Recruitment and job interviews is a world in which I am really interested from both sides recruiter and job seeker. The more interviews I do as a potential recruiter the more I learn. Here I share my view as a recruiter.

My first recommendation is Skype. even in the same city, change telephone interviews for skype. Speaking with someone face to face allows you to see people and their reactions. Besides, you feel both more comfortable and it sometimes simply establishes a relation with the candidate. Please do check all your internet connections before.

I keep telling people to be themselves, and it is the key together with the attitude. Be yourself means being educate, show respect for recruiter, follow their times (no one likes to be interrupted), stick to the questions, but explain it in a natural way, your way. No one wants to listen to scripts. I remember in the past having to do two times an interview to a candidate because we were not able to reach to the inner person and understand him/her at the first contact. He/she was hiding through a prepared technical base. I can tell we thought it was a good candidate but even in those cases not everyone would give you a second chance. Show yourself now, and if they do not like you, there are other companies. Good interviewers tend to get an overview of the candidate as a whole, we all have weak and strong points, simply the strongest must be in within the expectations of to the position. And remember no ones is interested in your negative points unless they ask for, and even then being negative kills you. Be positive.

Being positive is about attitude, and it is totally the difference in my opinion. show motivation. why do you want this position and what do you want to do in our company? Motivation in professional way but also in a personal way. Show recruiter that you want to improve in life, that you do have a design of life, hobbies, stories to tell. There is no right or wrong in interviews, there is a person behind. Recruiters want to listen also professionally motivation, things you would do, you have done, but proud, positive, things like “I had a mistake but I learnt a lot”, “I entered your company, i would definitely…”, ” I am your candidate because…”. but be careful because there is a thin line between motivation and been pretentious.

Finally the target of all recruiter is make the candidate comfortable enough to be him/herself and able to express enough to understand if he/she matches with the company. That is not obvious and means that the recruiter also needs to see the candidate globally and create a friendly atmosphere so that both are relax and switch quickly from the cold “hello, how’d you do?” And from an interrogation to an informal conversation that ideally could end up on “Would you create for me a meeting minutes with your important points and distribute it to the team?” Like in a business meeting.