Long-time friend and blog reader Josh got in touch last week, looking for some advice. He told me: I have an interview for a position that would be really…prestigious. I’m wondering if you have any tips for avoiding my biggest interview bugaboo – “oversharing.”
Ah! This is pretty common, especially with more extroverted folks. The adrenaline of the interview and the natural tendency to talk combines to create rambling and a belated sense of “wait, why did I tell them that?”
I congratulated Josh on the interview, and on his self-awareness of this oversharing tendency. Than I suggested:
Think about what they want to learn about you. Answer the question, not curtly, but try not to go on tangents. Remember their time is limited, and they may have the world’s most perfect question for you right at the end, but if you keep talking you won’t get to it. Also, almost every interviewer asks if there’s something they didn’t ask that you want to share, so you’ve got a little catch-all there for anything that’s really burning!
Josh emailed back to say he liked that “letting the interviewer get to their even more awesome questions” made his self-adjustments feel less restrictive, and more like he was taking action to make space for those questions. It’s also worth noting that Josh started thinking about and preparing for his interview more than a week in advance—he had plenty of opportunity to make these changes and think through what he definitely wanted to mention in the interview.
After the interview, Josh took the time to let me know how it went. He shared:
Hey Angie! Had my interview on Wednesday and employed your advice at least two specific times and stopped myself after making my point to give the interviewer space to ask the next question. Super helpful!
Who knows how it will turn out but I think I gave them a good picture of myself.
Thanks for everything!
Of all the things I really love about this whole story, I think the thing I like best is that Josh wanted me to tell me whether it worked. As a coach, I want to know what’s working, what we can tweak, what feels right and what needs to change. And of course I also love that Josh could implement this advice and see a shift.
Here’s to good interviews and old friends.
h/t Josh!
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