Young Successful Entrepreneur

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Engage the Interviewer

Engaging the interviewer means that you are captivating her with your words, stories, hand motions, and body language. She feels your answers instead of simply logically understanding what you are saying. An engaged interviewer is taken through a story. They eagerly await the outcome of your team project, how you dealt with a disruptive team member, or how you overcame your biggest challenge.

Make your interview answers interesting. If you don’t make them sound interesting, the interviewer will get bored and her mind will start to wander. Remember, the emotions that the interviewer feels while speaking with you are more important than the actual stories themselves.

Eye Contact

The first step to engaging your interviewer is to maintain quality eye contact. I often get asked the question: “Isn’t it weird to constantly stare into the eyes of the interviewer? It’s very hard for me and it feels kind of creepy.” The answer is that there are times to keep your eyes engaged with the eyes of the interviewer, and there are times when you can look away for a brief second.

Keep your eyes locked when…

1) You are telling an answer

You want to keep the interviewer engaged while you tell a story. The way to keep her attention is to lock her eyes with yours. More importantly, locking your eyes with her eyes also lets you calibrate your story according to her attention span.

If you dart your eyes, you will give off the feeling that you don’t know what you’re talking about and that you’re lying. More importantly, you need to see if the interviewer is darting her eyes. If she is, then she is obviously not captivated by you or your story. Begin adjusting your excitement level by bringing it up a notch so that she feels the excitement, joy, and passion that you have for your accomplishments. If your level is already at the excitement stage, bring it down a notch so that you feel more and become more formal.

2) The interviewer is speaking to you

You want the interviewer to feel like you’re interested in what she has to say and that you’re actively listening to her. Darting your eyes while the interviewer is speaking is a sign of disrespect and that you are not interested in her or her company. Look into her eyes and nod accordingly to show that you understand what she is saying.

Look away when…

1) You’re taking some time to gather your answer

When you are asked a question to which you have not prepared an answer, take some time to gather your thoughts before you start blurting things out. This is the time when it’s ok to look slightly down or to the side to show that you are actively gathering your thoughts. Staring into the eyes of your interviewer in silence gives off the feeling that you didn’t understand her question, and it creates an awkward feeling in the room. Take your time, look slightly away, and gather your thoughts.

I still feel uncomfortable, what should I do?

If you still feel uncomfortable, break your eye contact apart into segments. Look at the forehead, nose, or neck of the interviewer. This allows you to still keep your head in the engaged position but also eases you from keeping constant eye contact with your interviewer.

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