Confidence:
Why You Need It and How to Get It
By Lori Norris, Get Results Career Services, LLC
Searching for employment in today's market can be harder than any job you will ever be hired to do. How you view this process and the attitude with which you face each day will ultimately affect your job-search success. A positive and confident attitude is the key to achieving your employment goal.
Confidence is very important to the job search process for one key reason: employers are looking to hire the best person for the job. If you do not believe you are the best person for the job, they will keep looking. How can you sell yourself as the best candidate for a job when you don't believe in yourself? You must identify your key strengths, skills, abilities and accomplishments and learn to comfortably present them to an employer. If you are having trouble identifying these key strengths, working with a professional résumé writer or a career counselor will be invaluable to you in your career search.
The purpose of an interview is for the employer to get to know you and determine if you are the right person for the job. A half hour conversation isn't possibly enough time to really get to know you. Therefore, interviews are all about making assumptions. These assumptions can often be based more on how you act than what you say. One of the most important assumptions that an employer makes is this: if you walk into an interview with confidence, they automatically assume you are competent.
The job search process - getting fired or laid off, sending out résumés and not getting any calls, rejections - can rob the confidence away from even the most self-assured person. If this is the case with you and you are having trouble presenting yourself as a confident person, then refer to what I call the job search motto: FAKE IT 'TIL YOU MAKE IT!
This doesn't mean lying about your experience or skills, just faking your confidence level or your belief in your skills and abilities. Confidence can most definitely be faked; all it takes is control of your body language. Here are some tips on how to fake confidence using non-verbal communication.
The Handshake
A firm and sincere handshake can communicate confidence, poise, enthusiasm and professionalism. Offering a clammy, limp or weak handshake betrays
your nervousness or lack of confidence. A handshake is often part of the important first few seconds of an introduction, so practice yours to ensure a good impression.
Posture
A confident applicant has upright, balanced and relaxed posture. Don't lean back in the chair, only use the front half of the chair and lean towards the interviewer to show interest and enthusiasm. Stooped or overly rigid posture is a sure sign of a lack of confidence.
Eye Contact and Facial Expressions
When you don't make eye contact with the interviewer, it communicates many messages: you are not confident, you are painfully shy or maybe you are not telling the truth. These are not messages you want to send your interviewer. Change your facial expressions to match your message, look the interviewer in the eye while answering questions, and don't forget to smile to communicate honesty and openness. You don't need to make constant eye contact, which will make everyone involved uncomfortable, just look the interviewer in the eye when giving your answers. If you don't feel comfortable making eye contact, fake eye contact by focusing on the bridge of the nose. No one will know the difference!
Tone of Voice
How you say something is often more important than what you say. Let the enthusiasm and passion you feel for your career come through in your voice. Speaking in a monotone, weak, soft, hesitant or trembling voice will demonstrate a lack of confidence.
Appearance
In an interview you must dress the part. Your appearance should support the idea that you are the right person for the job, but it should not leave an impression. Therefore, stay away from any bright colors, flashy patterns or inappropriate styles. Paying attention to details in regard to your appearance gives the impression that you pay attention to detail in your work, an important quality to most employers.
Remember, you get one chance to make a first impression. Do everything possible to ensure that your impression is a positive one. Communicate
your professionalism, passion, enthusiasm and most importantly confidence . . . even if you are faking it!
Need some assistance polishing your interviewing skills, identifying your key skills or creating your résumé?
Contact Lori Norris at
Get Results Career Services:
623.935.1525,
888.487.JOBS or
www.getresultsresumes.com |
