What your recruiter is assessing during your interview

Interviews don’t have to be nerve-racking when you have an idea about what your recruiter is assessing. Even though each job lists specific skills and qualifications, some winning personality traits remain in high demand. A person’s performance is hard to assess and first impressions often determine suitability.

Amiability tops most lists. This is the first impression that you make on the recruiter and the company. Your smile, demeanor, posture, tone, mannerisms – all contribute towards determining how positive and amiable you are. Maintain a pleasant attitude throughout the interview including any waiting and meal times. As an interview candidate, you are being observed constantly.

Confidence in your current skills and ability to learn new skills is also observed. Have a clear understanding of your strengths, not just for the sake of answering questions. Confidence shines – not the charismatic-personality-confidence necessarily and definitely stay away from demonstrating over confidence.

An area that recruiters usually enjoy assessing is how you think on your feet. That is usually the reason for all those random pop questions that hardly seem relevant to the job. Staying calm and keeping your answers simple can help you sail through them just fine.

Your communication skills can be your biggest asset during the interview. Be precise when answering questions and don’t hesitate to communicate how awesome you are. Concrete and concise communication is always valued over long-winding speeches.  This is an area that you can prepare for ahead of time. There are numerous interview questions available online and chances are that your recruiter will use at least a few of those during your interview. Have some solid answers ready.

Recruiters love examples. Briefly share real incidents that add value to your claims of suitability. Don’t make these examples up because it’s not hard to tell when someone is making up stories. Think ahead of the interview about a few incidents that highlight your experiences and performance and find relevant opportunities to share them with your recruiter.

Just remember that your recruiter was once a candidate and now, as a recruiter, they really are hoping that you fit the position.