Your CV has had the impact that you want and you are invited for interview. At this stage you are in serious contention for the role. So what are the 5 golden rules to being successful in the job interview?
Rule 1: Do Your Research
When I was first on the job market 30+ years ago, doing your research was difficult. There was no internet, social media and other information in the public domain was a lot more limited.
These days this is just not the case. Doing and demonstrating that you have done your research is an essential part of success in job interviews. I would go as far as saying it contributes about 70% to your success.
Rule 2: Identify Potential Questions In Advance
For most jobs there is an advert, a job description and a person specification. All of these are great source documents for identifying potential questions.
In most job interviews there are going to be questions to:
- Determine your level of understanding of the organisation and/or sector
- Assess your technical skills
- Assess your business skills
- Find out about you
- Assess you management and leadership skills (where appropriate)
Rule 3: Write Answers Out To Questions
Is this not a lot of work? Yes it is and it is effort and time well invested. It will mean that you have answers at your finger tips and are therefore more confident and articulate in responses.
Rule 4: Speak Your Answers Out Loud
Yes this might feel a bit odd. Even better than just speaking out loud try recording yourself or have someone else record you speaking your answers out loud.
Rule 5: Be An Equal
It is easy to feel like all the trump cards are in the hands of the recruiters. While they have the job, you are also assessing them in terms of whether they are the type of people you would enjoy working with. Going into an interview as an equal will improve your performance and help you better manage your nerves.
The Bottom Line: Job interviews are challenging and at the same time there is plenty you can do to stack the odds in your favour.
Duncan Brodie helps accountants and professionals achieve more career success. He invites you to take advantage of his free audio masterclass.
