1) Research the organization:
Everyone gets nervous in interview. It’s
a big occasion and you should be nervous. However if you start with some
thorough research, you start to build a case in your own mind of why you should
be sitting in that interview room or in front of a panel. Having some
confidence is a solid first step to overcoming nerves.
You can actually tell a lot about an
employer from the employment pages of their website. Things such as the values
they have, how easy it is to find out about potential jobs and their responses
to you when you apply, can all tell you about the way they handle their
recruitment. This in turn may be a reflection of what it’s like to work there.
If it’s friendly and easy to apply for a job, then chances are they have given
some thought to why you would want to work for them.
The web is a such wealth of facts, but what you need to
do, is turn this into information. You can look at annual reports, media
releases and product and service information. Online directories have company
information and Google indexes the latest media news and references from other
sources. If a career page has an email contact for an employee, and invites
contact, then do it. Often companies will use testimonials that way to attract
new people. Use sites such as linked in to research companies.
When you look for this information, you are not just
looking for a set of unrelated facts. You should be looking for reasons that
you want to work for that employer. You’ll really impress the interviewer if
you find some simple yet compelling reasons as to why you want to work for the
employer and what appeals to you about the role.
2) Research the role:
One thing that constantly surprises me is that how few
people really have any understanding of the role that they are applying for. Job
advertisements are partly to blame for this. They are often misleading. The
person writing the advert is often not the person that you’ll be reporting to.
Things always sound different on paper compared to what you will actually be
doing in the role.
One of my clients recently applied for a job in the
public sector. The position description said:
Building effective communication strategies with a
variety of stakeholders and colleagues to ensure information exchanges are
timely, accurate and useful.
This is what this statement meant:
Providing advice to staff and students on the status of
their research applications.
If you see something like the above, try to talk to
someone who knows about the role. A good question to ask is “what does a
typical day/week look like?” Once you know what’s expected of you, preparing
for the interview is instantly easier.
Also important is a real insight into the role and the
recruitment process. Dig deeper than the advertisement. Put a call through if a
contact number is provided. You can find out which of the skills that the
employer requires are actually the priority. You can determine what you can do
without and importantly you can start to make yourself known (in a good way) to
your future employer. Even if the advertisement doesn’t invite it, you can
still contact the recruiter. If there are no contact details, be scrupulously
polite, it usually means the employers are expecting a deluge of applications.
Ask them questions about the recruitment process, what
the steps are, how long each step takes, and whether they’ve had many
applicants. You’d be surprised at the information you’ll receive if you sound
polite and interested.
3)
Research yourself:
Employers want you to be self aware. Have a long hard
look at what you have achieved, the way you have achieved that result and the
skills you developed or demonstrated along the way.
This type of reflection helps you understand your
strengths. It gives you confidence and helps you overcome nerves.
4) Interviewer insight:
No two interview processes are the same. Depending on the
organization and the role, you could be interviewed by a recruitment
consultant, the HR department, the line manager, all three individually, or any
combination. Each will have a different agenda for the interview. This is
important to remember as your approach with each should be slightly different.
The recruitment consultant is always the first screener.
Their role is to match you to the employer’s requirements and sell you as an
applicant. The consultant establishes their credibility with each good
candidate they put forward to the employer. Take time to woo them, even if you
think they don’t know their stuff (as is a common criticism). Their role is
essentially a sales one: to sell you the job and, if they believe you are right
for the role, to sell you to their client. Make the consultant’s role easier by
focussing on your strengths and achievements and point out why you are a good
match.
The HR consultant is usually the recruitment procedural
expert. One of their jobs is to ensure the organization meets its legal
requirements. They often set up the recruitment process and have a strong
attachment to ensuring it is working. It’s a safe bet that you will face a more
structured interview from them, than you will from a line manager. They are
often the employer’s first screener and may need to sell you further, depending
on their position and influence within the organisation.
The line manager will be the person who is most concerned
about finding someone for the role. They may be a person down or not meeting
their organisation’s objectives by being understaffed. In the interview it will
be the line manager who has the greatest sense of urgency about filling the
role. Focus on your workplace achievements when fielding their questions. Work
hard to build a rapport with them. They will be assessing your fit for their
team.
It may sound obvious but treat each interviewer as if
they don’t talk to each other and know anything about you. You’d be amazed at
how little communication sometimes goes on between each party.
5) Practice:
Most organizations now use behavioural questions – which
means they will be expecting you to provide specific examples of where you have
demonstrated the skill they are seeking.
I strongly suggest practicing for an interview and
seeking professional help. A professional is skilled at drawing examples out of
you and finessing the ones you already have. However never rote learn your
lines as you can never predict all the recruiter will ask. Memorising answers
will make you stressed in the interview if you can’t recall what you want to
say. Worse still, you may even be not be answering the questions the
interviewer asks.
6) Build rapport:
Be friendly. People like that!
One of the best ways to relax is to assume the
interviewer is on your side. Good interviewers are not interested in tripping
you up. In fact, most of them are on your side, or are at the very least they
will be approaching the interview in a professional manner. It may even help to
you to relax if you think of the interviewer as someone who wants you to do
your best
7) Give yourself time:
Leave plenty of time to get to the interview. Rushing
breeds panic. No matter what excuse you have, lateness is noted. It creates a
negative impression and it puts you behind immediately. Allowing waiting time
for an interview gives you time to compose yourself, gather your thoughts and
be mentally prepared.
8) Please be yourself:
That is please be yourself. You will be doing yourself no
favours if you try and suppress your personality, or pretend to be something
that you aren’t.
9) Relax:
While you think this may be the perfect
job for you, it may be that it’s not. There are other jobs out there. If you
keep this in mind then you’ll remove some pressure from yourself that this is
your only chance to perform.
If you think the interview is going
badly, relax and use it as practice for the next one. You never know, you could
even recover if you take this approach.
10) An insider’s tip:
The interview is just the formal means
of assessing your suitability as a candidate. However you are not just assessed
there. Each interaction you have with your future employer feeds into the
bigger picture of their impression of you. Use this knowledge. Be polite and
friendly with whomever you meet in the process from the very first phone call
to the last goodbye to the receptionist on your way out.
Interviews can be daunting. Please
contact me if you need some help putting it all into practice or just some
extra advice. Here’s another blatant plug. When it comes to interview skills,
practice with a professional does make perfect.
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