Out the Box Interview Techniques That No One Else Has Thought Of

By Chris Delaney

Today you will learn 3 out the box interview techniques that will increase your employability. These techniques are founded in psychology, which means they are proven to influence the interviewer.

Psychology is the understanding of human nature, by implementing simple psychological techniques you can direct the interviewer's thinking to highlight your expertise, to create interest in yourself and to quickly and sneakily change the employer’s negative opinion of you around.

3 Out of the Box Interview Techniques

1. Become an Expert. These days the competition for jobs is high. Everyone has both the qualifications and the experience; this is why they have, along with yourself, been invited to interview. To stand out from the job interview crowd, you need a unique selling point, something that will make you stand out above the others. You need the employer to trust you. Humans have a tendency to trust and believe experts. You need to make yourself an expert in your job sector. Research new developments and technologies, find out how economics, the environment and foreign governments affect your job sector and understand the history of your industry. Within a couple of hours searching online you can arm yourself with enough knowledge to come across as a sector expert, by quoting pieces of your research during your interview answers. From the employer's point of view, your expertise equals profits. The employer once they believe you are an expert won't even question what you say; this is the power of being perceived as an expert.

2. Change The Employer's Negative Opinion Of You. Humans naturally put people in boxes. We see this every day as people stereotype. In the job interview the employer can easily perceive you negatively due to association. The employer reading your application may say an off the cuff but damaging statement "I see you have worked at X, didn't they lose a contract due to a lack of product quality?" If the employer paints you with the same brush he's painting the organisation with, you will find yourself unemployed. In these cases you need to quickly change the employer’s negative belief. To re-frame the situation you need to, in just one sentence, change the employer's perception, to see you or the situation in a different light. "Yes they did lose a contract through a lack of quality products, which is why I'm here today. I want to work for an organisation which, like me, has a passion for the quality of what they produce" This technique takes practice. Write down 5 damning statements that an employer could say, and come up with 5 re-framed responses. This will give you the skill to think of a re-frame on your feet during the interview.

3. Create Intrigue. The reason why we spend millions of pounds on books and going to the movies is because the authors and directors are masters at creating intrigue. Sometimes we can’t put a book down until we know "who did it" even though its 3:00 in the morning and you have to be up in two hours. You can use the same technique in the job interview. What you have to remember is that many interviewers hate interviewing, they’re nervous and they become bored of asking the same questions and hearing similar answers. When answering an interview question, give your answer an intriguing heading.

Example interview question: "tell me about your key strengths"; intriguing answer example: "I'm going to tell you the story about President Nixon!!" The employer is so use to hearing "I’m a great team player..." that the Nixon answer breaks their pattern, and they will want to listen to you... "Did he just say a story about Nixon, what's this about... I'm intrigued?" You can create intrigue in many ways "did you know that the last two companies I worked for were on the verge of bankruptcy, within 6 months I had turned both companies into highly profitable businesses? I will tell you the secret that I use". What employer wouldn't want to know that? Especially if they themselves are having financial problems. Intrigue creates interest in what you have to say, leaving the employer with a hundred questions to ask you, as they will always want to know more about you and your expertise.

These three techniques that you have just learnt are powerful when used alone. But if you use all three techniques combined during the job interview you will create a powerful force; the employer will want to hire you, but they won’t know why.