Interview Tips & Advice
• Preparation: This is perhaps the most important and most over-looked part of the interview process. Often interviewees are confident and believe they are the right person for the job and that preparation is unnecessary. Remember that there will usually be other ‘right people for the job’ interviewing. Preparation is where you can genuinely gain the edge. Preparation primarily means analyzing the job description and researching the company. Here are some examples of how to go about this:
§ Analyze every element of the job description and prepare an answer for every point. If there is a requirement where you don’t have specific experience, think about how you can explain what you do have in a positive way. Connect the particular skill or experience to something you have done successfully and explain how you see this as relevant and an indicator that you will have no problem with the particular requirement.
§ Investigate the company. Primarily go through their website and read all that you can. Search for any external articles, news, forum posts etc on the web. Prepare some appropriate questions about their business. Try and understand how the role you are applying for fits into the business.
§ If you know anyone who already works for the company see what you can learn from them. They may be able to offer some useful tips and advice.
• Dress Code: Think about what will be expected of you. Where possible try and find out what the interviewers would ideally like to see. Ask your recruitment agent or even the HR representative in the company what they advise. Generally though if in doubt go for a suit, even if your interviewers are smart casual and the dress code is smart casual, wearing a suit for the interview will never lose you points.
• Arrival: Arrive in plenty of time, but don’t announce yourself more than 5 minutes early. Many interviewers consider very early arrival worst than late arrival. Generally plan to arrive at the location 10 minutes early, but announce yourself at reception 5 minutes before the agreed interview time. If you are running late and know that it will be more than 5 minutes, call your recruitment agent or the HR representative to inform them
• Questions: Come to the interview prepared to ask questions, and not just ‘how much money will I get?’. Ask about the detail of the role, the training program, the environment and working hours etc. Interviewers will be impressed that you genuinely care about the role you are applying for and that you are trying to establish if this really is the right role for you.
• Listen and think: Prepare yourself to be as calm and receptive as possible. Let the interviewer dictate the nature of the interview. Perhaps they will make it into a question and answer session, or perhaps they’ll be trying to make it more of general discussion. Use your empathetic skills to get into the same mindset as your interviewer. Of course you want to get your prepared questions out, and demonstrate that you have researched the company, and share some success stories but don’t force any of this into the interview. Listen, think, and respond and wait for the appropriate time to share these points. Don’t feel that you must get out all the points and questions that you had prepared.
Finally, at the end of the interview, Thank them for their time. Give a pleasant smile and shake their hand. It is okay to ask when they think they will make a decision, if they have not already told you.
