When you’re in an interview, you can often find yourself wondering what the interviewer is thinking. They have already formed an impression of you in the first 90 seconds, so this article helps you understand exactly what the interviewer is thinking or wondering about you.
- Do you want to work there?
I know it sounds obvious because you’re at the interview, but the interviewer is trying to work out whether you want to work there because of the company or you want to work there simply because you want any job. If you can highlight key points you know about the company from previously conducted research, you can get the message across that you want to work for this company.
- Do you fit in?
Your skills and qualifications can be a great selling tool for you. Still, interviewers also look at your personality and social skills to determine whether you will fit within the company. Sometimes people have all the qualifications to fit the job but don’t have the right social skills for the workplace dynamic.
- Trustworthiness
Often, people make many claims and embellish the truth regarding their experience or qualifications; sometimes, people outright lie because they think it will make them a stronger candidate. An experienced interviewer will push you for more details and information to check you have evidence to back these claims up, so the lesson here is don’t lie on your resume; it will come back to bite you.
- Lip Service
Most interviewers are aware that some prospective employees say what they want to hear. That doesn’t mean to say that you should intentionally disagree with the interviewer, but it is a good idea to show you’re just a yes man. Interviewers want honest people and can think for themselves; it’s good to know what an interviewer is looking for, but if you’re ticking literally every single box, then a red flag might start to appear, and you can seem too good to be true.
The general rule of thumb is that if something sounds too good to be true, it probably is, and this is the case when hiring new people; interviewers want greatness but only if it really is authentic.
- Past experience
Interviewers are highly interested in your previous experience as it shows what kind of employee you are. If you have had experience in a job and only stayed there for five minutes, this is a huge red flag to employers, and they will want to know why you had such a short duration there. Short stints in many jobs could make a person look unreliable and like they’re going to probably only stay at this job if they were to get it for a short period of time.
If you have a job that you were only at for a short period of time, it’s important to prepare your answer as to why you weren’t there for long.
