Interview Tips

Interviews can be a fairly rapid assessment of your skills, experience, personality, values and aspirations and it is vital to make a good first impression. You should think about how to ‘sell’ yourself and convince your potential employer that you are the right candidate for the position. Developing rapport with the interviewer is key to making them feel that they will want to work with you.

Prior to your interview:

• Research the company, its products, performance, staff and its competitors. If you can, conduct some research on the person who will be interviewing you, for example learning about their own career and background that might give you some common ground to help to build rapport;
• Prepare questions. Ask how the interviewer sees the role developing, their management style, the team that you will be working with and what their expectations of you would be;
• Find out what style of interviews the company uses and whether you will be expected to do a presentation or to undertake psychometric testing. If the company will be using competency-based interviewing, be ready to provide examples of how you work and your achievements;
• Prepare how to pitch yourself – your achievements, how you can add value to their business and why they should employ you rather than any other candidate.

At the interview:

• Give a firm handshake and make eye contact;
• Be positive and enthusiastic. Don’t be negative about past employers or colleagues;
• Demonstrate why you are interested in that particular position and the company in general. Many experienced candidates don’t succeed because they forget to address core issues around motivation for applying for the position;
• Turn questions about weaknesses or past mistakes into positives. Describe how you learned from the situation and what you would do if you found yourself in the same situation in the future;
• Don’t discuss package at the first interview unless the interviewer raises the subject. You can negotiate once you have an offer, but you do not want to give the impression that money is your main motivator;
• Let the interviewer know your thoughts at the end of the interview and ask for their thoughts on you. This provides you with the opportunity to address and overcome any concerns that they might have.