Every job interview is a potential crash and burn situation for a nervous amateur. Knees weaken and speech is slurred. The only thing that the interviewer might catch from the series of incoherent mumbling that comes out of your mouth is that you’re weak and likely unfit for the job. However impressive that resume is, looking weak is a one way ticket to going home without a job.

Simple and effective: being yourself: Generations-old advice in handling an interview is putting your best foot forward. Dress to impress. Look the cleanest and most earnest you can be. Become a hirable, confident, and unshakable piece of work –at least until the interview is done. In short, put on a personality that will get you the job!

This attitude should nowhere be around Job Interview preparation. While good actors might pull off this technique in an interview, the rest of us will just be put in a place we don’t want to be in. This type of attitude just puts you in a position where you need to be someone else, something the average potential employee is likely not comfortable doing.

Going to an interview with a made up perfect-for-the-job persona will get you kicked out before getting you a job. It just doesn’t work. People can tell when you’re lying, especially trained interviewers.

Underneath the interviewer’s three piece suit is still a living and breathing person. And people appreciate and remember an honest attitude. You’re likely to be called back for a job interview follow up if you just approach the interview with resolve, honesty, gusto, and a touch of confidence.

Communication is a two-way process: An interview requires communication between two people. You shouldn’t just answer each question with the intention of making yourself look good. You should listen to each question intently, and think of what answers that question best.

Also, it’s not just you, the potential employee, talking about why you should be hired. If you get in close enough to the interviewer, try asking a few non-invasive slightly personal questions yourself. Where’d you get your degree? How long have you worked here?

Try to ask something that will feel natural to the conversation, and build a connection between the two of you –something to ensure that you’re remembered.

Silence is natural: Part of communicating is thinking of a response to what the other person said. Silence doesn’t have to be awkward. As long as it doesn’t last too long, an interviewee can take a minute or two to think should the job interview questions require it.

You don’t need to fill in every gap in the conversation with a stupid joke or what you feel is a witty anecdote. Just let the silence come and pass, and try not to do anything unnecessary should the silence prove too awkward for you.

Don’t sweat it: You wouldn’t be in an interview if you weren’t qualified in the first place. You’ve nothing to fret about, you just need to be yourself and be convinced that you deserve the job you want.