Interviews are often the sticking point when it comes to being successful in job applications because it’s easy to see them as scary, daunting and as a minefield of dangers to be crossed before making it out of the interview room again. This is especially true if you’ve never had an interview before, been out of the job market for a while or feel your self-confidence is a bit battered from recent redundancy.
However with a bit of insider information we can dispel these myths and help to put together a great performance on the day. For instance, did you know that often the interviewers themselves are nervous and unsure of what to say or do in the interview? So it’s not just you that has to conquer the jitters.
Interviews are put in place in the recruitment process for a few reasons:
1) To see if you can do the job – most of the questions are normally based around the competencies that you need to have in order to do the role. Prepare a list of your skills, abilities and personal qualities and think how they match the job description and person specification documents that you should have received from the company when you applied for the job. Can you give examples of customer service in different environments? What experience do you have of communicating with all types of people? What technical abilities and/or qualifications do you have? Be prepared to discuss this list and demonstrate that you can do the job. The interviewer wants you to do well and to show them how good you are!
2) To see if you will fit in to the team and the company – the people interviewing will get a feel for you as a person (not just as a CV) and think whether you are a good match for the company’s ethos and the team environment. After all, it’s in their interest to ensure that their business will benefit from having you on board.
3) To enable you to find out more about the company and to assess whether you will fit in there – this opportunity comes in the form of ‘Have you got any questions for us?’. Before you go to the interview think about what’s important for you when you are at work. You can assess factual information such as the commute to work, the hours and the type of job initially but when you are actually in the interview you can ask questions about the training opportunities, the possibility of involvement in community or charity activities (if important to you), and the size of the team you will be working in (for example).
All the above sections form the main body of the interview so if you prepare for these you will have a head start.
Some other tips include:
Have good eye contact.
Remember the name of the person you are meeting.
Be early – but not too early! 15 minutes is ideal.
Give a good firm handshake to people you are introduced to.
In addition, your self confidence and belief must be boosted ready for the interview and aspire can help you with this in many ways including looking at what motivates you, improving your communication, and helping you to prepare answers you can feel proud of.
Don’t feel you have to face an interview on your own – get in touch and Aspire can help you!
Nicki Parker of Aspire is an experienced careers coach with great success in empowering people to get a new job, promotion, side-ways or downwards moves and to change careers totally (do you want a better work-life balance?!). She has a very personable and encouraging style and enables people to see that they have got a choice and they can achieve what they want.