The Best guide to Enhancing Interview Performance on the Planet

The Best Guide to Enhancing Interview Performance on the Planet – Courtesy of Interview Professional

Here is where we now delve into other strategies first explored in the section,
The Best guide for Dealing with Interview Nerves on the Planet – Courtesy of Interview Professional. In this section here we will look more closely at how we can apply these strategies in ways that will not only help us to alleviate interview nerves, but in ways that will allow us to take them one step further so we can use them to effectively enhance our interview performance too

Goal setting

Goal setting has become a popular technique not only in psychology, but throughout multitudes of different types of other vocations too, to everything from training management courses, counselling programs, and mentorship programs, amongst many, many, more. It’s also a fact that goal setting is a very common practice that many people use throughout their everyday lives in general too. As such, setting goals is seen as a mechanism that can empower individuals to make progress towards any different number of important things; from self-improvements in their everyday lives, to attaining new career and financially related milestones, as well as so much more…

There are many different types of goals we can set for ourselves, and it is important for us to understand the differences between them if we want to get the most from any goals that we set. That’s because when it comes to goal setting, the aim is to set effective goals – in this way we can maximise what we intend to accomplish. Here we’ll examine the different types of goals we can set for ourselves and the types of outcomes we can expect to get from them where interviewing is concerned:

Short term goals

Short term goals are goals that can last anywhere from a single day to around six weeks or so. Such goals are important because they will help you gain confidence and will also help you build up to the more important milestones that you wish to accomplish.
When it comes to enhancing our performance in the interview, short term goals should consist of things like the following:

Researching the Company and Role
Spend 2–3 hours researching the company’s mission, values, products, and any recent news involving it at some point this week

For physical venues – Do a test run to the interview site either in person or via google maps at some point this week

For online venues – Do a test of your video call software at some point this week

Create a 60 second pitch that tells the interviewer who you are and why you’d be great for this role. Be able to recite this by memory within the next two weeks

These are some examples of short-term goals you could set for yourself that are either highly useful or that would provide a great means for you to enhance your performance for your next interview

Mid-term goals
These are goals that can last anywhere from 6 weeks up to around nine months

Medium-term goals are essential if you want to build up stronger skills and knowledge ahead of the actual interview itself…interviewing experts advise that doing so can make you a much more eligible candidate overall, which is why setting medium term goals is commonly recommended as a way to enhance your performance by increasing the range of things you’ll potentially have to discuss by the time your interview day arrives. Achieving the medium-term goals that you set yourself will not only enable you to have better conversations with your interviewers, but will also increase your overall eligibility as a candidate too – these things combined will strengthen your chances of landing any role you apply for, strong medium-term goals consist of things like the following:

Develop your Industry Knowledge
Stay updated on the latest trends from your chosen industry or vocation by reading 2–3 articles or reports each week for the next 6 weeks

Strengthen your Relevant Skills
Complete an online course or workshop to improve a technical skill or competency required for the job (e.g., Microsoft Certification, Technical Writing Certification, Leadership Workshop, Adobe Creative Cloud Tutorial), etc.
Length of time can vary greatly here depending on the course in question. (Workshops and micro-credentials can take anywhere from a couple of days to several weeks to complete depending on whether they are self-paced on not. More professional types of certifications can take several months)

Develop your Professional Network
Attempt to connect with up to 3 professionals involved in the field you work in/ are seeking employment in.
(Look to do this through social media or live networking events over the next 3 months for the purposes of gaining any inside information you can about specific organisations or employment opportunities regarding your field of interest that may be out there)

Hold an Informational Interview
Attempt to hold an informational interview by reaching out to someone in a company you are seeking employment with, or who works in an industry you are planning to seek employment in over the next 6-8 weeks

Promote and Refine Your Brand identity
Update and optimize your online social media profiles to ensure these showcase your most relevant skills, achievements, and career aspirations over the next 6 – 8 weeks.
Make up to 6 posts/articles related to your field of work or area of interest and publish them on social media platforms (Aim to do one each week)

Address any Weaknesses or knowledge gaps
Identify 2 areas or weaknesses (e.g., a gap in knowledge or lack of experience) and take steps to address them, such as completing a relevant educational course or learning a skill that will mitigate this e.g., learning to operate a new tool, piece of machinery, or software application within the next 2 – 6 months. (Note. Outlining the proactive steps you’ve taken to achieve this step would be an excellent thing to share with your interviewer too!)

