Posts Tagged ‘job interview tips’

Interviews are still one of the most important aspects of recruitment and selection.  At the end of the day, your success comes down to you being able to demonstrate that you are the right person for the role.  There are 5 key things which I believe you need to demonstrate to increase your chances of success.  So what are those 5 key things?

1. The Right Experience

Employers want to know that you have acquired sufficient experience to step into a role and do a good job from day one.  Of course you are unlikely to have every bit of experience exactly as set out in the job description but you can probably demonstrate something similar.  For example, just imagine part of the experience they are looking for is project management.  You might not have run a business project but maybe you have organised a big event at your kid’s school.  All of that experience is relevant so don’t be afraid to talk about it.  You had to plan, organise, delegate, build relationships, stay within budget and monitor progress – the very same things you would have to do in managing a business project.

2. A Track Record of Delivering Results

Candidates for jobs often spend a lot of time talking about their responsibilities rather than the results they have achieved.  Results are what set you apart from the other candidates.  Potential areas you can talk about are introduction of a new way of working, automating a manual process, growing income from a service or product area you were leading, turning around a poor performing team to name just a few.  Before any interview stand back and reflect on what you have achieved.

3. Potential To Grow and Develop

Recruiting and retaining people is a major expense for most businesses.  At management levels you might be spending as much as 30% of the salary on recruitment consultants and then there is the ongoing cost of training and development and the salary each month.  An employer making a recruitment decision is probably seeing it as along term investment and so will be looking at your potential to grow with the organisation.  The type of questions you ask or the ways in which you approach your research for the position are really simple ways of demonstrating your potential.  The poorly prepared candidate will do the minimum and ask about pay and benefits.  The candidate with potential will go out of their way to find out as much as they can about the organisation and ask about promotion prospects.

4. You Will Fit In

One of the areas that will matter to any recruiter is whether you are good fit for them.  What this means is will others be able and willing to work with, have you got the type of attributes and behaviours that the company is looking for.  Researching the company in advance of the interview and maybe even asking for an informal chat can be a good way of finding out whether you and the organisation might be a good fit.

5. Confidence And Self Belief

The final area that you need demonstrate is that you are confident.  Most of us are at least a little nervous when it comes to interviews and you might not be at your best.  Confidence is about being assured, believing that you have something to offer.  The way in which you respond to questions, interact with the interviewer and introduce yourself when you first arrive all help demonstrate your confidence.

At the end of the day there are no guarantees on who will get the job but by demonstrating all of the above you can greatly increase your chances of success.

Duncan Brodie of Goals and Achievements helps professional people achieve more career success.  You can sign up for his free audio masterclass at http://www.goalsandachievements.co.uk/careers-main.html

You have done the hard work of completing the application form or CV and you find out that you have the interview for a job you are keen to land.  Often when it comes to the interview stage people perform well below their best.  Yes nerves are a factor and everyone has them. 

So how can you excel in interviews?  Here are my 8 top tips.

1. Be prepared.  So often candidates turn up for interviews ill prepared.  They have not found out about the company, its issues and challenges and plans for the future.  Take the time to do this and you will be off to a flying start

2. Think about possible questions that might be asked.  Strange as it may seem, by spending a couple of hours jotting down possible questions and answers you can probably be prepared for about 50% of the questions that are asked.  You might not get the exact question but most likely will get a variation on the theme

3. Listen effectively.  If you are going to give a good answer you need to listen to the question being asked.  Doing so will enable you to give a powerful and structured answer to the question

4. Be succinct.  When you are answering questions, what you are aiming to do is give the interviewer confidence that you know what you are talking about- not to give a verbal thesis.  For example, imagine the interviewer asks you what are the greatest challenges in managing a team?  You could talk for ever. Instead try delegating effectively, keeping people motivated and balancing time spent managing and doing.  If the interviewer wants more they will ask

5. Be honest.  A typical question is what are your weaknesses?  Don’t under any circumstances say you don’t have any.  At the same time don’t shoot yourself in the foot.  Try something like I see weaknesses as opportunities for development.  Some of the areas I am working on right now are….

6. Remember it is a two way process.  Candidates often forget that the interview is as much about them finding out if this is a company and people they could work with as it is the interviewer finding out if you could do the job and fit in

7. Have 2 or 3 good questions to ask them.  Good interviewers will always give candidates the chance to ask questions.  Poorly prepared candidates will ask about pay, holidays, benefits.  Candidates who excel will ask about what it is like to work there, how the company will contribute to their development, future plans for the business and individuals over the next few years

8. Ask for feedback.  Whether you get the job or not ask for feedback on what they liked about you and what was missing.  Good employers will take the time to give feedback

At the end of the day, what makes you stand out are the small but important things.  So pay attention to them and go forth and excel in your next interview.