Interview

Heather Salter

• Publisher: HarperCollins Business
• Year: 2010
• eBook ISBN: 9780007358953
• Topic: Business
• Subtopic: Business General
• Index: Business

The interview secrets that experts and top professionals use.

Preparing for the interview

Now the real work starts as you prepare for the interview itself. This chapter will take you through the preparation that you need to do to make sure that you turn up with confidence. If you follow the guidance, rehearse key answers and do the exercises, you will find yourself ready for absolutely anything. If you suffer from nerves, then the more that you can prepare yourself and be ready to deal with anything that happens, the less nervous you will be.

3.1
Get ready

You’ve landed on the shortlist, well done! So it’s now time to start preparing for the interview day. You may feel that you have done a lot already if you followed the suggestions in Chapter 1, but now you need to focus on making sure that you are ready for the interview that you are going to.

Let’s just look at the checklist of the sort of things you may want to do well before the day. The more prepared you are, the more confident, calm and collected you will be when the time comes.

1 Location. Make sure that you know exactly where the venue is for your interview. Get yourself a map and have a look before the day if you can.

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2 Transport and timing. In order to get you there with time to spare make sure that you check out the journey. If you are driving, check if there is a space available at the offices for visitors to park, and if not find out where the nearest car parking is. Take some change with you in case you need to use a parking meter. If you are on the train or bus check out the timetable and perhaps take the one before to be sure.

one minute wonder You want to arrive for the interview unflustered and at your best. It’s the little things that we sometimes forget that can cause us problems on the day – have you got the change for the parking meter by the way?

3 What to take. The sorts of things you may want to consider taking are:

• Examples of work you have done.
• Portfolios – marketing, graphic design, etc.
• Original copies of your qualifications.
• Evidence of your right to work in the country (see 3.2.).

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4 Clothes. Make sure that the clothes you are planning to wear (see Secret 3.4) are clean and ironed and ready to go. Think about taking an umbrella or overcoat so that you are not wet when the interview starts.

Check the letter of invitation to interview to see if they asked you to bring anything else.

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Make yourself a checklist now and keep everything together in one place so you can be confident on the day.

3.2
Gather the evidence

When you get to the interview you need to feel as prepared as you can be, and being able to back up what you’re saying with proof, either verbal or written, will give you confidence and impress the interviewer.

Don’t forget that the interviewer’s job is like that of a detective; they are looking for clues to see if you fit the job. It’s your job to make it easy for them and provide all the evidence that they need show that you are the best person for the job.

1 Competency-based questions. This type of question asks you to recall and describe a specific situation which you have been involved in. It’s really important to have examples, so look back again at the job description and advert. What examples from your past do you have to illustrate that you have the competencies they are looking for? Make a list of the examples you want to bring out for all areas of your CV. Make notes and take them with you if necessary, although it is much more impressive if you are able to recall them without notes. Section 4.4 talks more about competency-based questions and it may be a good idea to review that section now and come back to this again.

one minute wonder Make a list of all the examples that you have where you have demonstrated the qualities that they are looking for. When answering questions bring these examples to life and describe what you did, how you did it and what you learned from it.

2 Certificates. Whilst you may not be asked for them at the first interview, you should have a folder with all your original certificates for your qualifications. Many employers are now checking these and may well take a photocopy at the interview.

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3 Evidence of your right to work. If you are working abroad, or you are applying for a job in the UK, you may have to provide evidence of your right to work in that country. Even UK citizens have to provide evidence in the UK because of the tightening of immigration laws. You may not be asked for it at the first interview, but if you are offered the job you will need to provide evidence so do check the requirements for the particular country you are applying in. If you can’t provide evidence you won’t be offered the job, so don’t assume you can get by on your word alone.

Coming well prepared to the interview will build your confidence and show the interviewer that you know what you are talking about.

3.3
Know yourself

Over the years of interviewing that I have done, I have noticed that many interviewers like to ask the questions “what are your strengths?” and “what are your weaknesses?” at some point during the interview. What they are trying to find out is how well you know yourself and whether you are able to put that across to them.