Build Up Your Portfolio or Work Examples
Enhance an existing work portfolio or create an entirely new one.
Do this with a view to showcasing your most relevant skills and career related accomplishments within the next 6 weeks – 3 months.
(Can either be a physical portfolio or a web based one)

Long term goals
Long term goals can range to anywhere from 9 months to over the course of several years

Long-term goals that can enhance your interview performance involve broader and more committed types of objectives. Such objectives build on your short and medium-term goals, further developing your industry knowledge and enhancing your foundational skills. Much like the same principle with your medium term goals, fulfilling your long term goals will increase the range of things you’ll be able to discuss and impress your interviewer with in an interview, making it easier for you to hold a great conversation and build a genuine rapport with them, while at the same time making you a much more eligible candidate on paper – all of which will drastically increase your chances of landing any roles you apply for. Long term goals consist of things like the following:

Establish a Robust Professional Network

Attend industry conferences, webinars, networking events, and become regularly active on social media. Try to connect with professionals and learn about opportunities to gain insider information on the organisations you are interested in working for the most over the course of the next 1 yr

Develop Industry Contacts
Aim to develop at least 10 contacts in the field you work in/ are seeking employment in over the course of the next year

Strengthen Job specific and other Relevant Skills to increase employability
Complete a professional certification or advanced training program within 9–12 months to improve employment eligibility…examples of this would be things like a Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA), OSHA Safety Certification, HVAC Technician Certification (EPA 608), Certified Digital Marketing Professional (CDMP)…etc

Create and Develop a Strong Personal Brand identity
Promote and refine your brand identity.
Update and optimize your online social media profiles to ensure these showcase your most relevant skills, achievements, and career aspirations. Establish yourself and your brand identity online by posting at least 2 blog post or articles each month over the next 9 months

Build or enhance your Portfolio or Work Based Examples
Create an extensive work portfolio or enhance a pre-existing one so that it showcases all of your relevant skills as well as your most significant work related projects and accomplishments over the next 9-12 months.
(This can either be a physical portfolio or a web based one)

Develop a Long-Term Career Plan
Outline your 1-, 3-, and 5-year career goals, detailing the position you aim to achieve and the skills, qualifications, and actions you aim to take to get there

OTHER BEST PRACTICES WHEN IT COMES TO SETTING EFFECTIVE GOALS

Regularly reassess your goals
Regularly reassess your goals every six months, (or at other significant points such as):

After significant achievements (personal/ academic/ career)

After significant career changes or changes within your role (change of role/ change of responsibilities within your role, etc)

Upon achieving career milestones

Whenever job hunting

Whenever you gain more experience; this could be in the form of training courses, certifications, stepping up to perform stand in duties, or helping out in other noteworthy ways – regardless of whether or not these are in a personal/ academic/ or career related capacity

Note.
❗If you are setting goals for yourself, whether it’s to help make yourself more eligible for a role, or for any other reason, don’t keep this to yourself…go out of your way to emphasize this in your interview.
The fact that you have taken proactive steps to improve yourself is sure to impress your interviewer greatly, and will give you a great talking point to capitalize on during the interview as well

When it comes to goal setting, the next thing to keep in mind is that in addition to there being different timeframes when it comes to the types of goals you set, there are also different categories of goals you can set for yourself too. This is done with the aim of achieving different outcomes depending on what the type of actual goal itself is. Being aware of these categories can help you further refine your aims and methods to ensure they are as effective as possible when it comes to the overall outcomes you are trying to achieve. Here we examine these categories and the associated outcomes you can aim to achieve through them

