Interview tips

Congratulations, you have been invited to attend an interview. The interview is probably the most important step in the recruitment process and presents an excellent opportunity to demonstrate your skills, capability and behavioural competencies to convince the interviewer that you are the best person for the job. The following tips will help you stand out from your competition.

First impressions

First impressions are lasting. In-fact statistics show that more than 60% of your impression is formed within the first 60 seconds of interaction, by your visual appearance. The clear message is dress for success and if in doubt, dress conservatively. A firm handshake, eye contact and open body language go a long way to indicate your confidence and instil trust in your interviewer about your capability.

Research

You cannot be over prepared for an interview. Particularly in today’s day and age when information is easily accessible, coming prepared is expected. Visit the firm’s website and learn about their history as well as their recent activities and media releases. Visit the careers section and find out about the culture, career paths and employee benefits. Look at industry publications to find out what’s making news with the firm/company. Social media is a great way to learn more about individual people. Check out the LinkedIn profile of the people you are meeting to gain insight into their career history. Read about work they have been involved in and recent articles they have published. The information you gather can be excellent conversation starters and demonstrates your level of interest. And if you need further information please speak to your consultant. Ensuring you are fully prepared is paramount to the success of your interview.

Impressing at interview

Be yourself

First and foremost, be yourself. Beyond assessing if you have the necessary skills to successfully perform the duties of the role, prospective employers are mostly interested in your behaviours and how you will ‘fit’ into the team and business. They want to know there is a synergy between you and the business taking into account the way you operate, interact with people and what your values and goals are. Being genuine at the interview lays the foundation for a smooth transition into the role and a long term career with the business.

Your value proposition

So far everything that the interviewer/s know about you has been learnt from your resume. At best this is likely to be a big picture view of your work history and education, a brief account of your skills and responsibilities and perhaps a glimpse of your extra-curricular activities and interests. What a resume doesn’t do is paint a picture of personality traits, behavioural competencies, work ethic, what drives you etc; the soft skills. This is where the interview comes in. You have an opportunity to go a bit deeper and demonstrate your value proposition. What skills and competencies do you bring that will add value to the role/business? Recite examples of work you have done and anecdotal evidence to support your case. Remember that they have a need and are looking to you for a solution. A useful guide is to think about what you want your interviewer/s to know about you before the end of the interview.

Positioning a positive message

Research shows a clear relationship between positivity and work outcomes, including job satisfaction, organisational commitment, psychological well-being and results. Similarly, negative behaviours such as cynicism, anxiety and stress have been known to negatively impact work outcomes. It’s no wonder that employers prefer employees who have a positive outlook. The interview is your chance to show your positive attitude. Obviously, “I’m keen to join a business that values professional development and where I will have every opportunity to reach my potential” is going to be better received than “I’m no longer prepared to work for an employer who expects the world but isn’t prepared to invest in me”. A bit of positive language goes a long way.

Being concise

Whilst you should be doing the lion’s share of the talking in an interview, it’s important to be concise in your answers. Being concise will leave time for more questions, providing you with a further opportunity to sell yourself. It’s also indicative of your ability to stay on point, and how you will operate in the business environment. Sometimes less is more.

Behavioural interviewing

If an HR representative is attending the interview there is a good chance they will ask some behavioural questions. Behavioural interviewing is often misperceived as questions designed to trip you up. In actual fact they present a very good opportunity to provide anecdotal evidence of skills and behaviours that will be attractive to your interviewer/s. You can see a behavioural question coming when you are asked to recount a specific situation you have previously been in. For example; “Tell me about a time when you...” or “Strong negotiation skills are crucial to the success of this role. How have you effectively negotiated in the past?” The way to approach a behavioural question is to break your answer into 3 parts:

1)     Describe the situation that required use of the relevant skills/behaviours

2)     Explain how you handled the situation using the relevant skills/behaviours

3)     Describe the outcome of the situation. Ideally the outcome will have been favourable but if it wasn’t, explain what you learnt from the situation and how you would handle things differently next time. We are all human and make mistakes. The key is to learn from them.

Your questions

The interview is just as much of a chance for you to assess the business as it is for them to assess you. Take some time to learn more about the business, role and people you will be working with. Ask yourself, ‘what do I need to know to help me make a decision?’ Intelligent questions also demonstrate your preparedness and interest level. The trick is to ask enough questions to provide you with the information you need without going overboard and disengaging the interviewer/s. This is another reason why pre-interview research is critical. Many of your questions may be answered during the research phase leaving a few key unanswered questions and time to go deeper. If in doubt, stick to three quality questions.

A note on nerves

It’s natural to feel nervous before an interview – nerves indicate we care and motivate us to perform well. That being said, being overly nervous can be detrimental to performance. To help calm the nerves it’s useful to remember that there is a genuine need in the company and the interviewer is hoping that you will be the solution. They want to you to succeed so the job is there for the taking. Rather than seeing the interview as a formal assessment process, view it as a business meeting providing you with an opportunity to demonstrate your skills and experience