Watch your mouth. What you say and how you say it (as well as any written documents you submit) will greatly affect your interview and ultimately your application. Like other aspects of the application, being conservative will offend fewer interviewers than not. Consider differences between yourself and the interviewer in age, race, culture, training, region and religion.
Consider the term constructive criticism. It implies that the critique has positive aspects and that any negative aspects are combined with alternatives to the negative and that it is presented in a manner that tends to not offend or be purely antagonistic. Now develop that concept into a philosophy and apply it to your answer technique for the interview. Consider how you will answer each question. Do you answer it with a statement or a question. The later may be appropriate in certain situations. Your answer may be inclusive or exclusive, in other words by answering the question or not. For instance, you feel the question is too personal but you are not sure of the intent of the interviewer, you may answer with vagueness or avoid the subject altogether. You are being exclusive. But, be knowledgeable or be quiet. If you don’t know the answer or are unsure, be quiet. Being quiet does not mean not answering, it means don’t try to bluff your way through something you don’t know. It will show. This is where answering with a question may show your interest or at least inquisitiveness. Remember, nobody is perfect and you don’t know nor are expected to know everything.
Avoid slang. All your friends and family know what you mean because you’ve indoctrinated them but not everyone may be familiar with what you mean by a certain slang word. In medicine, abbreviations are strongly discouraged or outright prohibited in some institutions because of potential misinterpretation and resulting errors. The same argument can be applied to slang words, abbreviations and colloquialisms in your interview.
If it’s listed on The Urban Dictionary don’t say it or write it. For instance, “That sucks” is a common and almost universally used slang that usually means that the subject that sucks is unpleasant. To a large number of people, it’s origin from the sexual act is prominent in it’s meaning and origin. They view it as crude and offensive. Other commonly used slang words of dubious origin include dumb ass, screwed, tits, boob, dick, nuts and many more. Using substitute words does not hide the offensive word. For instance, when one says “effing” this, “fricking” that or “that F word”, the meaning is obvious. Sure you are not actually saying the word “fucking” but the listener is hearing it. The same applies to dang, darn, damn and God damn. If it is not already obvious, this isn’t a good time to show your mastery of cussing.
Don’t use mill-speak; hundo p, sorry not sorry, perf, its me, tbh.* Try to train yourself to communicate without using them. Your interview is not a social media outlet where these forms of communication are expected. Having someone else listen to you talk for a brief time can be helpful pointing out when and how often you use these fillers and slang. They are often used subconsciously and you may need help in training yourself to be free of them.
OMG, seriously, really, totally, um, uh, well, you know, so, like and other nonsensical words are distracting, annoying and don’t communicate anything to the interviewer. Technically they are called filler words or discourse particles. They are used to buy time while you think, are used to cover nervousness or ingrained because of fad habit. The two most critical times they are used are at the beginning of an answer or at a point of change in the topic or idea of the answer. One recent famous politician used the phrase “you know” 142 times in a 20 minute speech. Pause, think and then answer. If you feel your pause will be too long, a phrase (yes,it is a filler but it imparts intent) such as, “Let me think just a second before I answer,” will help the interviewer understand the pause.
Thank you, please, yes ma’am and yes sir are always appropriate. Even if you can’t bring yourself to use them every time, a few occurrences dispersed in a conversation will go a long way toward showing respect. When you show respect, the recipient feels good and is more likely to view you favorably. Isn’t that what the goal is, here?
When you speak, try to allow the other person to finish what they are saying or asking before you reply. If you have to, nodding or shaking ones head instead of blurting out a response prematurely is preferable. But if the interviewer sees that you have jumped to conclusions before they have formed their question, they may interrupt the question to ask why you are agreeing or disagreeing. If you are astute enough to catch this, try to couch your response with something like, “Unless I have misunderstood what your are saying… .”
Speak with enough volume to be heard without being too loud. If you notice the other person consistently asking you to repeat yourself, you probably aren’t speaking loud enough. If they wince every time you speak, you might be too loud.
If you have any disabilities, hearing loss for instance, mention them at the beginning and that will help you communicate better.
Non-verbal language is just as important as what you actually say. Making eye contact and avoiding distracting gestures (such as looking at your phone, watch or the clock on the wall or taking a call) will be observed and viewed positively. Slouching, leaning on a counter or table, rolling your eyes up, smirking, chewing gum or tobacco will not be viewed positively.
From your Uncle Dave.
*Translation;
hundo p means one is a hundred percent sure about something.
Sorry not sorry tells the listener that the person doesn’t care that the listener knows he doesn’t care.
perf is an abbreviation of perfect (which is being used as a slang in context).
It’s me is a abbreviation of “It’s not you, it’s me,” bringing the attention of the discourse to the most important subject.
tbh is an acronym of “to be honest,” which is generally interpreted that the speaker usually isn’t.