Performance Goals

These are goals we use when we want to focus on improvements that are relative to our past performances – with the aim of improving on any future performances. When it comes to interviewing and job hunting this can be quite a subjective thing as it’s hard to quantify a performance metric from which to measure past performance against, you’ll either get the job or you won’t. However, they can still be a very worthwhile type of goal in this situation, because as far as interviewing goals go, there are always things you can improve upon – even if they are quite difficult to fully quantify…
So if you’re seeking to set performance related goals ahead of your next interview, here are some suggestions:

Performance Goal examples

Stay calm under pressure. Mentally practice keeping yourself composed when encountering difficult or unexpected questions

Speak clearly and confidently when conversing with the interviewer

Improve overall body language. (Ensure you maintain good eye contact, good posture, and use hand gestures naturally)

Master responses to key behavioural questions by preparing 1 or 2 examples for things such as “Tell me about yourself” or “What’s your biggest weakness?”

Customize responses that you can fit around a variety of potential interview question scenarios. Do this by preparing for and practicing between 6-7 different structured responses using the S.T.A.R method: Situation, Task, Action, Result (This will give you a range of pre-rehearsed responses that you can fall back on in any interview)

When it comes to using performance related goals to enhance your interview performance, asking for feedback after you speak with employers is key

Being able to honestly and introspectively appraise your own performance is also highly important too – which is why with performance related goals, utilising informational interviews (if you can) is another highly important step that will help you assess your capabilities and keep your performance related goals on track so that you’re ready to nail your next interview when the time comes. For more on information on informational interviews, see the section, Informational Interviews

Process goals

These are goals that are used to specify the procedures and techniques that an individual uses to aid them in the performance of a specific task or action. Basically, these are goals that you use to enhance how you go about doing something

(In the context of finding employment and enhancing interview performance, process goals can be used to refine and enhance the measures you’ll take as relates to other types of goals that you’ve set for yourself). In this way, they can enable you to achieve the end results you are looking to achieve more efficiently. Process goals will enable you to outline the steps you’ll take as regards how you will go about achieving things like a particular performance metric, a state of calmness on the morning of your interview, the steps you will take to help you develop a specific type of skill…attain a required qualification…get a referral from a person or organisation that you’re looking for… all the way up to getting that dream job that you’ve always desired. Below are just a few examples of some process goals you might choose to set for yourself ahead of your next interview:

Process goal examples

Review the section on Interview Professional titled, Interview Preparation for the Behavioural Interview, for around 30 minutes each day in the week leading up to the interview
‘To be used to help me with the performance goal I have set for myself which is to master responses to key behavioural questions such as “Tell me about yourself” or “What’s your biggest weakness?”

Review the section on Interview Professional titled, Interview Professional’s 3 most Effective Rehearsal techniques for Interviewing, once a day for around 30 minutes in the week leading up to the interview
‘To be used to help me with the performance goal I have set for myself which is to master key rehearsed responses that I can use to help me converse with my interviewer and answer difficult questions I encounter throughout the interview’.

Install a mindfulness app such as Headspace, calm, or Insight Time when I start my next job hunt and use this at least once each day in the month leading up to my next interview
‘To be used to help me with the performance goal I have set for myself which is to stay calm and composed under pressure when encountering difficult or unexpected questions.’

Review the section on Interview Professional titled, The Best guide for Dealing with Interview Nerves on the Planet – Courtesy of Interview Professional at least once over the next 2 weeks
‘To be used to help me with the performance goal I have set for myself which is to achieve a state of calmness on the day of my interview.’

