Job seeking
How important is quick rapport building in an interview?
Trevor Churchley ·
Job seekers I work with spend hours rehearsing technical answers. Almost none rehearse the first few minutes, before the real questions start, which is when the interviewer is already forming a view.
After 30 years in IT recruitment, I'd say plenty of interviewers make up their mind early and spend the rest of the conversation looking for evidence to back it up. A candidate with the right answers can still be fighting uphill by question three.
In a recent Hustle Game interview bootcamp we practised this part, and it isn't complicated.
Have two or three conversation starters ready before you join. Travel, the weather, how their week has been. Keep politics and religion out of it entirely.
Look up the interviewers on LinkedIn and see if there's something genuinely in common, like a former employer, a suburb or a project. Keep it light. If it sounds researched, it lands worse than saying nothing.
Match their energy. If they're brisk, don't be slow. If they're relaxed, don't arrive at full speed. It reads as fit before you've answered anything.
Speak first. Greet them warmly before they get the chance to. It settles your nerves and sets the tone.
Then there's the elevator pitch, which is usually your first real answer. In my coaching sessions I ask people for a thumbs up or thumbs down on how they feel about theirs. The majority go down. Those people are hoping it works on the day. It needs to be practised out loud and kept under 90 seconds, and you should know the key points without memorising it word for word.
I'm keen to know what your go-to is for building rapport quickly in an interview. I've got my own list, but I'd like to hear yours.
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