How to clear any interview in the entire world?

Your first thought after reading the title would be perhaps, ‘She’s kidding! Nobody’s that confident’.

Well, Hi! I might be very self-conscious and under the weather, as we all are on Monday’s, Tuesday’s and any other day except those that start with an ‘S’.

However, in the recent present, I have given more than a dozen interviews and got knocked down like a billion times.
Wait! Hold on! Got selected also at times! Hence, I am assertive that my strategy works well for 99.99% of the time. The remaining 0.01% depends on your personality, which I am sure is brilliant.

Hence, now that you have a 100% success rate. Let’s dig in.

• Always dress sharp and neat

This is kind of an obvious one. But, please on the day of your interview, try to look your best. No! You are not Mark Zuckerberg.
No, you cannot wear your favorite grey t-shirt.

It does not even involve having to go and shop at GUCCI. No!

Just mix and match in your own closet. And, given that, you have been to college, you would have a few decent clothes, if you weren’t in any band, perhaps! Were you?
So, for girls, pants or skirts or even a formal dress might work. Make sure you wear it in subtle and pastel colors. Never wear red or any other eye-popping color to an interview.

I tried many outfits.

Go over to my Instagram highlight for references: @therealisticapproach_

For boys, pants are the only option, but you can definitely play with your shirt. Not too much though! Nobody wants to see you in neon green.
Always check for chipped nails, unpolished shoes, frizzy hair and even the color of your socks. Do not wear brown socks with all-black attire. Please! Also, make sure your clothes have a good fitting making you look sharp and more confident than what you might be feeling.

• Be very Specific

For answering any question in your interview, be very specific! Specific about the years of experience you have. Specific about the figures you are expecting. Specific about the number of blogs you’ve written until now, in my case. Well, the number is close to 100 now. Wait! 98 to be specific

That’s all. Being very assertive about your skill and your numbers makes you look far more confident. Hence, instead of saying I have around 2 years of experience. Say, ‘I have one year and 8 months of experience’. Be very precise.
The fixed numbers show how stable you are. And it would not come out at that instant. Prepare prior to the interview.
For instance, I have downloaded a blog counter on my phone. Hence, as soon as I complete a new blog, I add one to the counter. It really helps me keep track.
The app’s link is right here: Counter

• Body Language Matters

O, God! If somebody gave me a dollar for every time, I have encountered a bad hand-shake! Why do people not know how to shake hands?

It is so easy. Just hold the right hand of the person in front with your right hand, wait! Don’t hold it like you would hold a shopping bag, dangling and loose, hold it tight and firm and then swing your hand in one swift motion.

In my last interview, at a marketing agency, I met a lady interviewer. And her handshake, was like, somebody giving me a very slow hi-five! Forget how the interview went. I rejected the company after that handshake.

I hope your walking style is alright. So, we can move on to sitting. Just sit comfortably.
At ease! Neither too straight which would make you look like a billboard, nor too hunched, that would give out turtle vibes.

Sit like you would sit in a park alone giving out a human vibe, perhaps!

• Read this book ASAP

‘How to win friends and influence people’ — by Dale Carnegie.

I mean, hats off to this man. What a book! Full of people experiences. At the end of each chapter, you even get a small lesson for you to implement. And I swear it works!
I’ll give you an example from my interview experiences.

So, one of the chapters in the book says, ‘Admit when you are wrong’.

I arrived 25 minutes late to an interview, because of traffic? No!

Because I was late. Late in getting up. Late in starting my day. Late in getting dressed!
So, when the manager of the marketing department arrived, she definitely asked me why I was so late! Instead of making an excuse, I straight away said, ‘Thank you for waiting. I am late because I overslept and took some time to get dressed’.
She definitely had never heard such an answer and instantly passed on a smile my way. I did not get the interview because well, my expectation was higher, but I sure made a good impression.

Wait! I got another story.

The book also says, ‘Be a good listener. Encourage others to talk about themselves.’

This one was really tough for me because I am a blabber head. Always talking something or the other and never letting the other person speak.

However, when you are really desperate for a job, and for money, technically, you become a changed person. So, I went ahead and interviewed at this very popular Startup.

The person who interviewed me was quite friendly and I let him speak, perhaps, even tried to draw him out. I spoke after he finished, which he did, after an hour!

The catch here is, I didn’t even do anything. I just pulled a trigger and shut up my mouth.
And you know what? I got selected. But then again, lower pay than my expectation. So, not a match! Swipe Left

But, look at what I learned. Try it some- time! Not only in interviews, but in general life also.

Buy the book now: ‘How to win friends and influence people’

• Learn the art of waiting

‘Waiting is a quality’ — says ‘Sadhguru’.
And not everybody possesses it. Me being the last of all people.
I am impatient as hell! I want to know the result of the interview right away.

And then, jump to my favorite part, salary negotiation

But you know what! People sense this impatience very clearly, even on the phone, miles apart from you. Keep your phone away, go out for a stroll or even eat brownies, but don’t let out your desperateness.
I understand it is very hard. It requires real effort. Believe me! I know. I am going through it. But it pays. How do I know?
Story Time!
So, my friend interviewed at an MNC and it went very well. The company hired her after nine months. I mean, what the fuck? Why are companies so slow? Well, my friend is a tough ass. Hence, she did not stop taking follow-ups. Kept contact persistently and finally, the waiting got paid.
You don’t wait for nine months. But at least wait for a week before any callback.

• Always make a list of your boons and blunders

One course of action that I always followed was to come out of the interview room, go out of the office, reach the metro, sit in the metro and write about what I did wrong. It felt miserable to write down my bad points. Self-criticism is very nerve-wracking. It makes you weak in the knees.

But you know what, better me than somebody else. At least I am insulting myself on a ‘notes’ app on my phone. The best part is that I also write the good points, appreciate myself, even if there are like two points.

It is a self-made mechanism to improve. Plus, it brings out the feelings that you had after giving a bad interview. You feel light.

And always write the bad points prior to the good points. The bad points might make you sulk, but the good points will make you smile again. The good points start increasing and defeating the bad ones. It just takes time.
It is very easy. Take a look at my list that I made a week ago and also, the one before that.

• Humbleness is the key

This one will be hard to admit. But I will do my best. So, I went to interview at another marketing agency where I just blew it. Followed all the tactics and made the best first impression.

But I still didn’t get the job. Why?

Because I made this simple mistake of being over-confident and a little curt. I ended up using the statement, ‘I have cleared a lot of interviews and have been selected by many companies. I rejected some of the companies. They didn’t reject me.’
Now, this statement is true. Seriously!
But when I said it later in my head again, it sounded really shallow. Why did I have to show off so absurdly?
See, this is why you review your performance on your own. So, your blunders don’t repeat themselves.

A last note for your confidence: Never back down from your expectation in terms of money. Know your value and don’t settle for less. It might lure you to take the given offer, even if it is less than your expectation. But don’t. There are hundreds of companies, waiting to pay you what you want. Yes, seriously! I have interviewed in like half of them!