How I Dramatically Improved My Job Interview Skills With Video Analysis

Use video analysis like professional sports teams to understand your job interview mistakes and change for the better.

This is a guest blog post by Jason Nethercott of Business Process Vision.

‘I would often forget the original question'

When I was preparing for a job interview for the position of business analyst at a large corporate company a couple of years ago, I knew I had a problem. I'm a waffler and I would attempt to answer questions from 90 different angles with 360 explanations of specific degrees of influence that could affect each. To make matters worse, during the interviews I would be so busy explaining, describing and clarifying that I would often forget the original question and suffer through one of those ‘long, silent periods'.

Well it was time to do something about my interview performance before this next big interview. I needed to see myself in an interview situation – how were my explanations addressing those tricky behavioral questions, did I look relaxed, where was I looking, was I speaking too fast?  Essentially, I needed to see my many mistakes ‘warts and all', review and improve.

So I turned to what any good professional sports team coach would do to dramatically improve results and used video analysis. It helped to create the most realistic setting possible and what a huge benefit it was!

How I used video analysis

I had two friends ask me a variety of relevant interview questions while being videoed. After listening to my friend's feedback we would all review and discuss the video which I'd play back on a large TV screen. It was so much more believable and meaningful for me being able to actually see myself objectively in that situation.

It took me around 90 minutes to go from waffling, un-directed answers to clear, relevant and structured answers with good examples. My confidence also increased throughout the session from being able to see my progress from the first recording to the final one and it felt great knowing that I was communicating so much effectively.

So what happened in the actual interview?

It was a breeze – I had good eye contact, felt relaxed and confident, answered clearly and concisely and enjoyed the whole process. I was offered the job the next day and started work 2 weeks later at the highest paying job I had ever had. Interestingly, it wasn't really the role that suited my strengths, qualifications, or experience but I got it anyway and learned a lot.

About the Author

Jason Nethercott is the owner of Evince and has worked in the employment, education, and small business fields for the past twenty years. He is currently building a new business called Business Process Vision which is focused on creating highly-conscious businesses where every system, process and procedure can be easily seen, improved and communicated. Read more on Jason's Business Process Vision blog or follow Jason on Twitter.

If you liked this article, you might also enjoy Answering 13 Common Interview Questions.

This article was part of the 2008 JobMob Guest Blogging Contest.

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