Days have passed since your job interview, and no one’s called or emailed.

Later, you learn someone else was hired for the position. You were sure you aced the interview and would advance to the next round, but obviously the interviewer saw it differently.

Here’s where things may have gone wrong and how to improve your performance for the next time:

Be Authentic

Jonathan Alpert, a psychotherapist and executive coach in Manhattan, said some job seekers rely too much on articles and books to get through interviews. Human resource managers are well aware of these guides and can easily spot manufactured or canned replies.

“They want to know what sets a candidate apart from others and not looking for a corporate drone,” he said.

Practice what you want to say so you can be comfortable and flexible, but don’t rehearse so much that you end up sounding stilted and unnatural. Applicants see an interview as a “big bad monster” and get overwhelmed, he said, adding, “The interview is simply a conversation.”

Be your true self, said Dan Cable, a professor of organizational behavior at the London Business School. You can promote trust by revealing vulnerabilities or discussing times when things did not go well.

Know the Workplace Culture

Mr. Cable emphasized the importance of “cultural congruence” — sharing similar values and passions as the place you want to work.

Before an interview, if possible, contact people in your network to learn more about the company culture, said Blair Decembrele, a career expert at LinkedIn, the professional networking site.

Be Confident

“You can’t underestimate the art of the humble-brag,” Ms. Decembrele said.

People find it difficult to talk about their professional successes. A survey sponsored by LinkedIn of more than 11,000 workers in 19 countries last year found that only 35 percent felt confident talking about their achievements.

John Malloy, president of the recruiting firm Sanford Rose Associates in Santee, S.C., said in an email that job candidates should be able to quickly and precisely answer questions about their accomplishments.

He wrote: “The answer must be something like: ‘I saved the company $300,000 during a three-week project. Our team created a new process that is now used throughout the corporation. Let me tell you how I did it.’”

Too many candidates will answer with a one-minute introduction and lose the interviewer’s attention, he wrote.

If you are stumped by a question, acknowledge it and tell the interviewer you’d like to return to it later.

Prepare to Be on Screen

Some companies, particularly start-ups, conduct first interviews via video-chat services like Skype. Preparing for them is crucial, April Masini, who writes about relationships and etiquette, said in an email.

Practice in front of a mirror and choose a secure location to avoid having unexpected visitors, she wrote. (Remember the political science professor whose wife and two toddlers crashed his BBC interview?)

“And wear real pants, just in case there’s a mirror behind you and you realize too late that the hiring people will see your waist-up-at-the-desk attire, as well as your waist-down sweatpants and bare feet that you thought were hidden,” she added.

Be Inquisitive

Always ask questions but leave inquiries about vacation time, perks and benefits for a later time.

Some specific questions you can ask: Who was a good hire, and how did that person fit in? What employee achievements are celebrated? Where do you see the company in five years?

Develop a Rapport

Job interviews, even when they are unsuccessful, can be a springboard to other opportunities.

Michelle Davies of Sweet Valley, Pa., who is an information technology engineer at a television station in Moosic, Pa., had started to look for a new job two years ago. In February she interviewed for a job at a television production company in Pittsburgh but did not get it.

Ms. Davies said an assistant in human resources called and said the managers liked her and encouraged her to apply for other jobs at the company. When she applied for a different job a month later, she was interviewed by phone.

She said she believed she established her credentials and built a rapport with the managers during the first interview and the phone interview was merely a “formality.” She starts her new job on Monday.

Don’t be afraid to convince people about your value, she said.

“What is it that you’re trying to accomplish here?” she said. “You have goals and you have to sell people on those goals.”

What to Avoid

Saying in an interview that you have no weaknesses will surely ruin your chances of making the cut, Nate Regier, an executive coach and chief executive of Next Element, a company that specializes in leadership communication, said in an email.

Also avoid saying you have great people skills. “While it’s important, it can’t be measured,” he wrote. “Only results matter, not qualities.”

Don’t use language that is too tepid or full of bravado, Lois Barth, a business and career coach, said in an email. Using words like “maybe” and “possibly” can make you look insecure and undermine your credibility, and being too full of yourself can raise questions about how you will get along with others.

Be careful about making excuses for past failures, overexplaining or being honest to a fault, said Michael Klein, a psychologist in Northampton, Mass.

