If an interviewer asked you what your biggest weakness is, would you tell them that you’re shy? While you may in fact be shy, an interview is one instance when being able to sideline your shy tendencies in favor of talking about yourself may be the difference between you getting the job, and another candidate getting the job. So how can you bring out the extrovert in you while still being true to your personality? Here are five ways any introvert can “come out of their shell” during an interview.
1.Start with a friendly hello
Resist your initial urge to nod hello or give a weak “hi.” When you first meet your interviewer, make sure you have your right hand available for a handshake, smile, and enthusiastically tell them how nice it is to meet them. Yes, there is such a thing as being too enthusiastic, but as long as you stay away from channeling the starstruck reaction of a teenage girl meeting Justin Bieber, you’re on the right track. Conversely, you should not walk into the interview with the same level of excitement as when you walk into the Department of Motor Vehicles to renew your license. To strike the perfect balance, try to recall a time when you’ve seen a really great introduction. The introduction could be a scene from a favorite movie, remembering when your favorite boss introduced you to someone they admire, or recalling a time when you made a great introduction. Do your best to recall how you felt when you saw the introduction right before you walk in to meet your interviewer. You’ll have the right frame of mind to meet a potentially key figure in your career future, and start the interview off on the right track.
2.Yes, there will be small talk
Even if you’re meeting your interviewer off-site in a one-on-one interview situation, you’re likely going to start off your interaction with some small talk. The generic conversation about the weather, traffic or parking is all part of gently starting a conversation. Since introverted people are excellent listeners, they are generally more comfortable participating in small talk when they don’t have to start the conversation or pick the topic. If you can prepare some potential “ice breaker” conversation before you get to the interview, you won’t have to sit in awkward silence while your interviewer waits to see what you’ll say after you get past the hello’s and the handshake. While picking the topic and starting the conversation doesn’t seem real attractive to any introvert, the benefit of initiating the conversation is that you get to set the direction of the conversation and are less likely to get blind sided by a random question in passing from the interviewer. Additionally, you are likely to make yourself look more comfortable than you actually are, and will appear more confident in the beginning stages of the interview.
3.Channel your passion
As an introvert, your inclination to give one or two word answers is likely greater than someone who considers themselves a “talker.” In an interview, if you’re giving a sentence or less to describe your experience, you’re limiting the ability of the interviewer to truly understand your experience essentially selling yourself short. So as painful as it is for you to “sell yourself” and your experience, you’re going to have to tell your interviewer what they want to hear. Your interviewer can’t read your mind, and you can’t fully describe how you are the “person” for the job with yes or no answers. When you’re thinking about how to frame your work experience, think about how excited you get to tell people about the thing in your life that you’re really passionate about. If it is your job, you’re lucky, you probably start to light up the minute someone asks you what you’re working on. If your job isn’t your passion, think about how excited you are when someone asks you about your passion. For instance, if you love to work on your car or garden on the weekend, think about a time when you went through a process to get a fantastic end result. As a car lover, that might have meant scouring junkyard after junkyard to find an impossible part, or as a gardener, turning a weak seeding into a thriving plant. There’s a story to accompany each one of those outcomes, and if you can talk about your professional experience with the same level of excitement as your extracurricular hobbies, you’ll sound excited about what you do and the direction of your career.
4.Study the company
We know, everyone tells you to go into your interview prepared. We’re going to tell you the same thing. However, we’re going to connect your ability to learn everything you can about the company to the amount of confidence you’ll have prior to the interview. The more you know about the company and the interviewer, the less likely you are to fear what will be asked of you in the interview. If you know that they recently installed a new CEO, know where their stock price is, or that they’re Controller is retiring, the more likely you are to understand certain aspects of your conversation with your interviewer. You’ll likely have better questions to ask about the company and the role as a result of your research, and that will give you a better chance of understanding how you should talk about your experience in the interview. Your research could yield clues about what led to the creation of this open position, why this position is key to the company’s growth and development, or what new market conditions led to the need to grow or replicate the role. The more you can understand the company from the outside, the more likely you are to understand once you’re on the inside. -Even if it’s only for the interview.
5.Practice, practice, practice
As an introvert, you likely consider yourself a natural listener, and would cite this as one of your strengths when asked about the areas you excel. Because of your innate listening abilities, the idea of selling yourself is bound to be less comfortable. That’s okay, it just means you’re going to need a little practice in listening to yourself selling yourself. The more you practice, the better you’ll get at prioritizing the most compelling and relatable pieces of your experiences to the job you’re interviewing for.
No one is 100 percent comfortable in an interview situation, even if they’re interviewing with their best friend. However, as an introvert, we understand that it can feel even more intimidating. With these five tips you’ll set yourself up to come out of your shell and let your experience and personality take center stage, and put yourself ahead of the competition.