After a year and a half of being at home, taking Zoom calls and working from our sofas, it’s easy to forget how to present ourselves in formal situations, for instance, a face to face interview.

As employees start to return to offices, face to face interviews are going to start becoming normal again, so here’s a little refresher on interview etiquette and a few of our top tips for in person interviews.

Appearance / What to wear

We’ve all got pretty comfortable wearing our lounge wear and trainers each day but if you’ve got an interview coming up then you’ll need to have a rummage through your cupboard and dust down your smart shoes. Take a blister plaster with you just in case, we’ve all got so used to our trainers!

Be on time (or early!)

If you aren’t used to commuting to and from work you might have forgotten the time it takes to get to places. Leaving extra time to get to an interview is really important, showing up late can really damage your chances of getting a second interview or the job. Getting to the interview location at least 10 minutes early will give you a chance to find the building and take a few moments to breathe before the interview starts. The last thing you want to be doing is rushing into the building as the interview is due to start and being all hot and flustered.

First impressions / Body language

As we mentioned above, first impressions are so important when it comes to face to face interviews and body language is a huge part of that. Being face to face as opposed to on Zoom requires a different way to communicate, remember to stand up when the interviewer walks into the room, and shake their hand with confidence. Remember to speak clearly, show enthusiasm - try mirroring the person opposite - and avoid the arms crossed look.

Take a hard copy of your CV with you

It’s always important to take a hard copy of your CV with you to a face to face interview. It’s likely that the interviewer will be meeting with a number of different candidates that day, there’s a chance your CV gets mislaid or the printer doesn’t work so being able to offer them a copy will be super impressive and helpful.

Be yourself

Our last tip is to try and relax and be yourself! You can do a really good job in the interview, answering all of the questions and presenting brilliantly but if you don’t show your authentic self and how you will fit in culturally, they might see through this. So be yourself, be confident and always smile :-)