OTHER PROCESS GOAL EXAMPLES – WHEN APPLYING FOR A PROGRAMMING ROLE

I will find a suitable online course that will enable me to learn a programming language and complete it within the next 3-9 months
I will attempt to practice coding regularly by using a platform that will enable me to obtain additional practice and online learning such as Project Euler, or Replit / JSFiddle
To help me embed my learning even further I will also attempt to develop a personal project on the side, like working on a To-Do List App or Portfolio Website
On top of this, I will also try to join a programming community. This will further enable me to practice and enhance my skills, pick up valuable insider insights, and network all at the same time
Lastly, I will attempt to contribute to real-world projects like GitHub open-source projects, or sign up to freelance online platforms like Upwork or Fiverr. These will be valuable as they will not only enable me to gain valuable experience and build up an online portfolio of clients and work, but will also enable me to earn an income at the same time
These are steps I will take to help me with the performance goal I have set for myself of developing a specific type of skill ahead of my interview to help me land the dream role I’m applying for.
(In this instance the skill this candidate has decided to learn is a programming language)

This is a medium-term process goal

OTHER PROCESS GOAL EXAMPLES – WHEN YOU’VE SET YOURSELF THE TARGET OF RECEVING A SUITABLE JOB OFFER WITHIN THE NEXT 6 MONTHS

Review the sections on Interview Professional titled:

Follow the steps outlined in these sections over the next 3-6 months

‘These are steps I will take to help me with the performance goal I have set for myself which is to get a glowing referral from a person or organisation that I’m seeking employment with.’

This is a medium-term process goal

OTHER PROCESS GOAL EXAMPLES – WHEN YOU’VE SET YOURSELF THE TARGET OF GETTING YOURSELF INTERVIEW READY

Review career enhancement sites like interview professional.
Make preparations to spend anywhere from 10 hours a week plus over the next 6 weeks, using this time to follow the advice given in the sections I read; rehearsing examples, practicing mock interviewing, and working through the various suggestions and recommendations provided
‘These are steps I will take to help me with the performance goal I have set for myself which is to get myself to a point where I feel I am interview ready‘.

This is a short-term process goal

Review the S.T.A.R. Interview Database section and spend 5 hours a week over the next 4 weeks practicing the examples there
‘This is a step I will take to help me with the performance goal I have set for myself which is to enhance my interview performance by improving over how I feel I did in my last interview. I aim to do this by customizing and practising for a range of between 5-8 varied structured responses using the (S.T.A.R method: Situation, Task, Action, Result) method. This will give me a range of rehearsed responses I can instantly fall back on where I encounter challenging questions in any interview.’

This is a short-term process goal

Outcome Goals

Outcome goals represent standards of performance that focus on end results. With an outcome goal, you are not focused on the things that get you to what you want to achieve, e.g, staying calm under pressure, mastering responses to key behavioural questions, Customizing S.T.A.R responses for different interviews, etc… you are simply focused onthe end result you want to achieve. E.g, Get the interview, get the job.
(As you can see from the examples below, in the context of discussing such goals as relates to enhancing interview performance, these are not always necessarily focused specifically on job related outcomes), rather, are sometimes centred around other interrelated facets that lead into employment, such as networking, career growth, and skills development. In this way, outcome goals tend to be more basic than other types of goals, and by their very nature, typically tend to involve mid to longer length types of timescales.
Here are some examples of the things that outcome goals might entail:

Job Offer & Employment Outcome Goals

Receive a job offer within the next 6 months
Get hired within 6 months of starting your job search
When job searching this time around, secure a salary increase of X% more when compared to your current/ previous job.
(To be accomplished within the next 6-9 months)

Interview Progress Outcome Goals

Advance to the final round of interviews for at least X% of applications sent in the next 3 months
Receive positive feedback from at least X% of employers following the conclusion of those interviews

Application & Networking Outcome Goals

Set yourself a target of X% recruiters reaching out to you as a result of your LinkedIn profile within the next 3 months
Get a referral from at least 3 industry professionals within the next 3-6 months through your networking activities

