I once met a tech recruiter who requested that I submit my credentials to her for scrutiny, after which she gave me a piece of advice that changed the way I approach recruiters and interviewers.

Out of all she said, one actually stood out for me, it change the way I perceive interviews. The keyword is “Confidence”. You’ve probably heard this word before and how important it is to exhibit in an interview, I have too, she was not the first person I heard it from, but this time it was different and made different sense.

Confidence Explained

According to her; Confidence is as important or in some cases more important than what you know.

Your ability to communicate confidence and confidently, will determine how interviewers perceive you.

Remember they are called “interVIEWERS” for a reason, they VIEW what you present and how you present what you present, and in this case, you are presenting you.

People will not have confidence in your ability to deliver if you don’t first show confidence in yourself.

There is a difference between communicating confidence and communicating confidently; although both are important.

There are people who can look you straight in the eye and say rubbish; they have the ability to confidently communicate nonsense without blinking. As funny as this may sound, it is an important skill everyone should have. Sometimes it’s not about what you know, it’s about communicating what you know, regardless of how small or insignificant it may seem. This is where communicating confidence comes in; beyond and above all you know the soft skills and hard (technical) skills, do you have the ability to put them together and deliver maximum results?

You have to be able to convince the interviewers that you can deliver on a job, that’s the only reason anyone would want to hire you in the first place. Hence your first and only responsibility is to communicate confidence (your ability to get jobs done), this has little or nothing to do with how technically sound you are. You’ve got to be able to prove to them that you can make sense of what you know.

To communicate confidence you must have the following in mind:

i. Interviews are like every other normal discussion; you must realize that interviews are not battles in which you are the victim. As a matter of fact, consider yourself a seller; if they refuse to buy, you go elsewhere. Be calm and discuss, and talk to your interviewers as you would a friend. Imagine you’re trying to convince a friend to do something with you, how would you speak to them?

ii. Sell: Approach interviews as a seller. One of the best marketing strategies sellers use is a demonstration, demonstrate your value and uniqueness without showing desperation. Make them see that they need you and why they need you. Talk about the problems you’ve been able to proffer solutions to. Let the interviewers hear what you are saying and what you are not saying; speak with your mouth and body, smile at jokes, ask questions, negotiate terms that don’t seat well with you, and compliment the interviewers if need be.

Never approach an interview as though it is the only good thing that has happened to you in a long while, even if it is, don’t show it, that notwithstanding, you must be careful not to exaggerate while trying to show confidence, keep it balanced and truthful. The goal is to communicate your abilities in such a way and manner that the interviewer(s) can already imagine you working and delivering great and significant results.

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