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 https://www.goalsandachievements.co.uk/careers-main.html
