How Can I 'Show My Personality' In Interviews ?

mrcow

I wouldn't even worry about it. It sounds like the manager was a little "up themselves". Coming across as professional and competent is never a bad thing.

Just be yourself and don't worry about the criticism......it will knock your confidence.

Some people are just idiots.

Angelinaxoxo

prowla wrote: »

Just be yourself; don't put on a front.

I always judge interviews by whether I get at least two laughs (no, I'm not a comedian, I work in IT).

And remember that you are interviewing them too; I've turned down jobs in the past because I didn't like the would be manager.

The thing is 'myself' in real life is actually quite reserved I'm quite quiet and reserved as a person but with people I know I'm a lot more fun so the personality is there I just have to bring it out

mattcanary

Yeah, just be yourself.
Probably just didn;t click with the interviewer. Probably neither his fault nor yours. At least he gave you something more than half-baked, meaningless feedback such as - there was just another candidate that met our criteria more than you did. Chemistry just wasn;t there. Despite what all the careers gurus say, whether you get the job after the interview stage must come down to this factor a lot of the time.
Just got to keep going and keep thinking positively. Being positive always gives you a chance in interviews, I'd say (as long as you know what you're talking about of course and don;t come across as cocky).

Angelinaxoxo

J_i_m wrote: »

I think with things like this it is too easy to start second guessing yourself.

I'm in the midst of looking for a new job myself and have attended several interviews without success in the last year.

This has been almost identical to my experience, I've been through all of that and same. Oh, just add two job offers which fell through, lying recruitment consultants and you'll have my experience.

It did knock my confidence a bit but I feel much better now, just have to keep going, I'm the exact same in every interview, some call me fantastic, the next call me too corporate. It's mind boggling.

I will use the feedback wisely and keep it going.

Best of luck in your job search, hope you find something

Denning.

flea72 wrote: »

Its ok to give flippant and jokey answers in interviews. I was asked in an interview once whether i spoke any foreign languages. I replied if they wanted a ham sandwich and coke, or to book a room with a shower in france, then i was their man. It showed i had basic conversational french and a sense of humour. It also opened up the conversation, so the tone became less formal and my personality could come through.

"How would you persuade your team around to your idea?"

"Erm, cake."

Then after a few minutes of cake talk I answered properly. To me humour is the best way to win an interview.

getmore4less

J_i_m wrote: »

One employer effectively told me that I was too good for their job by telling me that they didn't feel they could offer me what I was looking for as the job on offer didn't really call for the initiative I showed in the interview.

that reads, you will be after my job quicker than I would like.

Lizling

Sounds a bit odd, but derail the interview.

If you can move the interview away from their list of prepared questions and your responses towards a more natural conversation about work, you'll be remembered as someone they clicked with. Make small talk on the way to the interview room, ask questions as they come up rather than just responding to theirs all the time, share anecdotes that they might be able to relate to... that sort of thing.

National_Careers_Service

Hi Angelina,

Ok, so from what you’ve said, you’re very nearly there. It’s great the employer has seen enough potential in you to invite you back to interview for another position. Fingers crossed you’ll get there.

I suppose interviews aren’t just about convincing the employer you have what it takes to perform well within the role, they’re also about using the time to figure out if you’ll fit into the existing team. This is where your personality comes into the interview process. Remember though, it’s also your chance to decide if the team’s right for you. If you feel the employer is asking something of you that is unrealistic, then perhaps you might find you don’t enjoy working within their culture either.

It’s great to hear you’ve got a head start with your preparation, as it sounds like you’ve got some invaluable feedback from your interview. I guess your next step is to consider what you plan to do with the feedback.

Maybe you could begin by look at whether you agree with the feedback? For example, would you say their comments reflect your true personality or do they reflect the personality you adopted for the interview?

If you feel your interview was a true reflection of your personality, perhaps you might decide there isn’t much room to develop within your next interview and the team and culture isn’t quite up your street.

However, if you feel you didn’t enable the employer to see the real you in your first interview, what do you think might have got in the way of this? Could it be you behaved in a way which you felt was appropriate for the interview and in doing so, didn’t let down your professional exterior slightly to let your personality shine?

Perhaps, having been given permission to let that personality show in your second interview, you might feel more confident about creating a better balance between a ‘clean performance’ and enabling the employer to see the real you in the interview?

What do you think? Have you been suppressing your personality a bit in interviews and need to let it out more? Or do you feel you’d need to put on a bit of an act to show them the sort of personality they’re looking for?

Looking at your situation in this way should hopefully help you decide what you need to do in relation to the second interview you’ve been offered.

Whatever you decide, loads of luck in the future!

Emma

heretolearn_2

My take on their feedback (having conducted lots of interviews)

'too corporate' 'too perfect' ...giving all the right answers... well rehearsed.
They felt your answers were what you thought you wanted them to hear, rather than a genuine answer. You can look up 'perfect answers' to interview questions these days. It's amazing how many candidates come up with basically the same thing. And also use lots of impressive jargon to use lots of words but actually say very little. All form and no content. Make sure you really are speaking from your own personal experience, with real life examples, with enthusiasm. And don't have a 'great answer' in mind that you force in as the answer to a question it isn't entirely relevant to.

'too intelligent' - hmm, bit of an odd one. Depends what you are applying for. I don't know anyone who gets worried about a new hire taking over their job. But I do know recruiters have to think about 'how long will they stay in this role before they get bored/is this role just a stopgap until they find another job they really want to do ASAP.'

I wasn't responsive to his banter - so he felt it was all a bit one way street. You weren't really relaxing and listening and responding to what he was saying. You had what you wanted to say all prepared and were a bit oblivious to anything outside that?

It's great to be well prepared. But you have to be flexible enough to go with the flow a bit and make sure the interviewer gets what they want, not just what you want to tell them. You should pause and think about the questions - if you just rattle something out they know it's just a pat answer.