How to Make Small Talk

So you walk into the interview you’re sitting down.

The person who is interviewing you is about to sit down behind his or her desk.

What happens right now.

Sometimes there’s an awkward silence it might be awkward for the person interviewing you.

They might be nervous.

This is the perfect time to make small talk.

Now people like to pride themselves and say oh I’m not good at small talk I’m all about substance.

That’s the wrong attitude to have.

Don’t look at it as small or unimportant just look at it is something that you have to do that you need to do to express your humanity and to show this person interviewing you that you are in fact a human being.

Now I’m not suggesting lie or ingratiate yourself or pander but if you’re looking at the wall and the person has various photos holding up big fish and you like to fish say wow what is that a 10 pound bass.

I’ve never caught one that big and I’ve tried many many times.

If you see them surfing and you’re surfing fan comment on something that you have of commonality.

Again hiring someone for a job isn’t simply about GPA numbers on a box certification.

If someone’s hiring you they’re essentially bringing you into their life.

Many people spend more waking hours have more conversations with colleagues they work with and they do their own spouse or children so they might not tell you this but they only want to hire people they actually like.

That doesn’t mean you have to be best friends but the idea of hiring someone where you know you can never have a conversation with them about any aspect of commonality in the lunchroom or over coffee isn’t something most people find appealing.

So if you can find something that you have in common with a person that you can gather from a picture maybe they have a toy sailboat replica up on their wall find something you have in common and comment on it.

Now you don’t want to talk about that for an hour but for the first couple of minutes it can warm the room up make that person feel more comfortable about you as a human being and the conversation can be much more natural as far as the job your qualifications and why it might be a good fit.

So small talk is not necessarily an extra it’s not fluff.

It’s an important part of the entire interview process.