Career Growth Outcome Goals

Transition into a higher-level position (e.g., from a junior to a senior role) within the next 9-12 months
Transition into a more promising industry or career within 6 months – 2 years
Find a role with a company that aligns with your values (e.g., sustainability, longevity) within the next 6 months – 2 yrs

Personal Development, Professional and Career Growth, Academic endeavours, performance related endeavours, therapy, rehabilitation, Health and Fitness, Financial goals, Social and Relationship Goals, Conflict Resolution, Artistic Pursuits, Lifestyle Changes, activism, Sports and Competition, are all among the main types of reasons why people choose to set goals for themselves

Important things to remember when setting goals

The most effective way to get more from your goals is to set them at levels you feel you will be able to achieve, while at the same time putting the bar on them as high as possible – in this way you will set goals that are achievable while simultaneously setting them at the highest standards possible

When setting goals for yourself, remember that the goals you set may not always go to plan exactly how you want. With this in mind, consider what appropriate lifestyle choices you may have to make in order to achieve the goals you have set yourself

Other Important things to remember when it comes to goal setting

Assess goals regularly

This is a very introspective process and is something you will have to do largely based on your own experiences and the outlook you have on your specific circumstances at the time

For Goals that have been achieved

When assessing these, ask if they could’ve been set any higher, or if you could’ve done anything differently to achieve them more easily

Goals that have NOT been achieved

Ask yourself why you have not achieved them. If you feel you’ve done everything you can, ask yourself if the goal has been set too high

Assessing goals is an important step as it helps you determine whether or not you are on the right track, and helps ensure that the goals you do set are as effective as possible

Learn from your mistakes

Where you have not achieved your goals, or where you have assessed your goals and concluded that perhaps you could’ve done things better, act on this by re-planning them and trying once again to accomplish what you had initially set out to achieve.
To this extent, using an action plan template is normally a highly effective tool when it comes to setting goals as it allows you to set out the steps in your goal, enabling you to clearly outline what you need to accomplish it, while also enabling you to add other types of valuable information…(like details that allow you to compare what you’re doing well, details of where you’ve fallen short on previous attempts, along with the actions you could take to improve on things this time around)

These are the types of things that can enable you to turn setbacks into opportunities for growth and improvement, as well as strengthening your problem-solving ability, encouraging adaptability and accountability, enhancing self-awareness, and fostering a growth mindset, all of which can be leveraged in the interview to help you land your dream role

Take the time to analyse the causes of your mistakes

Try and determine why the mistake happened—was it due to bad planning, execution, external factors, or unrealistic goals?

Try to identify specific takeaways and insights that may help guide future decisions

Did you attempt your goal at the wrong time? Did you have the proper resources in place (in terms of equipment/ time/ money) to achieve them?

Then…Adjust Goals and Strategies

Use what you’ve learned to refine your goals and adapt your methods

Anticipate that the goals you set may not go to plan exactly how you want…!

There are always challenges throughout everyday life. Unexpected demands on our time, bills that crop up, and other types of unforeseen circumstances that change things at any time. These can sometimes impact the initial goals we’ve set for ourselves, and it’s important to be ready by being mentally prepared for this

Consider what appropriate lifestyle adjustments you may have to make in order to achieve your goals

Depending on the goals you set, there are any number of different adjustments that might have to be made. These could be things like getting up earlier in the morning, relocating to another area in your house so you’ll have the space you need to perform a specific task or action…or other resources you’ll need to buy equipment and source other items that will help you make your goals into reality

Always Move Forward…

When it comes to goal setting, mindset is key! For that reason, don’t dwell on past failures, (if you’re a person that’s setting goals for yourself, the likelihood is that you don’t have time to dwell on any setbacks because you’ll have a lot going on in your life anyway)… Just learn any lessons you can from your mistakes and move on!