“Your goal in that first interview is to give that person no reason to exclude you from the second round of interviews,” he said.

The post Had a Job Interview but No Callback? Here’s What to Do Next Time. appeared first on Résumé Writing and Career Services.

Like it or not, Skype video interviews are becoming a regular part of the job application process. A market research firm recently found that 42% of companies used video interviews to recruit senior executives, management, and entry-level job functions, compared to just 10% of companies in 2010. And my company uses Skype for a good 90% of our first round interviews.

But despite how common they’re becoming, the nuances of acing a Skype interview are only starting to be recognized. Many people still simply prepare as they would for a regular interview.

A Skype interview is a whole different ball game, though — it’s like being on TV, except you’re filming, directing, and acting in this role. Follow these tips and you’ll be set to score an Emmy (er, job) from your performance.

Wardrobe and Makeup

The cardinal rule of any interview: Dress to impress. On the internet, “dressing up” includes your username and profile picture. Your Skype info will be your employer’s first impression of you. If you’ve been using the same user name since middle school (I’m talking to you, PartyAngel99 and xOx_SuperSaiyanOverlord_xOx), it’s time for a change. Your profile picture is equally important. Choosing both a professional picture and user name will prevent your employer from misjudging you or having to start off the interview by asking awkward questions.

You should also dress like you would for any other interview — no matter what your local time is, where you’re calling from, or how much of your outfit you think the interviewer can actually see. A colleague of mine once interviewed someone who wore sweatpants, an XXL t-shirt, and had just obviously gotten out of the shower. It wasn’t just awkward — it was disrespectful. The last thing you want to do is seem like you couldn’t care less.

Lights… Camera…

Skype is rife with technical landmines, and we’ve all had that those annoying “can you hear me now?” moments. While most employers are forgiving, they’re also pressed for time. Your safest bet is to Skype with a friend or family member before your interview and check all of the following:

The Set: Find an appropriate place to make the call, and make sure to clean up the background. A keen employer will be inferring everything about your surroundings, so make sure to pick a representative location to have the Skype call.

Internet Connection: If your connection is flaky, find somewhere more stable. Dropped calls are understandable, but they distract from the interview and reflect poorly on your ability to plan ahead.

Lighting: Do you look washed out? Is your face shrouded in shadows? I interviewed a candidate once who had positioned the light directly behind him, making me think I was interviewing a Ringwraith from Lord of the Rings. The most ironic part — he was interviewing for a video director position. Maybe he was trying to intimidate me into giving him the job?

Sound: Don’t rely on the built-in microphone unless you want to sound like you’re in a bat cave. Get a dedicated microphone and test it out. Also, make sure you’re not in an area with a lot of background noise (the interviewer isn’t interested in what your roommate is watching on TV). A quiet room by yourself is ideal.

Script: Have your attachments — resume, cover letter, portfolio, supporting documents — loaded up before the call, so you can reference them easily without having to conspicuously click around during the interview.

Action!

In a traditional, in-person interview, your interviewer is a captive audience. Over Skype, you’re the size of the interviewer’s Skype window and it’s much easier for her to pull out her Blackberry, check her email, or scan the headlines on her favorite news site.

You’re competing with the entire internet for your interviewer’s attention, so don’t just be a talking head on a screen! From a purely visual perspective, you will look much more interesting if you move around, use hand gestures, and stay animated. Interviewers are your audience, and you’re the star of that 600 x 480 pixel screen.

The flip side of this is that you, too, have more opportunity to get distracted. To minimize this, close all windows except your supporting documents and make yourself unavailable or invisible on Skype to avoid interruptions. Put your mini-Skype-window below the webcam on your computer screen, too. That way, when you’re checking how you look, you still appear to be making eye contact with the employer.

The Rest

From here on out, the rules of the interview are pretty much the same: Do your research about the company, know what questions to expect (and how to answer them), and be your glowing self. And don’t forget the follow-up — you’ll need to send a thank-you exactly the same way you would for an in-person interview. That means, don’t follow up on Skype chat. (I had one prospective employee stalk me for two months after I had turned him down. Um, creepy.)

Nail the virtual interview, and hopefully you’ll soon be walking through the real-life office doors.

The post Skype Hype: The Key to Acing Your Virtual Interview appeared first on Résumé Writing and Career Services.