How To Understand The Basic Characteristics of your Interviewer

How To Understand The Basic Characteristics of your Interviewer

Every individual has a specific situation bothering him/her in every individual life and your interviewers cannot be left out of this experience. 

However, If you can sense an interviewer's style and build rapport with them, you’ll have confidence in providing specific information that will give you an edge over your interviewers.

Listed below are the characteristics you should take note of in your interviewers:

1.     Inattentive: There is a time that the interviewer isn’t mentally present, maybe he/she is thinking of something more important or something happened before your interview that really bothered his/her mind. It’s impossible to impress this kind of interviewer that is distracted by something. Such an individual can equally purposely try to distract your attention to make you fail miserably. It’s very important for you to keep a good impression of yourself by smiling and don’t panic. At times a scenario of an impending crisis may be created to test your attitude or how you’re going tackle such a situation in your place of work. You may equally give your best approach and offer him/her to reschedule. But make sure to give a good account of yourself address to send him/her the right message and be prepared to attend the interview if rescheduled.

2.     Friendly: This is the type of interviewer that gives jokes, smiles, and tells you to take it easy on yourself. But he/she aims for you to put in a relaxed mind in such a way that you will then unconsciously expose too much information (ones that can be detrimental to your career) about yourself. You should be kind, and friendly but at the same always remember that you shouldn’t also get carried away doing this. Stick with your goal. Remember you’re not part of them yet. You should be wary of putting yourself in a tight corner where you wouldn’t be able to scale through the interview stage while pursuing your career.

3.     Interrogator: This is a typical type of interviewer that seems not to show any emotion and inflicts tension on the applicants. The best thing you can do is stay calm, focus, and show respect and confidence. This kind of interviewer observes how you can deal with this kind of scenario. And remember that most interrogator types of interviewers often became your best advocate throughout your interview process or even into the job. These types of interviewers are always hell-bent on making sure that the company employs the best candidates for the vacant position, though they may prove too strict and rigid once you put in your best, and believe that you can make it through.

4.     Laser Beam: This type of interviewer only focuses on one topic. Like discussing quotas, this style is for line managers. When you find yourself in this type of interview, you should make it a point of duty to fulfill his/her expectations of you. Satisfy his/her judgment and move on. Don’t derail or fidgety while responding to any question(s) being asked, because those questions are not meant to make sure that you fail it is just a clear indication that they are employing the best candidates for the job. See it in that direction and stay focused.

5.     Shotgun: This is the type that wants to discuss anything. The questions are all over the place, you even don’t have a vacant time because he/she is full of questions. This is where your anxious presentation really pays off because you can involve your strengths in many distinct exposures to the job. Your experience can give you an edge in this type of interview, but yet you must be very careful in answering not to derail while responding to questions asked.

6.     Silver Bullet: Believes there's one magic question to ask -- and one magic response that determines whether you're right for the job. The Silver Bullet asks a few hasty questions about your skills. Then ask “off-the-wall” questions, which are questions you didn’t even expect. Even though these questions don’t have a wrong answer he/she decides if it’s yes or no. Simply answer every question and don’t worry about your answers too much.

While preparing for an interview, you must try as much as possible to alter your approach to different situations you may find yourself in life and in which you may equally experience with your Interviewers: You should prepare yourself to step into a situation of power when you identify the interviewer's style and adjust your approach accordingly. As you prepare for the interview, ask yourself, "How might my answers be different for different interview styles?" 

With a Laser Beam, for example, you might offer him a choice when you begin answering a question ("Would you like to talk about this aspect of the job or that one?"). An achievement story for a friendly Interviewer might focus more on your teamwork skills, and the same story for an Interrogator Interviewer, because you might begin by stating the results of your individual work. The more you show your emotional knowledge by understanding the interviewer's objective for that interview, the more likely he'll be able to listen to you.