Ifunanya Ursula
7 min readMar 8, 2022

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THE SECRET WEAPON TO NAILING YOUR JOB INTERVIEW

Here’s a tip; it’s not those thoroughly revised interview answers.

I once got a good paying job I thought I was extremely underqualified for without any real connections or referrals.

This is how it happened.

I was randomly applying for writing jobs right after I graduated when I saw an opening for copywriters at a start-up company. I knew zero about copy writing at the time, all I knew was that I loved writing and this was a writing job staring at me in the face. Days later, I got a call for an interview. When I arrived for this interview, I was already an hour late and the last applicant to work in.

Over 3 hours later, I finally get called in for this interview. I walk into the room and the main woman interviewing announces in a loud voice ‘You are an hour late’.

There I was; underqualified, unprepared and completely late.

I was fairly certain I would not get the job, not with the streams of other people I had seen interviewed already.

Because I was not desperate for the job and because I was almost certain I would not get it, I did not bother with impressing them. I was conversational in my communication as opposed to ‘professional’. It ended up becoming somewhat of an enjoyable experience for me.

The next morning, I got a text informing me that I had gotten the job and should resume the next week.

Imagine my Shock!

I wanted to know what I did that got me that job. Eventually I did find it out and you will too as you read on.

Here’s the thing; When people get called for job interviews, their first thought is to package their qualifications and numerous skills, recite interview questions to themselves and basically fill their brains with so much information that they forgot to be present as a human during the interview.

People are so focused on giving the right answers that their answers become almost robotic. Remember, it’s not about you. It’s all about the company and how you make the interviewers feel. They are more interested in knowing how you can positively impact their company not how intelligent you think you might sound.

They want to know how your personal values, beliefs and experiences can reflect in their business.

A survey carried out in 2021, shows that your skills and qualifications in an interview matters only about 25 percent. Shocker! I know. What do you think accounts for the rest 75 percent? Take a wild guess. You guessed right? Or maybe not. I’ll tell you either way.

Your personality!

The truth is every single human that has a working brain can learn on the job. But every single human cannot fit in a work environment.

The more an interviewer feels you can fit in effortlessly into the company, the more chances you have of winning them over and landing that job.

Now back to why I got the job. I was curious to know what I did that got me the job and finally 3 months later, during a work meeting it was revealed to me.

These are some of the questions I was asked in no particular order and my answers; I would represent the Interviewers questions with a Q and represent my answers with an A.

Q-Why were you late?

A- I woke up late. Apologies for that Ma.

Q- What makes you more qualified than every other person that has been in this room today?

A- I don’t think I’m more qualified. However, I know I’m more creative.

Q- We’ve seen your works but we noticed you’ve only published 2. Why is that?

A- I deal with feelings of anxiety, so naturally I get scared of people’s opinion.

Q- Share an instance with us.

A- (I share a personal experience)

Q- You know this is a copywriting job, right? There are no sales copies included in all your written works.

A- (prolonged silence from my end) It is not included because I have never written a copy in my life. As a matter of fact, I don’t know what a sales copy mean.

The interviewers exchange looks then proceed to give me a google definition of copywriting. (Believe it or not that was my first introduction to copywriting).

A- So basically salesmanship on paper?

Q- Yes.

A- Okay Ma. Can I pick something at random and try to sell it you on paper then?

At this point, I was half expecting them to look at their watches or motion me out of the room, but they don’t. So, I pick my pen, a jotter and scribble a 4-line paragraph. I tried to sell them the pen I was writing with.

The interview ended shortly after that.

It turns out my honesty, my conversational tone and how authentic my stories seemed were widely appreciated by them. However, what really sold me was the 4-line sales copy I has written. They called it a “spur in the moment creativity”. They loved the spontaneity they attributed to that particular action and discovered the potential for me to be more.

After that surprising revelation, I decided to do further research based on other employees working for other companies and I found out that a chunk of people were able to nail their interviews based heavily on their personalities.

Now that you know the very important role your personality can play when landing you that dream job, I wIll introduce you to the Top 7 personality traits that you need to have if you want to land that dream job;

1) Confidence — I have heard not one bad word about confidence. Not only is it one of an individual’s most attractive features, it is also an important trait to exude during an interview. Being confident does not mean you have to know the answers to all questions asked. It means that even during moments of uncertainty, you are able to approach the questions with calm composure. Confidence convinces the employers that you are sure of your capabilities and what you can offer to the company.

2)Authenticity — Stay true to yourself. Avoid giving overly revised answers. When you revise interview questions, you’re not alone, so, imagine how many researched interview answers your employer has probably heard. Don’t do or say exactly what every other person is saying. Refrain from using overly used words during your interview like ‘’CAPABLE, TEAM PLAYER, MULTI TASKER etc. Let your mind be refreshing enough for them to want to explore.

3)Open mindedness — An open-minded person is teachable and employers love that. When asked a question, if you can, have more than one answer to give. It portrays your brain as multidimensional which is good for problem solving and idea fetching in a company. People who have linear minds hardly think outside the box and therefore inhibit their creative process.

4)Conversational — There is a line between professionalism and friendliness. Find that line and stay in it. Be careful not to overstep because you don’t want to sound unserious. At the same time, when you sound professional it will be difficult for the interviewers to connect with you. When you keep your tone light and conversational, they relate with you more as an actual human than just ‘’a potential employee”. They are able to let their guard down because they will automatically feel more comfortable with you. Unconsciously they’re already viewing you as someone who can easily fit into the company culture.

5)A mind of your own — Don’t be the agreeable applicant. It shows lack of substance. It’s bland, typical and unimaginably boring. This, however, does not mean that you should in any way be stubborn or disagree with the interviewer. Have your own ideas, suggest something different without being rude, just refrain from being overly agreeable.

6)Honesty — Be truthful as much as you can be except you are an excellent liar. If your employers suspect that you’re being dishonest, it sets off signal in their minds about your other qualifications and makes you untrustworthy. When I got asked why I didn’t make it in time for the interview, I could have easily searched for an excuse or spun a lie but I was upfront and admitted that I was in the wrong. That admission made me unconsciously position myself as a trustworthy person.

7)Be an active Listener — Try to listen when the Interviewer is talking and by that, I mean giving them your undivided attention. Pay attention to the details of the conversation. It portrays you as an individual who take things very seriously.

One last piece of advice I will dish out is this; do not appear desperate for a job. Even if you’re desperate, don’t let the interviewer know or even suspect it. Desperation can be sniffed from a mile away and nobody likes desperate people because it shows a deep lack of confidence. It also puts you at lower bargaining end.

PLEASE NOTE: The role your personality plays in landing you THAT dream job is based solely on a job interview. If you’ve not been called for an interview then please, work on your qualifications, skills and connections. The moment you get that interview call is the exact moment your personality traits begins to matter.

Cheers to you NAILING that interview and getting your dream job!

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Ifunanya Ursula

Wallflower. I tell emotive stories. I write sales Copies. I create magic.