An interview is a unique experience, people are using rationale and specific criteria to assess another person who they will potentially be spending many hours a week with; on whom they will rely to collaborate and create successes with. There is likely a deep need for trust, and it's important that this person complements those already on an existing team. The possible commitment to this individual is huge, and yet we usually have just 30-40 minutes to get to know them.

Interestingly, according to Psychology Today, most decisions are driven by emotions, even though people think that they approach decision making though logic. This makes EQ a critically important skill to master when interviewing. We need to learn to connect with the interviewer quickly. It is critical to impress your interviewers not only via adequate qualifications and experience (which will be likely already assessed in the CV stage) but to impress on a much more subtle level too.

How does one impress on this more subtle level? I believe the key is to cultivate an authentic, yet still respectful, confidence in your own skin. True confidence instills a sense of security in those around you, they relax a little more when they feel that you are at ease. If you can combine that with a genuine display of practical knowledge, people tend to like you and get a positive impression about what it would be like to collaborate with you.

When I interviewed for a role at Google that was more than 2 levels above my current role (I was working for Facebook at the time). I didn't spend hours learning all of Google's many advertising products, there were simply too many to learn in the time I had. I didn't take their free online accreditation for sales strategy, I would do that in my first 2 weeks of sales training anyway. I didn't spend my time learning their in-house jargon to sound like I work there already. I spent the few days preparation time focusing exclusively on myself, ensuring that I could clearly articulate my best skills, humbly admit areas that I was not yet up-to-speed on (the jargon for example). I took the time to study the company culture and understand if my values aligned. I took time to meditate, and get clear about myself, my achievements and who I am at my best.

I did five interviews back to back for Google on a sunny Friday morning, and was offered the job, at double the salary I had been on in Facebook, the following Monday. Let me help you understand more about how I did it.