Top interview tips

This week we're looking at general interview tips. We asked our clients to give us any additional top tips that they felt would help you in the planning and process of the recruitment interview. Here they are :

• Be on time! Get the train before the one you think you need and go for a coffee first!
• Listen to the question!
• Be yourself
• Prepare!
• Research the company and the role extensively, request a job description if you don’t already have one.
• Be positive about the job that you are going for rather than negative about the job that you are leaving.
• Be confident!
• Let them know well in advance if you need to rearrange the time or date.
• Dress smart! It is better to be too smart than too casual.
• Look at the company website and find out not just who they are, what they do but also press releases and current events that the company are involved in.
• Be aware of the job description and what is expected of someone in that role.
• Try and make small talk at the beginning, as it breaks the barriers whilst you are on the way to the interview room.
• Be nice to everybody - being rude to security or reception will get back to your interviewer, and is neither professional nor very nice!
• Try to stay calm and relax
• Present yourself well, but realistically. You need to be confident in your skill sets but not sell things you don’t have!
• Emphasise your people skills - you can teach people the nitty gritty of the job but you can’t teach them good people skills!
• Try to think of at least one good question to ask at the end of the interview, but preferably three.
• Ask relevant questions about the role, the department or team, or about the company. If you really do know everything about the job (which is unlikely!) ask questions anyway as it shows that you are interested and alert. '
• Example questions – “What's a typical day like? What’s the team like? Who will I be working with?”
• Be yourself so that they can see your personality – it will help you shine above other candidates.
• Remember that your CV is just the facts about you - you need to bring it to life.
• Highlight any relevant qualifications and achievements you have made - be confident in your achievements.
• Get some idea of the culture of the company before you go (either from the website or from your recruitment consultant). This will give you an idea on how to present yourself and ensure that you get the correct degree of professionalism in your personal presentation.
• Think about how your experience matches the role, and what gaps there are in your experience and how you would fill those in order to perform the job more effectively.
• Make sure you respond to a competency based question with something you have actually done, rather than what you would do in an example situation - many people get this muddled.
• Tell the truth! It IS obvious if people are exaggerating!
• If you are passionate about the job, do let it show, this is exactly what interviewers want to see!
• Have the right mindset - walk in there thinking positively about the job, even if in reality you are not sure, and use the interview to ask questions to answer any concerns or queries you might have about the role.
• Think before you answer!
• Be aware of your body language and the way you communicate.
• Be absolutely clear in your mind why you are going for interview. Why does the job appeal to you? The interview is to find out, both for you and for the employer, if this is the right fit.
• Be prepared to laugh a bit - don’t take it too seriously!
• Understand that interviews are a scoring based system, and that they need concrete examples of their skills in order to confirm that you are capable in these areas.
• Appear completely in charge and completely in control - rise above the occasion! You don’t want the interviewer to miss out on your personality because all they can see are your nerves!
• Remember to maintain eye contact.
• Don’t be overly familiar - even if the interviewer is quite relaxed and friendly.
• Do not ask the interviewer personal questions.
• Take a CV, notepad, and prepared questions.
• Do take notes if you need to.
• Be communicative, try and give explanatory answers rather than monosyllabic answers!
• Be actively interested - remember that the interviewer has taken the time out to speak to you!
• Be enthusiastic!

The Best Answers Given At Interview

In this post, we're looking at the best answers given at interviews. When we asked our clients for what they thought made a great answer we were given a wide range of answers. But they broke down in to the following areas and themes:

ENTHUSIASM & CONFIDENCE

Those candidates who sweep you along with them by their sheer enthusiasm and energy.

A comfortable candidate is much more impressive than a nervous candidate. Having something to say is very important, and many interviewers would prefer people to be forthcoming and confident even if the answer is not perfectly accurate. It is important to be able to explain that you don’t know something, but perhaps talk about how you would go about finding out the answer.

A candidate who was very confident particularly impressed one interviewer. In fact, the interviewer asked, “Given that I gave you this job, what job do you think you would be doing in 3 years?”. The candidate replied, “Your job!”. This really impressed this interviewer as they were looking for a strong candidate who was really driven to succeed. (Industry – Banking and Financial Services)

A good answer is a very prepared answer. Also, those who make an attempt at answering, even if they aren’t sure of the answer, as this shows that they have the ability to communicate under pressure.

Candidates stand out if they show that they are passionate, particularly about the relevant industry. Those who have an outside of work interest in the area that they want to work can be particularly impressive (depending on the industry!).

“I love television, this is completely what I want to do”. In other words, those who are genuinely passionate and enthusiastic about the industry and the role. (Industry – Television)

An honest and open answer is the most impressive.

