In my role as an interview coach and career strategist, I find that most of my clients believe that the goal of a job interview is to get an offer.

They’re always surprised to learn that it’s not!

Goals need to be things you can control, and you can’t control other people’s decisions — such as choosing you over other job candidates.

When you focus on an outcome that’s the result of someone else’s decisions, it’s easy to feel defeated, scared, graspy, forceful, or shut down. Those aren’t behaviors you want to bring into your job interview.

Here’s what you should focus on instead…

Authenticity: Your #1 Job Interview Skill

Your only goal for your job interview is to show up as the true you.

Here are a few examples of what can happen when your focus shifts from being yourself to what the interviewer may or may not be thinking.

Think interviewers won’t like you or don’t like you? 

When you worry about that, you might act distracted, graspy, or forceful. In those states, you might forget your great examples that demonstrate your work or you might fail to convey your true nature. You’re not presenting your authentic self, so how could they like you?

Your job is to show up and be true. Give them the chance.

Think interviews are skewed toward sales people, schmoozers, or candidates who’ll say anything?

From behind that wall of distrust, what kind of connection will you make? If your job is to show up as the true you, you are less worried about being a smooth talker — or not being one — and more focused on letting them see the real you.

Think you don’t meet the qualifications? Fear the interview will end in rejection? Feel interviews are scary?

It would be so easy to not apply for the opposition or go to the interview, but not really connect while you’re there. 

But if you don’t go, you’ll never know. 

If you don’t show up true to yourself and your value, you’ll never know if:

• They would have loved you,
• You met their qualifications because the job description was partly a wishlist, 
• They would fine-tune the job to fit you, their favorite candidate, or
• The recruiter thinks you’re perfect for some other job.

If you don’t go to the interview, you won’t build the interview skills of showing up, connecting, conveying your value, and being true to yourself — skills that will help you nail other interviews. 

Your worries and fears are valid, and your job is to show up as your true self, anyway. 

We Find What We’re Looking For

Did you notice how worrisome prophecies can be self-fulfilling?

Instead of focusing on your fears or worries — or the job offer — use the power of your focus to support your efforts instead of sabotaging them.

Use your focus to help you show up as the true you and clearly convey the value you’d bring to the job.

With that focus, you’ll reclaim your ability to build real rapport and connection, which is the deciding factor when choosing among candidates, all other things being equal.

And there’s a bonus: Whether or not you get the job, your authentic connection with the interviewer will lead to a richer network of offers and opportunities. 

Will You Still Need to Do Interview Prep?

Absolutely!

Prepare, then show up.

Interview preparation ensures you’ll have the self-trust to be present in the room instead of up in your head trying to remember details.

When you’re tuned in to your interviewer, you’ll pick up on cues, ask good questions, and build a connection. You’ll calculate how you can be most valuable to this employer and discern for yourself whether you’re a good fit for the job.

You prepare for the interview so you can:

• Convey your true value through clear examples and specific details of your work, and
• Converse with the interviewer like you’re talking with a good friend.

And most importantly, to shift your mindset from focusing on things you can’t control to focusing on your one job in every job interview…

To show up and be yourself, to be 100% true. 

That’s how you’ll bring dream jobs and opportunities to you.

p.s. Looking for more job interview tips? Check out » The 6 Building Blocks of an Interview