by Shayne Connolly

Created on: January 07, 2009

Be Yourself. That's the only advice you really need to perform well in an interview. It's not hard to be yourself, it's not stressful, believe in who you are and be the best you there is. The truth is that if you are pretending to be something you are not you will be found out sooner or later. If you believe in who you are that will shine through, it gives you integrity, strength of character and above all it makes you honest. These are the key attributes that employers are looking for.

If you get to the interview stage then you probably have the basic skills they are looking for. The interview isn't really about your skills its about the person you are. Will you fit in? Are you honest? Are you reliable? It's cheaper for an employer to add more skills to the right person than it is to have to sack an over skilled person with no people skills. So remember when you walk through the door they want to know who you are and what your core values are.

No matter what the job ad says you really don't know what this particular empoyer is looking for, you can't really define the exact person you are looking for which is why they have an interview. Defining a skill set is easy, defining the right personality is not. Employers will follow their gut instincts about a person, they won't have a good gut instinct about you if you are trying to be something you are not. Being honest and true to yourself will always come off better in an interview.

You won't get every job you ever apply for but if the feedback you get is that they liked who you are but your skills weren't quite up to scratch then that was a successful interview. Always try to get feedback about the interview, its important to know how you performed, what they saw as your strengths and weaknesses. It will also help your confidence if you are interviewing well even if you are not getting the jobs. Remember you cannot control the other people who are interviewing, sometimes there are just better candidates out there.

So be honest, if you don't know the answer be truthful or get them to explain the question in another way. The worst thing you can do is make something up, remember you are talking to someone who has probably done the job they are interviewing for, they know the answer. They aren't expecting perfection, they are looking for the right person, the one who will make the team better, the one who fits in easily, the one who loves their job.

So relax and be yourself, that what will make you shine, no one else can be you, so shine.

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