How to Introduce Yourself in Job Interview as a Fresh Graduate – You are a fresh graduate and you’re about to deal with your first job interview, this first experience is undoubtedly can be nerve-wrecking. Because you want to make sure that everything will run smoothly, no mistakes, and create a lasting positive impression.
This article will help you to figure out how to introduce yourself in job interview as a fresh graduate.
1. You need to understand the employer’s intention
When the employers ask you to introduce yourself, they don’t mean you to tell them all the details about your life from age five. They want you to explain yourself and your professional experience that related to the job you are applying. Summarizing your resume is also not what they expect you to introduce yourself.
Then what do they actually want to hear? Basically they want to hear you highlighting your professional experiences and achievements that make you an ideal fit for the job.
2. The approaches to answer the question
You can be creative with your answer and enhance your charisma in front of the employer by giving a personal answer. Personal answer is the answer that is not commonly used by other candidates. As this probably isn’t your first job interview, you learn how to captivate the employer with your answer from the first question.
If this is your first job interview, it’s okay to go with what you already know. Keep your answer genuine and honest as long as you give the expected answer. Since the employers have interviewed many candidates, they can read the candidates personality. They also can sense when you’re too nervous.
For example, if you are applying for a job in engineering field, you better give a background about how you first found your passion for engineering, and any work experience that is related to this field. By doing so, the employers can learn that you meet the expectation, straight-forward with your answer, and get to the point right away.
3. Explain your interests or hobbies
Previously, you are asked to give answer related to your professional works, experience, and achievements. However, you may talk about your interests and hobbies outside the work. Something that you usually enjoy doing outside of work. But still make it relevant to the job you are applying for.
Continuing from the previous example, you can mention your interests or hobbies and elaborate how it’s relevant to the job. For example, you have interests in volunteering and environmental activism. You can elaborate by saying that you’re motivated to implement sustainable programs at your job to sustain the environment.
4. Maintain eye contact
When you are doing job interview, make sure to maintain eye contact with the employers. It’s important to show the employers that you are serious and focused. They tend to think that you are prepared, communicative, assertive, and it’s appealing to them.
5. Show confidence and enthusiasm
Generally, a smile can break the initially stiff atmosphere to be more relaxed. When the atmosphere become more relaxed, everyone will be more comfortable at their place. This is also relevant for job interview.
In fact, job interview can be nerve-wrecking to candidates. On the other side, the employers have been used to face such situation and it resulted in them can be more relaxed dealing with this situation compared to the candidates. Even though they know if you’re nervous, doesn’t mean you can show them even if your intention is to be purely honest to them.
Reducing nervousness may be hard for everyone but it’s manageable. You can handle it by managing and changing your negative emotion to positive emotion by smiling. When you smile, your mind transform those inner negative emotion to positive emotion slowly. The result will be show through your energy that will be caught by the employers.
Give the employers your friendly smile as soon as you meet them. Then combine it with maintaining eye contact, a friendly eye contact as well. Shake their hands firmly, a friendly one. Do them altogether well. By doing so, it indicates how confident you are for this interview.
6. Control your body language
Non-verbal communication is as important as verbal communication. Body language is a non-verbal communication that you must pay attention to when you are at job interview. Anyone can read body language, employer is no exception. With the length of their experience in interviewing candidates, they can read when the candidates are nervous, not confident, looking unsure, and so on.
There are several things you can do to indicate you are confident, prepared, and confident and give the most positive outlook to the employers through body language.
a. Pull your shoulders and make your posture good
b. Raise and straighten your chin so you face the employers eye-to-eye
c. Maintain friendly eye contact, not too shy, not intimidating
d. Smile and make yourself friendly to the employers
7. Practice
For some people, to introduce themselves for job interview can be hard. People rarely do that in real life except for professional matters and they surely want to get it right at once. It’s normal, it’s right, and it is something that you can learn by practicing.
Even if it’s hard, you still have to do it. Take it as this is one of those hard steps that you have to go through first in order you can continue to the next step. One of the ways to tackle this challenge is by practicing before your interview day come.
You can practice alone or ask your friends to help you. By asking your friends, they can role playing as the employers and you can practice your speech or introduction in front of them. Then ask them for insights, suggestions, what you need to improve and what’s already enough.
However if you want to practice alone, you can do it by recording your introduction with camera, phone camera, or any gadget that can record your performance. After each takes, check and evaluate yourself. Whether you think your introduction is already good enough or need improvement, evaluate yourself and do better in the next take.
Lastly, check the duration. Make sure you don’t waste the time to introduce yourself by humming too much or too long. Also make sure you don’t over explaining, not enough explanation, just make the right amount of duration and introduction. And this is what exactly make practice important. By practicing, you actively learn to improve yourself. When your performance is improving, you will also gain confidence. It’s like do one thing diligently and you benefit several things at once.
Due to current trends where job interviews are done online since the pandemic started, practice by recording yourself will also be beneficial. If you are perfectionist, you will also be care about the angle and lighting. To practice by recording, you can adjust to your best angle and lighting to show up at job interview at your best.
Both of the methods, asking your friend’s help and recording yourself will help you to improve your performance in introducing yourself at job interview. Whichever method you choose, make sure to practice well and be serious about it.
All the guide above is important because job interview is not only about delivering your answer, but also presenting yourself. You’re probably wondering now about how to put that into action.
So here is a scenario to give you an idea how to introduce yourself in job interview as a fresh graduate. Adjust the introduction example below to meet the required qualifications.
Example How to Introduce Yourself in Job Interview as a Fresh Graduate
Good morning Mr. Jack Nicholson (the employer’s name). I am Winona Reader (your full name) and you may call me Nona (your nickname). I am a fresh graduate of S University (name of your university) with cum laude title and majoring Computer Science for bachelor degree. During the study, I have worked on projects based on hardware and big data analysis. That experience leads me to hopefully I can work and build career in fields related to both or technology and information in general.
When I was working for that project, my role was a team leader and team player. I have to ensure the proper completion of work by team members. I took that project seriously and at that time, our team back home with full smile because we succeed.
Finally, I think I am the ideal candidate for this job as my resume meets the qualifications you have stated in the job advertisement. And hopefully my experience in this field interest you and make you sure that I am the right candidates for this job.
As a fresh graduate, first time taking a job interview is challenging. As it is also your first experience getting into professional life. You want your job interview to pass perfectly. It is understandable and your potential employers also understand that since they may have encountered nervous prospective employees too many times.
The key to introduce yourself in job interview is to prepare yourself by collecting related information to help you more knowledgeable, the dos and don’ts, but also not forget to represent your true intention and personality well.
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