Let’s make sure that you are prepared for this type of question by taking a good look at yourself now. If you are fairly modest, telling someone how good you are may be difficult, but remember you are trying to get the job that you want and no-one else is going to ‘sing your praises’, so you must find a way to do it.

1 Draw up a list. Take a piece of paper and draw a line down the middle and put Strengths on one side and Weaknesses on the other.

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2 Strengths. What are you really good at? Write down at least five bullet points – if you can get seven even better. Dig deep! If you have even more then prioritize them – which are the most important for this particular job?

one minute wonder If your weakness is something like, “I take longer than other people to do the job”, turn it round by adding, “but that’s because it’s important to be 100% accurate”.

3 Weaknesses. So what are the things you need to improve? Make a list of the things you aren’t so good at. The trick here is then to turn a weakness into strength, so that puts you in a good light. If you say that “sometimes I take work home to finish it off”, it could be seen as a weakness, but you could also be seen as showing commitment to getting the job finished, which is a strength. Do you get the picture? Go over your weaknesses now and see how you can turn them into strengths.

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4 Focus. Now go back over the list you’ve made and see how your strengths and weaknesses may relate to the job you are applying for. It’s no good telling them about points which aren’t relevant to what they are looking for. I have a weakness for chocolate but how is that relevant?

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5 Highlight. You should highlight the important strengths you want to get over and the one weakness you may want to admit to. Now you are ready when the questions are asked.

Do these exercises to help you feel prepared and confident for anything that might crop up during interview.

3.4
Look the part

They say it takes about 20 seconds for us to form the first impression of someone when we first meet them. If that’s the case, then you have to make sure that it is a favourable impression. What happens with most people is that once they have formed a first impression, they start to look for evidence to support that initial view, and that can be either good or bad.

If you start off an interview badly, all is not lost if you can recover well and provide the evidence that we talked about in the last section. However, we want to make sure that you get off to the very best start by wowing them from the first moment.

If you have followed all the advice in the book so far you will be well prepared mentally so now let’s get you looking the part.

case study I still remember the day I was interviewing for secretaries for one company and one lunch time a young woman of about 19 turned up for interview in a skirt and top that didn’t match, lacy black tights and high heels that hadn’t seen shoe polish for some months, and with uncombed hair. She had a handbag in one hand and a shopping bag with groceries in the other. The impression wasn’t great but we carried on – I asked if she had any immediate questions at the start of the interview and she said, “Do any young people work here?” I was only 30 at the time but that certainly left an impression on me!

one minute wonder Check your wardrobe now – do you need to get anything to the dry cleaners? Make sure you polish your shoes by the way! Little things count.

• Personal appearance. Personal grooming and hygiene are important no matter what job you go for, and you will immediately lose credibility if you turn up without having given this some thought.
• Tattoos and piercings. These may be fine outside of work but may not be an acceptable standard in the workplace. These are things you can check out later but it’s best to play it safe for the interview, and then if you are offered the job you can check out the dress policy.
• Dress sense. What you wear will depend on the business sector you are in. In design or media, for example, the dress code may be much more relaxed than at an accountancy firm. For men, it’s almost always a safe bet to wear a suit and tie. It can be a little harder for women, but again a smart suit or coordinated separates always look good. Don’t overdo the jewellery, perfume or accessories: keep it simple.

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Dressing well will give you confidence, so you can focus on giving a good account of yourself.

3.5
Build rapport

Having prepared well and dressed for the part, now is the time to walk through the door, make a great first impression and build instant rapport with the interviewer. Establishing that rapport at the beginn...

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Title Page
• Table of Contents
• Author's note
• Overcome your fear of interviews
• Applying for the job
• Writing your CV
• Preparing for the interview
• Types of interview
• Assessment Centres
• The day of the interview
• After the interview
• Jargon buster
• Further reading
• About the author
• Copyright
• About the Publisher