{"id":7854,"date":"2017-09-24T21:41:32","date_gmt":"2017-09-24T21:41:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.monsterindia.com\/career-advice\/how-to-be-authentic-in-an-interview-7854\/"},"modified":"2024-04-22T18:48:29","modified_gmt":"2024-04-22T13:18:29","slug":"how-to-be-authentic-in-an-interview","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.foundit.sg\/career-advice\/how-to-be-authentic-in-an-interview\/","title":{"rendered":"How to be authentic in an interview"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"How<\/span><\/p>\n

We keep hearing about how it’s important to \u201cbe yourself\u201d \u2013 at work, in relationships and with friends. But is it possible to be \u2018you\u2019 in an interview? Can the pursuit of authenticity get in the way of your professional goals?<\/span><\/p>\n

Pauline Jennett, former Associate Director of Admissions at Harvard Business School, is all for authenticity, especially in an interview. \u201cIf you lie [in an interview], all bets are off. You may get flustered or just not show the passion, energy and drive in your stated goals and past successes. Authenticity is always the best road,\u201d she has said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Rex Huppke, columnist at The Chicago Tribune, agrees, stating that when you try to fit into the perfect candidate mold, you run the risk of \u201cmask[ing] what should be your strongest selling point: you.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

But Adam Grant, author of Give and Take: Why Helping Others Drives Our Success and professor of psychology and management at the University of Pennsylvania, has a different take. \u201cNobody wants to see your true self\u2026 We all have thoughts and feelings that we believe are fundamental to our lives, but that are better left unspoken.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

With experts divided on the levels of authenticity permissible, how much of yourself should you actually be? How can you best balance your impulse to share honestly and the strong desire to get the job?<\/span><\/p>\n

The answer lies in being the best version of you.<\/span><\/p>\n

Grant agrees that no one wants to \u201chear everything that\u2019s in your head. They just want you to live up to what comes out of your mouth.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Try these six tips to showcase your true self and be more authentic in an interview:<\/span><\/p>\n

Be specific<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Instead of resorting to clich\u00e9s, back up your claims regarding skills or characteristics with examples and relevant stories. Instead of announcing you\u2019re a \u201cteam player\u201d or \u201cfocused on details\u201d, come up with anecdotes that show this.<\/span><\/p>\n

Prep with sound bites<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

It\u2019s easy and common to get flustered during an interview. So ready a few \u201csound bites\u201d that get the message across in a sharp and succinct manner. \u201cI helped increase in-house efficiency by 17% in six months\u201d or \u201cI worked on three foreign projects\u201d say far more than long lines could.<\/span><\/p>\n

Mind your body language<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Your lips may be saying one thing, but your body could be contradicting your statements. To appear authentic, it\u2019s essential to pay attention to non-verbal cues such as posture, facial expressions, eye contact and handshakes.<\/span><\/p>\n

Practice with Q&As<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Hiring managers tend to throw trying questions that begin with \u201cTell me about a time when\u2026\u201d or \u201cWhat would you do if\u2026\u201d to see how you react. Practicing answers for questions like this may be better than winging it as you have given yourself some time to think about what you would say. This makes you look smooth yet authentic.<\/span><\/p>\n

Remember, while prepping for an interview makes a huge difference, it\u2019s important to know when to stop. You don\u2019t want to over-prepare, sound rehearsed in the interview and come across as completely phony.<\/span><\/p>\n

Bind truth with relevancy<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s all very well to be true to yourself, but it\u2019s imperative to use your judgment and show professional maturity if you want to land the job. Instead of saying you can get to the heart of people\u2019s problems, say your listening ability leads people to confide in you. That way the hiring manager thinks you are good at gathering information, and not at crossing boundaries.<\/span><\/p>\n

Always remember that during interviews, it\u2019s possible to withhold information and still be authentic. Discernment and the ability to showcase the best version of yourself \u2013 the one relevant to the workplace – is what will help you land your dream job.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We keep hearing about how it’s important to \u201cbe yourself\u201d \u2013 at work, in relationships and with friends. But is it possible to be \u2018you\u2019 in an interview? Can the pursuit of authenticity get in the way of your professional goals? Pauline Jennett, former Associate Director of Admissions at Harvard Business School, is all for […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7855,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-7854","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-interview-tips"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.foundit.sg\/career-advice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7854","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.foundit.sg\/career-advice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.foundit.sg\/career-advice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.foundit.sg\/career-advice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.foundit.sg\/career-advice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7854"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.foundit.sg\/career-advice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7854\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21359,"href":"https:\/\/www.foundit.sg\/career-advice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7854\/revisions\/21359"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.foundit.sg\/career-advice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7855"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.foundit.sg\/career-advice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7854"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.foundit.sg\/career-advice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7854"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.foundit.sg\/career-advice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7854"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}