Employers hire candidates they like. While your experience and skills are crucial to securing a job offer, your ability to build rapport in a job interview is just as important. Check out these tips and techniques below and learn how to create an interview rapport and ace the job interview.
Five Essential Tips on How to Build Rapport in Job Interview
1. Research the interviewer and the company.
Being clueless about the firm you wish to join may send a negative signal to the hiring manager. In addition, if you know the name of your interviewer, you can talk to him or her on a personal level during the interview.
2. Follow the proper dress code.
Your interview is your first chance to impress the hiring manager. So, dress properly by wearing a suit and making sure your clothing is clean and pressed. Any stain or mark on your clothing can distract an interviewer and may suggest that you’re not prepared.
3. Talk to your interviewer as though you already have a strong rapport.
However, don’t be too informal. Be friendly and talk as though you have mutual respect and a positive ding of one another. Smile, lean forward, and use body languages to suggest positive engagement. Besides easing your tension, it can make the interviewer feel as though you have already built a positive connection.
4. Elaborate on personal experiences to create a more in-depth connection.
If you found in your research that your assessor worked at the same company as you in the past, talk about your experience with that firm. Your assessor may share his story by comparing his experiences, allowing you to engage in a more friendly talk. Likewise, if your assessor mentions something interesting about himself for the company, ask him to discuss specific details. Besides getting your interviewer to talk, it shows your genuine interest, too.
5. Send a thank-you note after the interview.
Create a thank-you note (either a written letter or an email) and send it a few days after the interview. Besides thanking the interviewer for his time, mention specific elements of the talk you enjoyed, too. State the specific details the interviewer has shared with you about the firm or his/her own experiences at the company. This will help the interviewer remember you and it shows that you were engaged in the talk.
The job interview is your chance to show your personality, which is something the interviewer cannot glean from your resume. Likewise, building a good interview rapport with the hiring manager will help you feel relaxed during your discussion. It will boost the possibility that he will invite you back for another round of interview, or eventually, for a job. Yet don’t forget that you’re there not just to build rapport in job interview but because you want to prove to the interviewer that you can do the job. Make sure you show your relevant skills and experience since chitchat alone hardly gets someone a job.
Do you have other tips for your fellow job hopefuls on how to build an interview rapport? How you build rapport in job interview can help others as well. Share them with us by commenting below. Browse through our website for more career tips; resume writing tips, job interview advice, and high-quality resume samples written by our experts just for you!
