How to Be Articulate in Interviews?

I am having no trouble landing interviews, but my weakness comes during the actual interview - I can't seem to articulate myself very well when under pressure. This has been a weakness of mine since college and I've tried many things to prepare myself, including reading as many guides and articles as I can, preparing my replies to behavioral questions and practicing my responses. I don't know why my nerves get the best of me during interviews, when this is not indicative of me in either my career or my personal life - I've dealt with MD's screaming at me, given training to over 200 associates and I'm always told by friends or colleagues that I'm pretty calm and unflappable. I can face pressure and handle it fine, I have confidence and know what I can and can't do. So I don't know why I can't translate this in interviews.

I've tried to envision the person I'm speaking with as a colleague or as a friend and that sometimes helps calm me down. I've tried to set the tone and pacing of my voice to be similar to theirs so that I won't stumble too much or say too many "ah's" or "um's." But I can't seem to nail the interviews as well as I'd like and I have a feeling the ones I've been rejected for were due more to fit, than my actual knowledge or background. How do I show and market myself more fairly in the interview process? Essentially, how do I get my confidence level up??

 

Heh, I have this problem, too. The only thing I can say (as everyone has told me this) is practice makes perfect. Go apply for 50 retail teller jobs or jobs at starbucks or something, just to practice. I haven't done this, I've been meaning to, though.

"You stop being an asshole when it sucks to be you." -IlliniProgrammer "Your grammar made me wish I'd been aborted." -happypantsmcgee
 
D M:
Heh, I have this problem, too. The only thing I can say (as everyone has told me this) is practice makes perfect. Go apply for 50 retail teller jobs or jobs at starbucks or something, just to practice. I haven't done this, I've been meaning to, though.
this wont help. i did this but to a lesser extend (finance jobs which i just didn't want), but i never felt the heart thumping adrenaline that i get when i really fuckin' want the job. you can practice on the training pitch as much as you like, but when you get to the super bowl, it's going to be different.
"After you work on Wall Street it’s a choice, would you rather work at McDonalds or on the sell-side? I would choose McDonalds over the sell-side.” - David Tepper
 
Oreos:
D M:
Heh, I have this problem, too. The only thing I can say (as everyone has told me this) is practice makes perfect. Go apply for 50 retail teller jobs or jobs at starbucks or something, just to practice. I haven't done this, I've been meaning to, though.
this wont help. i did this but to a lesser extend (finance jobs which i just didn't want), but i never felt the heart thumping adrenaline that i get when i really fuckin' want the job. you can practice on the training pitch as much as you like, but when you get to the super bowl, it's going to be different.

Yea I've interviewed for some jobs since then and tried this... definitely didn't work. It really does help if you're applying for backup jobs though!

"You stop being an asshole when it sucks to be you." -IlliniProgrammer "Your grammar made me wish I'd been aborted." -happypantsmcgee
 

Has anyone come up with a solution. I'm in a desperate situation, I have trouble even getting a job and through the feed back that I've received, its because I have difficulty articulating what I'm trying to say.Its becoming disheartening.

 
Best Response
Cheryl-Dior:

Has anyone come up with a solution. I'm in a desperate situation, I have trouble even getting a job and through the feed back that I've received, its because I have difficulty articulating what I'm trying to say.Its becoming disheartening.

Practice lying to people in a convincing matter. Doesn't matter about what. Just for example, tell some friends about some made up features the new iPhone will have. They're not really going to know, and you can always cop-out and say it was just a rumor you heard. And just get used to blabbering and lying. Once you get that down, try to be more concise, and balance filler with content.

Approach it from the standpoint of: If I was in marketing, HR, or sales, what BS would I tell people? Buzzwords are good, sure. Corporate talk, yep. Think of what they'd like to hear.

Consider that you can sell a lot of people just by seeming likable. You don't need all the answers, but you should be able to fabricate convincing answers on demand (meaning, think them out in your head in advance; maybe type/write some stories out). An expert just needs to know more than the next guy, and sound convincing.

 

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