Specific, difficult goals lead to better performance than vague, easy goals

Example of the smart acronym in its original form.
The SMART framework was first introduced by George T. Doran in 1981, and in this version presented “Realistic” instead of “Relevant” in its wording. However, over time it was adapted by different organizations, trainers, and authors, and today ‘’Relevant’’ is the more common choice when using this acronym.

An important aspect of goal setting, especially in areas like interview performance, are the types of goals you set for yourself. This is because specific goals direct focus and effort, and difficult goals require a higher degree of effort and commitment. This means they not only enable you to achieve more, (but psychologists commonly associate these types of goals with the activation of intrinsic motivation where brain function is concerned too) – meaning that of all the types of goals that people can set for themselves, they will usually feel more accomplished when they achieve more difficult and specific ones

For example
A vague and easy goal would go something along the lines of:
“Do some preparation before the interview.”

A more difficult, specific goal would go something along the lines of:
“Prepare answers to 5 behavioural and competency-based interview questions using the S.T.A.R response method. Spend a total of 45 minutes rehearsing these each day for the next 14 days leading up to the interview.”

❗Be mindful because it can sometimes be difficult to measure your progress due to the fact that goal setting at its core is a somewhat subjective thing

Each goal is different, each circumstance is different, therefore what constitutes a difficult goal over what goals are vague and easy ones can differ from person to person and from situation to situation. Keeping this in the back of your mind will ensure you don’t get caught up on this aspect of goal setting so you can move forward and focus on what really matters the most – which is to accomplish the goals that you want to achieve, no matter what they are!

No matter what goals you set, they should always follow the SMART acronym

Specific – Define exactly what you want to achieve. Avoid vague statements like ‘I want to prepare for my interview” and instead be as specific as you can, doing your best to outline the “who,” “what,” “where,” and “why” of the goal. (e.g., “I want to prepare answers to five competency and behavioural based questions using the S.T.A.R response method that I can use for my next upcoming interview’)

Measurable – Do your best to ensure that your goals include criteria or metrics that enable you to track and measure your progress in qualifiable ways
(For example, ‘I will complete 2 practice interviews by the end of the month.’)

Achievable – While you should strive to make your goals challenging and push yourself to get as much from them as you can, at the same time, your goals also need to be achievable too. Not only will you be wasting valuable time and energy if you set goals you can’t achieve, but where you don’t achieve them, it will also increase the likelihood of you giving up on trying to improve yourself altogether. In this regard, take into consideration your available resources, skills, and time

An example of an unachievable goal could go something like this.
‘I will land the dream job I’ve always wanted within the next month’. This could be considered an unachievable goal as there is no guarantee that you’ll be able to do this. A more achievable goal would go something along the lines of this. ‘I want to make 10 applications over the next month’. This is an achievable goal because it’s something you can guarantee is within your remit to be able to do

Relevant – It’s important your goals are relevant to the endeavour you are trying to achieve. In this case, when it comes to interviewing, this means your goals should be interview focused and career centric

For example, while it is certainly a worthwhile goal that could be used in conjunction with other types of goals, a goal you set for yourself to take more time to relax for at least 2 hours each day is not necessarily relevant to the pursuit of getting a new job and making yourself more interview ready…whereas a goal you set yourself to review 2 different news articles on a prospective employer each day for the next 2 weeks until your upcoming interview arrives is

Timely – While there are different types of goals as we have discussed above, (with some taking longer to achieve than others), it is also very important to ensure that your goals are within a timeframe relevant to the goal itself. For example, while a goal you set to make 10 different applications is both relevant and achievable, when it comes to the timeframe you set for yourself to attain it – if you are serious about doing so then it is not something that should take several months). 2 – 4 weeks would be a perfectly attainable timeframe for such a goal. For that reason, open-ended goals you set yourself that have no timeframe ascribed to them like “someday” or “eventually” are always going to be non-starters – proper goals should have definitive and realistic timeframes attached to them if you are serious about achieving them!

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