Francesca Mesiti, a Recruitment Specialist in our Clifton Park, NY office, shares her tips on how to personify healthy confidence within an interview setting.

Congratulations! You’ve mastered your phone interview. A hiring manager wants to speak in person regarding an exciting job opportunity. As you prepare, remember that while confidence is a selling point, humility is as well. Consider these five tips to demonstrate self-assurance without accidentally leaning towards arrogance.

1. Define past successes using facts, not feelings. For example, instead of stating “I’m a very successful recruiter who has amassed a lot of hires,” mention “I recently won an award for having the most hires out of 15 recruiters in the Northeast.” Remember—when discussing past successes, acknowledge the roles others have played. If your team won an award or achieved a major accomplishment, highlight the team’s efforts and mention the ways you learned to work together. This illustrates your understanding of the importance of teamwork and personal humility.
2. Be honest about your accomplishments! Exaggerations can be fact-checked. Possessing true confidence should remove any need to create or invent accomplishments. Illustrate your enthusiasm to have been part of a successful venture and stick to what can be proven, described, or documented.
3. There’s no need to be apprehensive about acknowledging past failures or disappointments. Focus on lessons learned and something positive that arose from the situation. Employers are interested to hear examples of growth and personal and professional maturity.
4. Allow your enthusiasm for this role and company to shine though to the interviewer, but be sure they know you’re actively interviewing! If an employer is interested in hiring you, this may speed up the offer process and increase your personal value.
5. Make reasonable requests regarding compensation, but leave room to negotiate with hiring managers. If the role has a well-known title and duties, research the compensation range this role usually receives. If the role is more unique, prepare by bringing examples of how you’ve achieved positive results and goals, especially duties or plans you personally initiated and completed. These tangible examples help an employer understand your unique value.