How to Ace an Interview: Why Confidence is Important.

Most interviews begin with relatively simple questions like, “Tell me about yourself”, but can get tricky with questions like “Why should we hire you?” or “What would be your biggest weakness?” The key is to prepare your answers in advance and rehearse them so you are not caught off guard.

Platforms like Ineeed or Glassdoor curate interview questions by company or job role. Leverage them to prepare effectively.

You may feel the pressure to answer a question immediately. However, the key is giving confident answers is clarity If you don’t understand the question the first time, ask for a clarification.

For example: “Did you mean my educational background or family background?” or “Could you give me an example to make sure I understand correctly?”. Asking clarifying questions removes misunderstandings and improves the quality of your answer.

You may have put in hours of research the day before the interview. However, memorizing everything you’ve learnt can backfire—your answers may sound mechanical and out of context. This can be a red flag for the interviewer and you rejected.

The key is to focus on the company’s main products, services or business units, especially those that align with your skills or educational qualifications. A natural conversation based on an understanding of company needs will boost your chances og getting the job.

It’s not just what you say, but also how you say it, that matters. Speaking too quickly or providing too many details can also confuse the interviewer. If you fumble during interview, it is OK to take a few seconds before answering the question. This helps you avoid giving vague answers. The key is to match the tone and pace of the interviewer. This also helps you build better rapport with them and increases your confidence.

As a fresher, you may naturally have a lot of curiosity about what it is like to work at a company. Let it show during the interview. Recruiters are generally looking to understand why you applied for a position. Asking thoughtful questions about the company culture, hiring plans or upcoming projects can make all the difference between success and failure.

Some interviews can be more challenging than you might expect—they may want to see how you respond to pressure.

For example, “Why do you want to work for a small company instead of a large company?”. When you encounter a challenging question, it’s important to understand that the interviewer is gauging your thought process, including your ability to think outside the box.

As a fresher, you might point out that working at a smaller company has several advantages—it can help you get a broader experience working on multiple projects, take ownership and collaborate closely with the top management.

While the dress code can vary from company to company, you must dress appropriately for an interview. Online research can reveal a lot about the dress code.

For example, the company’s website or social media pages may have photos of company events. Generally, startups have a more relaxed dress policy than corporate businesses. However, if you are not sure, the safest option is business casual attire.

Interviews generally make people uncomfortable. However, proper preparation and a positive mindset can help calm your nerves and give you greater confidence. Relax as you enter the interview room and treat it like any professional interaction. Practice mindfulness or deep breathing while you wait for the interview to begin.

If you are giving an interview as a fresher, start with your educational background, skills, and career goals. For candidates with experience, briefly describe your work experience, skills, and why you think you are the best fit for the job.

Keep it short—around 60 seconds is ideal.

Typically, this question aims to gauge what you know about the company. So, your answer must be tailored to the company and the job role. To do this, highlight your achievements, skills, and certifications to show how you create value. More importantly, connect them to the specific business goals, values, or mission statement based on your research.

Answering this question is all about self-awareness and showing you are focused on improvement and growth. Ideally, the answer to the question must be balanced. Describe strengths that relate directly to the job role with specific examples. When describing weaknesses, take care not to undermine yourself.

In other words, do not choose a weakness that affects your job prospects. Tell the interviewer how you have been addressing your weaknesses.

In most cases, the interviewer is interested in understanding your approach to solving problems and the impact you can create. When describing the situation:

You may have the technical skills required for the job, however, a founder would expect you to be a strategic thinker—ask questions, identify process gaps and taking ownership of fixing them. When preparing for an interview with founder or senior management, choose two or three deliverables from the job description and come up with ways you would handle them.

This is usually easier for people with industry experience. However, freshers can refer to recent company events covered in the media and provide their views. This can help you get their attention and create a favorable impression.

CEOs and founders take a long-term view when hiring or making any business-related decision. To ace an interview with founder, you need to show that you believe in the product or brand.

For example: if you are applying for a position at an edtech company, you should ideally have a natural interest in the online education industry. This would indicate a natural alignment between you and the founder’s vision for the company, increasing your chances of getting the job.

While technical skills can be taught, cultural alignment is natural—you’re either a match or you are not. Founders and CEOs prefer to work with people with align with their values and work culture. They want to hire people who can contribute to the growth of the company. Research the company’s mission statement and the founder’s own background to better understand what drives them.

For example, some may value transparency, adaptability or drive for innovation.

Provide specific examples where you came up with solutions to challenges and explain the approach you took to solving them. This will help you connect on a personal level with them during interviews and position yourself as the ideal candidate for the role.

Asking intelligent questions is often the best way to show genuine interest and impress senior leaders. Select two or three insightful questions to ask based on your research. It can help you understand the long-term goals for the company and relate it to your job responsibilities. This can, in turn, help you show how you can help the company achieve those goals.

The lack of confidence is a silent killer of ambitions and dreams. However, as the saying goes, opportunity favors the prepared. In other words, the better prepared you are, the greater your confidence in interviews is likely to be.

Freshers do not have work experience to rely on. However, by analyzing the needs of employers and selling their skills as a solution, they can present themselves as the right fit for skills and culture. To ace an interview, you need the right strategy—it is incredibly simple! Studying the job description, understanding the interview process, learning about the potential interviewers needs and preferences and preparing answers to commonly asked interview questions can dramatically increase your chances of getting the job.

We hope this guide has been useful in helping you plan a winning strategies for interviews going forward. Good luck!