Building Rapport For Job Change And Interview Success

On this page we're looking at how you can go about building rapport for job change. Rapport is about creating a comfortable environment where both people feel that they are on the same wavelength.

Rapport is also a key element in your communication skill set as it enables more effective communication of ideas and ultimately to the achievement of goals. In an interview the ability to create rapport rapidly can mean the difference between getting the job offer, or not.

The essential intention of an interview is to establish whether you are the right person for the job. To do that the hiring manager will use two different measures: competence and compatibility.

Competence is a standardized and measurable requirement of knowledge, skills and behavior for an individual to correctly perform a specific job. It is being sufficiently qualified, or having the ability or aptitude to perform a specific role and so it can be tested, by looking at your specific key strengths and work skills.

Compatibility, on the other hand is described as being the long-term interaction between two or more individuals in terms of the ease and comfort of communication. This is very subjective and can not easily be tested; it can only be experienced because so much depends upon your personal attributes and key qualities.

This is where building rapport comes in and learning how to get it right is massively important to the success of an interview.

I'm going to explain a very simple way to build rapport quickly and easily with someone you haven't met before, such as the hiring manager when you go for a job interview.

Building Rapport: The Basics

A lot of this is pure common sense, so forgive me if you already know it, but the point is, there are so many things we know but we just do not do.

So the first key to building rapport for job change is to smile at the interviewer when you first meet. A simple smile can immediately change someone's feelings, much more than seeing than a straight face.

My second pointer is to use the interviewer's name, both when you are introduced - "Hello Ms. Chapman, thank you for seeing me today..." and try to use her name again during your interview: "Ms. Chapman, may I ask you about the structure of the team I may be joining?". Most people love to hear their name in a positive tone and tend to warm to you so long as you don't overdo it.

The next important thing to remember is to listen when someone else is speaking. We all know people who give the impression that they are not listening and we go away feeling disgruntled after talking to them, so don't do that in an interview.

One of the most important factors in building rapport for job change is, if you want others to like you, you have to listen to others much, much more than talking. And to show that you are listening ask the occasional intelligent question about what was said.

Right, that is the basics covered. So let's build it up a little more.

Advanced Rapport Building

Try to be enthusiastic about the job. When you are enthusiastic about the interviewer's thoughts and ideas she immediately feels understood and appreciates your input and answers even more. This makes her more receptive to the idea of you joining the enterprise.

Finally, matching and mirroring; you've heard about this but please be careful. It means that you match the characteristics of the other person to make them feel that you are like them. Making similar movements shortly after they do so you are sitting or standing in a similar stance is reassuring to them. If they talk more slowly than you normally do, slow your speech down so it is more like theirs.

Listen out for certain words they use, you may be able to use them later in the interview. Remember, people tend unconsciously to like people who are like themselves, so if you do it consciously, you can make people feel very comfortable. More interview body language tips.

When speaking or answering questions, don't speak too quickly, it will sound either confused or just desperate; speak clearly and alter the tone of your speech to emphasise certain points.

Using these pointers for building rapport for job change will elevate your confidence which in turn will make your interview go so much better.

You are here: Building Rapport

Return to the main interview help page or read more about Body Language.

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