Interview Tips, Techniques and Research
With the right interview preparation,
you can optimise your interview
performance and land that dream job!
To achieve the right level of self-confidence that leads to interview success, make sure you do your homework. Nothing sets you up better than thorough interview preparation – and that includes the way you look, your manner and body language.
Yes, you CAN learn interview techniques. You CAN succeed by following a few simple interview tips. And you CAN anticipate those tricky questions that would otherwise floor an unprepared candidate!
The Interview ‘Look’
It’s important to make a good first impression. By looking professional, you’re telling the interviewer that you mean business. They will be reassured that your appearance shows you’re serious about wanting the job and will therefore be a good ‘fit’ for the company if the rest of your interview performance measures up.
To achieve a successful interview ‘look’ demands that both men and women apply a similar ‘common sense’ approach to the way they dress. The aim is to be smart, but in a low-key professional kind of way. There will of course be subtle differences in how you would dress for, say, an accountancy job interview compared to a post with a design agency.
For all interviews, it’s important to be on time, friendly and to appear attentive. Try to be relaxed and confident, but don’t worry too much if you feel a bit nervous – it shows you care about getting the job, and the adrenaline will probably brighten your overall performance.
Interview Research
Make the Internet your first port of call for information about a company and its products or services. You can, of course, look at company brochures and annual reports. It’s important to bear in mind that you need a good overview of that company and its business activities.
Keep up-to-date with what’s going on in your business sector, especially through recent news stories and articles. All major media are potential sources of information, as are the trade and business press, industry websites and portals. In addition, try to talk to people working in that sector or, ideally, someone who works in the company you’re hoping to join.
What you’re aiming to do is strike up a rapport with your interviewer. If you can discuss industry developments and trends, as well as aspects of the interviewer’s company, you will demonstrate that you both talk the same language – and that you deserve to be taken seriously as a high quality candidate.
Interview Questions
Job interviews are two-way discussions and negotiations. Employers try to find hexagonal pegs for hexagonal holes. As a candidate, you need to make sure you’re joining the right company that will give you the best opportunity to develop your career. That means you have to prepare to answer the interviewer’s questions – and also have your own questions to ask the interviewer.
Answering Interviewer’s Questions…
How you answer interview questions says as much about your personality as it does about your qualifications, experience and achievements.
A skilled interviewer will try to find out what makes you tick, how you’re likely to fit into the company’s team, and whether the skills you claim to have will be effective in a different company set-up. Your personality traits will emerge as the interview progresses and other more probing questions reveal whether you are the best candidate for the job.
With the right amount of interview preparation and research under your belt, you should be able to handle most questions that the interviewer throws at you. The best approach to take is to be factual, honest and concise. Be positive, stay confident and try not to be thrown off-course by awkward questions.
Asking Questions as a Candidate…
At some stage during the interview, you will be invited to ask your own questions. It’s important to remember that you are investing your future and all your skills in this company, so it’s vital that they are a good ‘fit’ for you too!
That means working out in advance what your likely questions will be – in addition to any queries that arise during the interview. Asking the right questions shows a level of maturity and concern for your own future – rather than being someone who passively accepts their fate.
You will need to know how much scope there is to develop your career with the company, what the company’s ambitions are, its expected financial and business performance in the next few years, and how other people like yourself have progressed in the business.
Cooper Lomaz will be happy to discuss with you a whole range of questions and issues to make sure you are fully prepared for all aspects of your interview. We’d love to go through this with you in more detail, so why not get in touch today.