Not only do I hope you don't have to change clothes during an interview to impress the employer, but I hope you don't have to change who you are either. Unfortunately I hear about it all the time after a failed interview. Case after case of a candidate waffling between what the employer wants to hear and what is actually true about someone's background. Here a few easy tips to prevent that from ever happening to you:
1) Stick to your strengths. If you are usually a quiet, contemplative type of person, don't enter into an interview trying to act like Cheri Oteri on Saturday Night Live when she is an over-eager (and over-bearing) cheerleader with Will Ferrell. The employer may really like that energy and expect it on a daily basis. Be careful who you portray yourself to be just to get the job and then show up on the first day as an alter ego. I can tell you exactly how that will turn out after a few months on the job.
2) It is okay to say, "I don't know". If an employer is looking for a very specific answer, and you don't know the answer, the worst thing you can do is fake your way through it. Or point to how you are a quick learner before admitting you don't know the answer. Stay true to yourself and focus instead on what you do know. Or ask a follow up question to see if it is in fact something you could learn quickly. If you jump too quickly to an answer that isn't you, it will be evident quickly. I once had an employer tell me that a candidate took so long to improperly answer a question that the hiring manager forgot what the original question was that the candidate clearly didn't have an answer to in the first place. The interview was unofficially over after that.
3) You can adjust your answers on the fly, but don't abandon what has worked in the past. I had a healthy debate with my son last night during Game 7 of the Golden State/OKC game. He complained that all the Warriors do is shoot threes and hope they go in. I argued that is their game and has been all season. Why change now? They certainly had to change a few things as the Thunder defense threw different looks at them, but if they had decided to not shoot any three-pointers at all during the pre-game strategy, it likely would have been a different outcome. And not in their favor. Again, if you are hired for a job based upon an interview process where you pretended to be Superman, and you're really just Clark Kent on a daily basis, the new employer will feel like you pulled the wool over their eyes.
4) RE-LAX. Now don't take this to an extreme - I am NOT advocating taking your shoes off and kicking up your feet on the desk. Instead focus on the small details. Breathe more intentionally, talk more slowly (people always speak more quickly when nervous), really consider your answers before blurting them out, be aware of your surroundings, etc. Another story I can think of is a candidate who spoke for so long and in such circles that they had to ask the hiring manager to repeat the question that was asked ten minutes earlier. The opposite of my story from above. Can you seriously imagine such a verbal barrage coming out of your mouth that you couldn't even remember the question that was asked?
5) Be the best version of yourself. There are a few ways to accomplish this without much effort, but these concepts are often overlooked. They include getting a good night's sleep before the day of an interview, eat a good meal beforehand, allow plenty of time to arrive early at the interview so that you're not flustered, use the restroom before the interview to make sure you don't have to later (this is also an opportunity to see if any of that pre-interview meal is stuck between your teeth or spilled on your collar), this list could go on and on. Yet so many people fail to do this little things that would give them a better opportunity to truly be themselves.
The bottom line is that companies are going to hire based upon who they see and hear in an interview. If that isn't who you really are, those first few weeks and months could be really awkward when they find out they hired Clark Kent and not Superman........
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