Stop Doing These 3 Things in Your Job Interview

- Your job interview, you've prepared your answers,

you've practiced your grammar,

but somehow when the interview begins,

you freeze, you hesitate.

You're not confident.

What is happening, why?

Well, it's not your vocabulary.

It's not your accent.

It's probably one of these three simple mistakes

and it's costing you your job.

Let's fix that today, and I'll show you

how to really stand out in an English job interview.

(upbeat music)

Hello, it's Keith from the Keith Speaking Academy

here to help you become a more confident speaker of English,

and today, helping you get that job

in the international company,

the job you really want.

Now, I know doing a job interview in English

can be very, very challenging, right?

Many candidates are not aware

that international work cultures can be very different

from the culture in your own country.

And you need to adapt.

You need to think differently.

It's not just about speaking better English,

it's about behaving in a different way,

understanding the mindset,

and working on your job interview technique.

In today's video, I'm gonna show you three things

to avoid if you're doing a job interview

for an international company,

and also at the end, I'm gonna give you a bonus tip

that will probably change the way you interview forever,

as well as some more exciting resources to help you prepare

for effective job interviews in English.

Ready?

Let's do it.

Number one, hiding your personality.

It's one of the biggest mistakes candidates make

because they're focusing on saying the right thing.

What they think the interviewer wants to hear.

A lot of candidates think, you know,

the interviewer is looking for the perfect candidate.

I have to say the right thing.

No, it's not true.

Interviewers are looking for good candidates

and people who fit in the company,

they want to see if your personality

will match the company as well.

So it's really important that you don't forget

to show your personality, your enthusiasm,

your personal interests.

It's really, really key.

In international companies,

communication style matters just as much

as giving the right answer, right?

So you need to be yourself, show your personality,

give a bit of excitement in your answers.

Let's look at an example.

- Why do you want to work here?

- Your company is one of the leading companies in the world,

and I want to grow professionally

and contribute to your success.

You can see that answer it's just a generic answer.

Is it really true?

Is there any personality there?

Or is it more like a robot?

In contrast, you could be like this.

- Why do you want to work here?

- Well, I saw that your company

is expanding into Asian markets,

and I think that was really exciting.

I'd love to work in an international business,

and I'd love to be part of a team that is growing

and doing innovative things.

So this answer shows A, that you've researched the company,

but B, there's a bit of enthusiasm.

There's a bit of personality there.

So it's really important.

Be yourself.

Be confident in yourself, believe in yourself,

and show that.

Don't hide it.

Don't hide your personality.

Show it to the interviewer.

Number two, this mistake is sounding scripted.

It's basically because candidates

are memorizing their answer

often because you think it's in English.

If I memorize it, it'll be better.

It won't.

What happens is there's a lack of connection.

You show a lack of flexibility.

You sound like a robot, and the interviewer knows it.

Also, sometimes people,

when they're doing an online interview,

they will be reading their answer like this

and think that they won't notice.

The thing is they will notice, at least they will hear

that you are being like a robot.

And the message you are giving is that I'm not flexible.

I have to memorize my answers.

I can't react, and that's a terrible message to give.

Let's look at an example

for that classic question at the beginning of the interview.

- Tell me about yourself.

- My name is Tom.

I am 28 years old.

I am a hardworking, reliable, and responsible worker.

I always take a problem solving approach to my work.

I am seeking a position in a reputable company

where I can apply my skills and grow professionally.

You can see the problem is it's robotic,

it's full of meaningless cliches,

and often it's just repeating the CV.

You need to add something new.

You need to be more flexible.

I think it's a great idea to memorize phrases

and chunks of language,

but when you're speaking, don't memorize your whole answer.

Be much more flexible like this.

- Tell me about yourself.

- Sure. My name's Keith.

I'm from Manchester originally.

I've been working in customer service

for around three years or so now.

I've learned that, you know,

I enjoy solving problems and helping people,

so now I'm interested in joining a company

where I can use those skills,

but in a more international environment.

So don't memorize your answer.

Be you, be natural.

Be flexible.

The third big mistake is weak closings.

What do I mean?

I mean, at the end of the interview,

the interview always ends or closes with the question,

do you have any questions for us?

And a lot of the time candidates have not thought about this

and they just go, "No, no, I'm good."

That's okay, but it's not great.

You see interviewers remember two key moments

from the interview.

The beginning, the first impression and the end.

That's what stays in their memory.

And if you end flat, "No, I'm good, thanks."

It's not great.

It's an opportunity.

It's a golden opportunity to shine

and to make a great lasting impression just by asking one

or two interesting questions.

For example, you could ask them,

what would success look like in this role?

That's great.

That's gonna give you an insight

into what they see as the successful outcome,

and that will really help you

if you get the job in the future.

Or you could ask them,

what are the biggest challenges of this role?

What a good question.

Because it shows

that you are not just focused on the benefits, the salary,

the nice social atmosphere.

You're also ready for the challenge

and you are thinking about the challenges.

It'll also tell you really

if this job is the job for you, right?

If they come out with challenges, you're like,

oh my god, I didn't know that.

So interesting questions.

You could also ask a slightly more personal,

but great question is, what do you enjoy about working here?

Another brilliant question

'cause it'll make the interviewer think.

It'll help build a bit of a connection between you and them

because it's almost like a more friendly question.

Very, very good question.

So make sure you end the interview with a bang.

Now, my bonus tip, as promised,

when you're practicing your interview technique,

record yourself with a camera.

Most candidates don't do this,

and they don't listen to themselves or see themselves.

As soon as you record yourself,

you're gonna notice your voice, your posture, your gestures,

and it's gonna be really, really useful to see

where you need to tweak

or change something to make it better.

So record yourself.

If you've never done this, be ready for a shock.

But when you're shocked,

you're gonna learn a lot and get better.

So there you have it.

Three mistakes to avoid in your job interview.

First, don't hide your personality.

Second, don't script to memorize your complete answers.

And number three, don't give a weak closing.

Take advantage of that opportunity at the end

to ask a good insightful question.

Now, of course, these are just three mistakes,

but there are many more mistakes you can make

in job interviews, right?

It's a minefield.

To help you with that,

I have created a new 10 day job interview challenge

and it's gonna help you face your job interview

in English with confidence, clarity, and fluency.

It's a short course, it's 10 day challenge.

It'll get you interview ready in a short space of time,

very task oriented,

something that is really, really gonna help you

if you've got a job interview coming up soon.

You can check out all the details down below.

There's a link that you can click.

There's also a free cheat sheet of 30 useful phrases

for your job interview.

Again, don't memorize your whole answer,

but taking useful phrases can be really helpful,

especially if English is not your mother tongue.

You can also click below to get that for free

and get you ready to shine in your English job interview.

That's it for today.

I hope you found this useful.

A quick reminder, if you are a member

of English Speaking Success, you can now become a member

of the channel to get extra bonuses, emojis, badges,

and extra footage, free videos.

If you are a member, you can get some extra footage

and ideas about preparing for job interviews.

I'm gonna share a video with you

that gives you some personal thoughts

about how I personally prepare for job interviews.

Look out for that if you're a member.

If you're not a member, become a member.

It's cheap as chips.

Sign up, there's a button you can join

to join the YouTube channel English Speaking Success.

That's it my friends.

Thank you so much for watching

and I'll see you in the next video.

Take care.

(upbeat music)