Likes and Umms… By: Jun Loayza
Under: Interview“So, ummmm, I want to work for your company because I’m like, very experiences in you’re ummmm, industry. Like, I used to work for like, this company where I developed ummmm, my abilities to like quantify and like analyze financial ratios.”
I grew up in Orange County and the majority of the girls here can’t help but talk in this way. “Like” and “Umms” are just a part of the vocabulary and accepted by our lovely people; however, this could greatly ruin your chances of being recruited by a firm. I mock interviewed my good friend yesterday for her graduate school admit interview. She has an amazingly fun personality and has great experience and answers for her interview questions. The only thing that she needs to work on are the “Likes” and “Umms”.
The problem with using these two words excessively is that it makes you sound less intelligent and your answers become less structured. It doesn’t matter how good your answers are, the interviewer will eventually only concentrate on counting the amount of times you say it.
First thing’s first - understand and realize what you’re saying. Be conscious of every time you say “Like”. Ask your friends for help - tell them to stop you in the middle of your sentence every time that you say “Like”.
Secondly, talk slower and use pauses instead of “Likes”. In the beginning, your speech may sound a little choppy and slow because the “Likes” will be replaced by pauses in your speech, but eventually you’ll begin to talk smoother and more fluidly than ever before.
The important thing to remember is that changing the way you talk does not mean you have to change your personality or the content of your words. Practice your speech now, rather than later right before your interview. You want to be completely confident with your speech so that you can focus on the content of your interview answers. If you’re nervous about the way you talk during the interview, you’ll be nervous about the entire thing and your voice will begin to tremble.
Get everyone you know involved with what you’re doing so that it will be an easy and swift transition. I love girls from the OC, but I could do with a few less “Likes”.
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