Potential employees with introverted personalities may have more trouble with a job interview when compared to extroverts. This could be due to a misconception that employers, hiring managers and recruiters want outgoing types who tout themselves as "people persons." However, some positions require inward thinkers rather than outward superstars.
People with inward personalities may not feel comfortable with being on point throughout an interview, and this can lead to a mentally draining situation. If that describes you, follow some of these tips for introverts who are planning to sweat out a job interview.
1. Practice Makes Permanent
Practice for a job interview in front of a mirror, with a video recorder, or in front of trusted friends and family. Create a list of possible questions, and practice your answers out loud until your responses sound natural instead of memorized. If necessary, you can take a deep breath as a pause while you think of your answer in the actual interview before you start talking.
2. Pick a Suitable Career
One way to make your job search easier is to pick a career that suits your introverted personality. Introverts don't necessarily like to work alone, but they do tend to seek stimulation from their inward thoughts rather than outward conversations. Dentists interact with patients on an individual basis every day, but the dentist spends much less time with a patient than a hygienist does. Medical lab technicians spend a lot of time analyzing samples and cleaning equipment as well as creating reports for doctors, nurses and clients. Paralegals do interact with clients regularly, but most of the time they fill out legal forms, gather case materials, research case law and type court papers.
3. Decompress Between Interviews
Take some time to relax between interviews. Don't go from one to another within minutes or hours of each other. Take a few moments to reflect on how you did and how can improve for next time, if there is a next time.
4. Play to Your Strengths
Introverts generally don't feel comfortable self-promoting in a job interview. To make the process easier, you should know your strengths and play to them as much as possible. Take a psychological or career assessment to determine your greatest assets so you can mention them to interviewers.
5. An Interview Is a Conversation
Your interviewers want to speak to you so they can gauge your personality. That doesn't mean they want to interrogate you. Ask questions of your interviewers so you know that this company is a good fit for you, keeping in mind that this face time is not just about your future supervisor finding out if you mesh with the company culture.
6. Bring a Prop
Enter the job interview with a prop, such as a portfolio of your work, to serve as a talking point. If you already know your portfolio backward and forward, this is likely something with which you feel comfortable. Samples of your work get you talking on your terms as opposed to the interviewer's.
These tips for introverts help break the ice and make a job interview easier to handle. Remember that you don't have to be perfect to succeed in an interview as long as you're honest and natural.
Photo courtesy of Stuart Miles at FreeDigitalPhotos.net
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