The best answer speaks from the heart. An interviewer can tell if someone is genuinely passionate about what they are doing. They must be truly interested in the role, as it should be a not just a job, but a mutually agreeable arrangement.

GIVING EXAMPLES TO SUPPORT YOUR ANSWERS

Those who give good concrete examples to the competency based questions, and in those answers show how they have been able to maintain integrity and professional ethics when interacting with stakeholders, and have acted with openness and honesty at all times.

Those who draw on their experience when talking about their strengths and weaknesses - for example, “that situation happened to me, and I tackled it like this…”

PREPARATION , RESEARCH AND PLANNING

Someone who has done their research and really understands what the company does, and who has ideas for ways the company could improve.

One candidate was particularly impressive and was aware of the company’s financial results - which had only been released the day before and only commented on in that day’s papers!

Those with passion for the role and the organisation, as opposed to any old job. If they can show their passion to the interviewer through their preparation and research then that is brilliant and really makes them stand out.

One candidate going for a presentation scheduling role was very well prepared. This candidate had looked at the actual schedules – in fact, the only candidate who has ever done so! This candidate then asked a relevant and informed question to the manager – “What was their greatest challenge was in regards to scheduling the advertising breaks?”. In this way, the candidate almost turned the interview round so that they were much more in control, and displayed a strong knowledge of the company, the day-to-day activities involved in the role and the potential challenges ahead. (Industry – Television)

Those who stand out are those who have researched the bank and the role, and are able to expand on why they are interested in the position – they really shine. (Industry – Banking and Financial Services)

One interviewer was recently very impressed by the fact that a candidate was more up-to date with company news than the interviewer himself was. (Industry – Banking and Financial Services)

ASKING QUESTIONS AND THINKING ABOUT YOUR ANSWERS

The best candidates are those who have understood the job description and who have asked questions about the company culture and can explain how they would fit in within the organisation.

 

interviewer: “Who do you consider to be your customers?”

candidate: “Everyone” (from your colleagues to your clients - the whole range as you should be conscious of the relationships that you build across the board, and the best way to develop them productively).

Those who listen carefully to the question, are eloquent and adaptable, and don’t just make broad statements but give concrete examples of skills.

Next week, we'll be looking at some more general interview techniques. Happy job hunting!

The most unusual questions asked at interview

As part of our series on interview technique, we asked our clients what was the most unusual (or in some cases entertaining!) answer that they had ever been given by a candidate. Whilst a lot of the responses were fairly entertaining they were all inappropriate for an interview and did not impress their interviewers.

INTERVIEWER: "What is your greatest weakness?"CANDIDATE: "Chocolate!" (Not appropriate for an interview!)

INTERVIEWER: "Why did you apply for this position?"
CANDIDATE: "I don't know - I just saw it on the Internet and thought it looked ok..." (Not impressive - show lack of research and enthusiasm - big no no!)

"A girl was doing an aptitude test and asked for a glass of water. I left to get her one and returned and she had stopped doing the test and had drawn a picture of herself on the whiteboard in the room, with a speech bubble saying 'I'm worried!'. Needless to say, she didn't get the job!"

INTERVIEWER: "Why are you interested in this company?"
CANDIDATE: "Not really bothered about the company actually, just thought the job looked alright" (Unsurprisingly they didn't get the job!)

INTERVIEWER: "What are your outside interests?"
CANDIDATE: "Collecting clocks..."

A candidate who had said she had strong language skills, and then when the interviewer asked her something in that language, did not even understand the question!

A candidate started telling them about the social problems (crime and violence) in her home country and started crying about this. Whilst this was obviously an upsetting subject, the interviewer was a bit baffled as to why the candidate brought it up...

INTERVIEWER: "Do you have any particular skills you could bring to the role?"
CANDIDATE: "I can do an Orville voice..." and then proceeded to sing in his Orville voice to his interviewers!!

INTERVIEWER: "Why do you want to work for us?"
CANDIDATE: Doesn't speak, just shrugs!!!

INTERVIEWER: "So why do you want to work in this particular aspect of the business?"
CANDIDATE: "Actually, what is it that you do?"

INTERVIEWER: "Why market research?"
CANDIDATE: "Whilst I was backpacking around the Australian outback, I picked up a friend's book on Marketing, read the chapter on Market Research and decided that was the career for me!"

Candidates who get very distracted from the purpose of the interview are very frustrating for interviewers. One guy who told them how he had lost 17 stone thanks to his gastric bypass. He even brought out before and after pictures! (impressive, but not all that relevant!)

We also asked clients what the best answer that they had ever been given by a candidate was, or alternatively if a candidate really stood out, then we asked them why. Some of the clients' responses were industry-specific, however many of them were useful comments for all candidates. We'll be looking at those answers next week