Job interviews have several functions, definitely; part of it is to assess your technical skills, but
to be honest, I think a large part of that is already reflected in your resume.
I can already see, in a very detailed fashion, what you have done, and what you are capable of doing;
so, the in-person interview is actually to ... instead of a two-dimensional piece of paper ... I can
see you in the flesh, right, you as a person. Imagine you are probably in the field
with other competitors that have similar training, qualifications, like you said, right, in terms of,
on paper skills, probably comparable, I wouldn't say, necessarily identical but comparable, so how
do you stand out from the crowd; a lot of it is you being a person, being a human, so be relaxed,
show the real you, right, it's OK to show your ... to show your personality, and, and your,
your character. It's definitely a bonus point to project a humanness in the interview. It's
OK to crack a joke, right, to inject a sense of humour, in an otherwise potentially, fairly tense
occasion; it's OK to admit your weaknesses; it's OK to say, I made mistakes in the past,
but I learned my lessons and now I'm looking to improve myself, or you know to, to go the
extra mile, because I believe in myself having potential. It's OK to show that, and it's OK to
tell the interviewer that what you like to do in your spare time, or the things that you've done
in your own personal time to improve, whether your work, professional life or your personal life, we,
we all... I always like to hear that, I always like to see that, oh you are well-rounded
individual, you're not just a bookworm, you know, you only know how to study, or only
know how to work. Maturity is one more thing, is to see you know your understanding of the world,
and you know, how grown up are you, basically, it's not just the technical side but also as a
human, as well how professional you would, how professional you would carry yourself in the
workplace. It's all of those things, but also the verbal communication skills, that's a very
important element, being assessed in an interview, it's not so much about what's being talked about,
but how you convey it, to see how you organise your thoughts and how you communicate, it's, it's
a really big part of an interview. A lot of times, the younger professionals, they are so eager to
prove themselves, they would jump into answering a question right away; they should know that they
can they can take a pause, they can take a moment to collect themselves, to organise the thoughts
and the key words in their mind, before addressing the question; they worry about silence, they maybe
find it awkward, or they worry that that would make them look like they didn't know the answer.
Think, take a pause, before you speak and you can speak slowly. It's OK, you don't need to
talk super fast to show that you are smart, or you're on top of things. Because, what I remember
would be, whether I got the information I wanted from you, rather than how quickly you can talk
right, so, so that's what I find, is the is the, the composure and the confidence,
in, in how you carry yourself, that's that's actually very important.
you