If you think you can sit in your first professional interview and ace it without giving any mock interviews, let me tell you, you are mistaken about it. Mock interviews are important to give you the feels of how the real interview will feel like. They help you hone your skills before you actually sit for your actual interview for that dream company you have been wanting to work with. In this article, we explain to you what a mock interview is, what is its purpose and how you can prepare for it.
What is a Mock Interview?
To put it in simple words, a Mock Interview is a practice wherein the actual interview environment is replicated as close as possible. It helps potential job candidates to get accustomed to the various interview settings and prepare their responses to some of the commonly asked question.
Mock Interviews are the perfect opportunity to refine your answers, allowing you to be better prepared when it actually happens. In essence, it can be compared to a rehearsal stage. A practice run helps you enter your actual interview space with more confidence and the feeling of being prepared.
Mock Interviews can be conducted in various settings and through various platforms. Some institutions and employers also offer mock interviews to help candidate prepare for the actual interview process. By sitting in mock interviews, candidates can gain valuable insights about what to do and what not to do during their actual interviews. It also gives them the opportunity to make necessary adjustments before the actual interview.
There is no right or wrong way for a mock interview. All you have to do is show up prepared and leave the place with insights on what needs to be improved. However, if you are still not sold by the idea of a mock interview, Let us run you through some of its benefits. Maybe, we will end up convincing you too.
Benefits of a Mock Interview Process :
A question you must be wondering about is why should you sit for a mock interview when you can simply memorise the answers to the commonly asked question. The answer to your question is simply that conducting mock interviews whether with someone who is an industry expert or holds experience or even your family and friends allows you to gain valuable feedback on your strengths and areas of weakness that need improvement during the interview.
- Helps in boosting Confidence: There is always going to be a certain degree of nervousness before sitting in an interview. While it is tough to overcome it completely, you can easily prepare and reduce that nervousness. How, you may ask? Well, you know the answer, by sitting is Mock interviews. Once you go through mock interviews, you will naturally start feeling confident and less nervous.
- Real Time Feedback: Mock Interviews have the biggest advantage of providing real time feedback to the candidate. Be it your posture during the interview, how you answer the questions, your body language, delivery of your answer, etc, everything can be pointed out in the exact moment and corrected.
- Room For Improvement: Messing up a few answers in a mock interview is way less heartbreaking than doing it in the actual interview. You can always pause and think ahead of answering the question. This allows you to finetune your responses and allows you to give more apt and focussed answers.
- Helps you align your skills with the job requirement: Mock interviews allow you to align your skills and accomplishments with the job requirements effectively. You can learn to better streamline your focus and answer more creatively. They also help you to think critically and analyse well.
By the time you’re sitting across from your potential future employer, you’ll have a well-crafted narrative that showcases why you’re the ideal candidate for the job.
Now that you know why you should be sitting for that mock interview, let us guide your through a few tips you can apply to ace those interviews. Keep reading to know a few of these tips.
6 Tips to Practice for Mock Interviews:
- Research about the company and the role
Before your mock Interview, research about the company and the role you are interviewing for. This will help you understand the company’s culture, values, mission and vision. All these factors help you tailor your responses according to the interviewers expectations.
When researching about the company, look for recent news regarding the company. Try to focus on the positive news and study their competitors well. Along with a thorough study for the company, ensure to study the roles and responsibilities as well. You do not want to sit blank while the interviewer asks you about what you have understood about your job position.
Additionally, researching can help candidates understand the skills required for the particular job post they have applied for. It allows them a chance to align their experiences and skills in a more framed manner when asked about it.
All of these factors can help job seekers perform better during their mock interviews and increase their chances of success in the actual interview.
- Study Common Interview Questions
Make sure to go through a list of commonly asked questions and prepare you own answers to them. Think about how you can showcase your skills, achievements and experience in a way that is relevant to the role you are interviewing for.
Remember to keep your answer short, crisp and to the point. The interviewer is not interested in listening a story, but rather wants to know how you can prove to be an asset for his team and the company.
When you study about these commonly asked questions and read their sample answers, you get an idea about how you can improve your answers. It allows your to understand your area of weakness and prepare more thoughtful responses those questions.
Additionally, by familiarising with common interview questions, candidate can feel more confident and prepared for their interview, which in turn helps them perform better during the actual interview.
- Practice Your Body Language
During an interview, your body language speaks for you. Practice good posture, eye contact and a confident handshake. This will boost your confidence and make you look like a professional.
During an interview, interviewers keep a close check on the candidates posture, body language and hand movements. Based on these acts, they prepare a certain image of you in their head. By practising body language during mock interviews, job seekers can become more aware of their non-verbal cues and learn to use them to their advantage.
For example: Practice sitting up straight, making eye contact and smiling to convey confidence and engagement. Also practice appropriate grand gestures to emphasise key points and make your presentation more dynamic.
- Record yourself
One practice that you can indulge in to improve how you answer the interview questions is recording themselves while doing so. This will help you identify the areas you need to improve on, such as filler words, lack of confidence, necessary poses, tone and pitch while answering or rambling.
When you watch the recording, you can analyse your body language, tone of voice, and overall presentation. By reviewing the recording of your mock interview, you can identify specific areas to focus on and work to improve before the actual interview. This will help refine your responses, increase your confidence, and make a better impression on the interviewer. It allows you to practice your interview skills in a low-stakes environment and gain valuable insights that you can use to improve your performance.
- Dress Professionally
Dress as you would for a real interview. This will help you get into the right mindset and feel more confident. Dressing professionally is crucial because it projects a polished and professional image to potential employees. It shows that the candidate is serious about the interview and is committed to presenting themselves in the best possible light.
Dressing formal will also help you get comfortable in that attire and experiment with different styles to find the most suitable outfit for the actual interview.
Overall, presenting yourself professionally will increase your chance of making a positive first impression and feel more put-together and confident.
- Use tools and Resources
There are many tools and resources available online that you can use to help yourself prepare for your mock interview. Some of these tools include online simulators and practices with virtual interviewer or interview preparation apps.
You can use these tools to simulate an interview environment and get feedback on your performance.
DigitalGlad is one such app that helps you in landing that perfect job. You can a variety of services such as ATS friendly resume building, mock interviews, blogs and courses that can help you land a good paying job. DigitalGlad is your one stop solution for all career related doubts.
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