows your potential employer that you are a friendly, confident person. When you are talking, you should hold eye contact for about 10 seconds before looking away briefly and then re-establishing eye contact. Remember to blink regularly, look away very briefly and give a small nod every now and then so you don’t appear to be aggressively staring.

4. Mirror body language - While concentrating on your body language, don't forget to pay attention to the interviewer's body language too! They might be sending you subtle signals with how they act that you can use to your advantage. You ideally want to be reflecting the interviewer’s body language like maintaining eye contact, hand gestures, facial expressions, nodding, smiling and leaning forward.

5. Pay complements - Pay the interviewer a natural sounding complement and it will help to build rapport. For example, when the interviewer mentions the company and their successes, you could say ‘this is one of the reasons I really would like to work for this company’ or ‘this is very impressive.’

6. Speak clearly - Speaking in a clear and controlled voice conveys confidence. Inject energy into your voice as you relate your successes using action-oriented words. Notice the words and key phrases that people use and subtly include their key phrases in your interview answers. If two people communicate in a similar manner, they are much more likely to build rapport.

7. Learn to talk about yourself - During an interview, you will spend 80% of your time talking about yourself, your experience, skills and the type of person you are. The interviewer will be asking questions like ‘tell me about yourself’ and most people don’t spend a lot of time talking about themselves so spend time before the interview doing a mock interview with either a friend or an interview coach who can give you feedback on your answers and on your body language. I video my mock interview sessions as it helps to watch yourself back.

8. Listen properly - Don’t worry if the interviewer talks a lot at the start of the interview because it gives you a bit more time to learn about the interviewer, job and company. Show that you are actively listening by nodding your head when the interviewer is speaking and repeating what the interviewer said in your answers. Also, use the interviewer’s name and name of company a couple of times throughout the interview.  

9. Ask questions  - Asking interesting questions helps you to connect to the interviewer and shows you want to get to know the person you’re meeting with. Prepare at least three questions to ask the interviewer. Ask the interviewer if they enjoy working for the company, what the structure of the team is and questions relating to the job e.g. what are the day to day responsibilities of the job? And anything relating to the company e.g. what are the company’s plans for the future?

10. Ending the interview - As the interview finishes, if there is anything you have forgotten to mention that you think may be relevant for the job, you can say ‘can I summarise my key strengths for the job’ or ‘can I further explain why I think I am a strong candidate for this role.’ Then, don’t forget to thank the interviewer for their time and say that you enjoyed meeting them and give another genuine smile and a firm handshake as you leave.

MyCVandMe offer telephone and face to face job interview training sessions for all types of interviews including one to one interviews, panel interviews, presentations and assessment centres. To really shine in an interview, talk to us for interview coaching with results!



 

















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