Here are five employment interview tips for internationals in the USA.
1) Be yourself.
Why should I hire you? Be sure you know how to answer this question. And then be the person the interviewer wants to hire during the interview. This means be yourself, and be who you are. You’re an expert. You are highly skilled and knowledgeable. Be who you are, not who you think the interviewer wants you to be. You are asking them to hire YOU, not someone else. Who are you, and why should I hire you?
2) Be confident.
Exude confidence while being sure that you do not come across as overbearing or arrogant. Speak to the interviewer as a colleague. Treat the interview as a business conversation. You are an investment. Tell interviewers why they should invest in you. Minimize what the interviewer perceives of as risk. Without confidence, it’s not easy for people to know and understand how competent and skilled you are. Exude confidence.
3) Do not try to fix your English before an interview.
If your English proficiency concerns you, do not let it concern you. This will only shake your confidence or throw you off in some way. Again, if making errors concerns you, do not let it concern you. Work on this some other time. Don’t try to do this one or two weeks before an interview. Your English language ability is good enough. If it were not good enough, you would not be interviewing for this position. The content of your replies to questions and speaking prompts is important, and the image you portray while delivering the content is important. Work on the quality of your content and how you come across while delivering the content.
4) Speak up.
Be a proactive contributor to the conversation. Don’t wait for the interviewer to ask you about the good stuff before you say the good stuff. Listen for opportunities to say the good stuff and then say the good stuff. Success stories, accomplishment stories, and problem solving stories are the good stuff. Tell short and quick stories in which you are the hero that solved problems, reached objectives, and achieved goals.
5) Promote yourself.
Listen for opportunities to say something about how you can contribute. Listen for opportunities in the conversation to talk about your skills, ability, and knowledge. Give examples of how you solved problems, reached objectives, and achieved goals. How did you use your skills, ability, and knowledge? And what were the results?