How to be instantly 10x persuasive in job interviews
A framework that will help you crush interviews and get to the final round.
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Friends,
You’ve polished your résumé, rehearsed your elevator pitch, and maybe even nailed the technical rounds. But when it comes to the final interview, something’s missing. You walk out feeling hopeful—only to hear crickets. Again.
Sound familiar? You’re not alone.
Even the most qualified candidates often struggle to persuade hiring managers they’re the right fit. The secret? Treating the interview not as an interrogation, but as a chance to tell a compelling story about why you’re the solution to their problem.
That’s why I’m thrilled to welcome Valeska Petek—Career Mentor, former Recruiter at multinational companies, and expert in turning interviews into offers—to share her battle-tested framework. Valeska has coached thousands of professionals through high-stakes career transitions, and in this post…
She breaks down exactly how to:
Decode what companies really want (hint: it’s not just the job description).
Craft persuasive answers to common questions like “Tell me about yourself” and “Why should we hire you?” (with before/after scripts that actually work).
Hack your nerves using neuroscience-backed tactics to project confidence, even if you’re sweating inside.
By the end, you’ll have actionable strategies to reframe your narrative, master body language, and leave interviewers thinking, “We need this person.” No crystal ball is required.
Let’s dive in.
P.S. If you’ve ever blanked mid-answer or wondered why “just being yourself” isn’t enough, this one’s for you. 👀🔽
A framework to be 10x more persuasive and crush your next job interview.
If you want to change jobs, but you haven't received any offers after the interviews (or it's been a long time since you've attended one), this article is for you.
🙃 To begin with: Even the most obvious points deserve mentioning.
The recruiter does not know who you are. Even if, in some other context, you have met that professional (maybe a previous interview), we cannot count on the possibility that, perhaps, they will remember something specific about you.
The interviewer does not have a crystal ball 🔮. They will not guess that within a certain course or position you’ve developed a certain knowledge or skill. It is up to you to tell this on your CV (briefly, in writing) and in the interview (in more detail, verbally).
Therefore, it is your responsibility to present yourself (always in an honest way, of course!), valuing your story, and in this article I will help you to do that.
Step 1: Understand what the company is looking for
Imagine that you were a car salesperson. And that, when you approached a customer, you would automatically have access to all of their preferences: available budget, whether the car would be used for work or leisure, whether they are concerned about the safety of children in the back seat, desired colors and models, among other information. Having access to the profile of the vehicle the customer was looking for would not guarantee you a successful sale, but it would greatly increase your chances of using the right arguments to convince them.
A job interview is a sale. You, the candidate, are not a product, but you offer solutions for something the company needs. The job description tells you exactly what the company is looking for, so read it carefully.
Once you understand what the professional who will fill that position needs to have, the challenge now is to connect the dots and show how you meet the requirements of three categories: knowledge 📚, experience 💪 and soft skills 💡.
Step 2: Prepare your speech
Our performance while making any type of presentation is directly linked to our familiarity with the subject and the number of times we repeat it, as the brain tends to automate information and this requires less mental effort during the real presentation. Therefore, preparing for the job interview is a must-do.
Speaking briefly, our communication process can be divided into two stages: planning ✍ and execution 🗣.
The time you invest planning ✍ your answers (before the interview) is essential, as this is when you can write, erase and rework your ideas, calmly and with no rush. To do this, list the most common questions in job interviews and write down what you intend to answer. Here is the list of questions I work on in training sessions with my clients worldwide:
Tell me a little about yourself.
What made you feel interested in this position?
What is your greatest professional achievement so far?
Could you share an example of a challenge or conflict you have faced at work and how you handled it?
How would your manager and colleagues describe you?
Why would you like to change jobs?
Do you usually contribute to improve processes in your work? Could you share an example of an idea you have implemented?
How do you work under pressure with tight deadlines?
What do you consider to be your strengths?
And how about your weaknesses?
Where do you see yourself in five years?
What do you know about our company?
Why should we hire you?
Is there any reason why we shouldn't hire you?
What would you consider relevant about yourself that is not on your CV?
When you finish writing down your answers, ask yourself:
“Are my answers simply describing what I have experienced, or are they ✨persuasive✨, emphasizing the skills needed for the position?”
Here is an example: for the question “tell me a little about yourself”, instead of:
“I'm [name], a Software Engineering graduate, and I've been working with mobile front-end development for 5 years. Now I want to focus on Project Management, so I just got my Scrum Master certification.”
Instead, replace it with:
“I'm [name], a Software Engineering graduate, and after 5 years working with mobile front-end development, I felt like learning more about Project Management, because I know the impact a good management can make to our results and I realized that I'm good with agile methodologies. I got deeper on that, so I recently got my Scrum Master certification, and I'm really looking forward to putting that into practice.”
Another example: for the question “why would you like to change jobs?”, instead of:
“Because I'd like to embrace new challenges, and I feel like that's not possible in my current company.”
Instead, replace it with:
“After working for 5 years on the development of X, I would like to focus more on Y. I looked for ways to do this within the current company, but this is outside the scope of the current products. I was very interested in this position precisely because it allows me to take this career step: focus on Y, and also learn more about the market for Z products.”
The second stage of communication is execution 🗣 and, just like any skill (like riding a bike🚲), you can practice it. This can be done in front of a mirror, speaking out loud, recording videos of yourself, or even talking to someone who can give you feedback (like a Career Mentor).
Even real interviews are a way to practice: in case they don't result in a job offer, at least you could test yourself in a real context and become more familiar with it. The most important thing is to repeat it until it gets easier and you feel more confident.
Step 3: Work on your emotional intelligence
A job interview usually represents an opportunity for a fresh start, so it is natural to feel a little nervous. However, there are cases in which emotions are so intense that even good candidates have great difficulty telling their story. I have experienced this as a candidate and also as an interviewer (when I talked to thousands of candidates).
This happens because our brain quickly identifies situations that could mean danger and signals it to our body so we can protect ourselves. The same brain mechanisms, which were activated to alert our ancestors about something like lions 🦁, are activated when we feel insecure or afraid in daily situations. As a result, we do not think clearly, and then we forget what we meant to say, our hands sweat, our voice falters, we stutter, etc.
That is why we should regulate our emotions and here are some steps to help you doing this: