Reflect on your qualities and defects

Another important point: think about your personality.

Are you reserved, outgoing, dynamic, resourceful, bilingual or trilingual, gifted with relational ease or excellent writing skills?

Making a list of your weaknesses and your qualities, emphasizing the latter, can make the interviewer want to know more about you. Being aware of your flaws allows you to be honest and not be betrayed by body language that is contrary to what you say.

If, for example, I say that I feel comfortable in any situation scratching my neck, my speech will conflict with my body language.

However, everyone knows that a sloppy interview does not value the candidate’s professional experience, however qualitative, and does not highlight their skills. During interviews, an interviewer looks for the strengths and weaknesses of his interlocutor, not as if it were a police questioning, but to minimize the information asymmetries inherent in job interviews.

That is, since the two interlocutors do not know each other, you must identify what motivated the application for the position (salary, professional development, work environment, etc.).

Interview questions can also bring up unresolved issues with yourself. Claude d’Estais, author of Preparing for a Job Interview , explains that “the subconscious has the ability to sabotage the messages we are trying to convey.” This sows doubts in the interviewer and makes hiring difficult. Therefore, we must be clear with what we say, with what we are.

Failures in previous interviews, periods of unemployment, having to change jobs, lack of experience, etc., are visible to the interviewer. Introspection of these obstacles makes it possible to highlight them and respond in a positive way.

For example, “Yes, I was unemployed for two years after resigning from my public position, but I have been active in training for this type of job and the opportunity to work in team management had not presented itself before.”

Or: “I was unemployed between 2016 and 2018, but I have already conducted many interviews with people active in the field of social and solidarity economy, which has allowed me to have precise knowledge in managing sustainable development projects.”

There are many examples of weak point confessions that we can turn positive to answer trick questions well. Also, if you prepare your speech and your tone, you will score points.

Finally, repeating the speech or doing a simulation of the interview is essential for candidates to prepare better, whether they are young graduates applying for a first job or active people who want to develop professionally. Reflect on your qualities and defects