At my current job, our entry level support tech (let's call him Tim) is absolutely fantastic at his job.  Our customers love him, we all love him, he works crazy hard, and lately, he's been learning how to code on his own time.

We are actively trying to promote Tim to the role of Junior Software Developer so he can join my team.  There's only one problem.  We can't promote Tim until we first replace him. And we are having an incredibly hard time replacing him!  Earlier today we interviewed a young kid who looked perfect on paper. He loves to tinker on his own with Java and MySQL.  He's created a couple of hobby websites. He plays with hardware and has built his own PC.  We did an initial light phone interview and that went well. We thought we'd finally found Tim's replacement!

But then we brought him in for an interview.  

Wow. What a disaster.

I didn't personally attend the interview since the support tech position doesn't fall under my jurisdiction.  But I sure did hear about it afterwards.

"It was like trying to interview a dead fish" said Tim.

He wouldn't look them in the eye.  He barely spoke above a whisper. His handshake was limp. He answered in mumbles.  Sometimes he didn't answer at all and just stared at them.  They really wanted to hire this kid, so they kept trying to give him questions they thought would be easy.

"When you built your own PC, did you ever run into a problem you didn't know how to solve?"

He nodded his head yes.

"What was the problem, and how did you find the answer?"

After a long pause and a blank stare, he finally said, "I found the answer online."

To be fair, this kid was an extreme case, and they felt bad for him. Yet there was no way we could hire this guy and then throw him to the wolves (aka: customers.) He would never be able to cope. That being said, I'd still like to pause for a moment and comment on the importance of being confident during an interview, and how to pull it off.

Here's five tips that will help you come across as confident even if you are freaking out on the inside. And these tips work in any industry, not just I.T.

1: Give a Firm Handshake and Look People Straight in the Eyes

First impressions matter.  When you greet your interviewer, accept their handshake offer with a solid, firm squeeze while looking them dead in the eyes and thanking them by name.

A study the University of Alabama found that we perceive people with a firm handshake to be  "...more extroverted, open to new experience, less neurotic and shy than those with a less firm handshake."

2: Don't Fidget

Fidgeting is a sure sign that you’re nervous.  One way to keep yourself from subconsciously fidgeting is to keep your hands clasped together on (or under) the table.  For most of us,  our fidgety habits are such a normal part of our behavior we don't even know we have them.  Try role playing with a friend who can spot and point out your fidgets. Then, practice controlling them.

3: Don't Ramble

The ramblings of someone who doesn't know how (or when) to stop talking is a sure sign of nervousness.  I've conducted interviews where I've had to politely cut people off three minutes into what could have been a one sentence answer.

One trick to keep yourself from rambling is to resist the urge to expound on your original response to a question.  For example, if asked why you are leaving your current position, you can say simply, "A change in upper management and company philosophies caused several of us to look elsewhere."  And then, stop.  Keeping your answers brief can save you from the embarrassment of saying something you didn't want to say, and then regret.

The trick is to sound sincere and thoughtful, which can prevent a short answer from otherwise sounding dismissive or curt. Take a pause before answering, think about what (brief) reply you can give, and then share your response in a slow and measured tone.

And trust me, if they want you to expand, they'll ask!

4: Be Prepared

This is such a simple thing, but I'm alarmed at how many people don't do any preparation or homework before a job interview.

Before you walk in the door, you should have taken the time to learn as much about that company as you possibly can.  Dig deeper than just their website. Find someone who works there and ask for some inside info, like company history or interesting trivia. One tip I share in the book The Byte Guide is to look up the stock price of the company you're interviewing, if it is publicly traded, and let the person who is interviewing you  know you did so, while also asking about stock options.

If you are working with a recruiter, make sure you ask them what kind of questions you can expect, and then spend time practicing your answers. On LinkedIn, look up the people who will interview you and memorize a few fun facts about them, like where they went to college, or what LinkedIn groups they belong to.  The use of these tidbits of knowledge will help build rapport (which we'll talk about next).

The more prepared you are when you walk into an interview, the less nervous and more confident you'll be.

5: Try Less to Impress and More to Connect

Focus your energy on building rapport. 

A simple way to help keep calm and put everyone at ease is to come prepared with questions to ask your interviewer, not just about the company itself, but about them. 

Just two examples:

• "I noticed on LinkedIn that you've been here for twelve years. You must like it here!  What about this job makes you want to stick around?"
• "If you don't mind me asking, what's your background? How did you end up in the position you're in now?"

Showing a genuine interest in both the company and the people can go a long ways to making you look curious, outgoing, and smart.

Conclusion

As a hiring manager, I might be willing to overlook some missing technical skill if the person I'm interviewing is sharp, confident, curious and polite. This is especially true for a junior level position where we are interviewing people with no real on-the-job software development experience.

And the good news is, making a good impression isn't hard if you keep these five simple steps in mind.