Interview Skills

You have written a great covering letter, highlighting your relevant skills and experience, and you have supported this with a great CV.  Now the time has come for THE INTERVIEW.

The first thing to remember is that the interview is your opportunity to sell yourself. Remember, that in most cases it will be perfectly clear from your CV when you are technically capable of doing the job, but it doesn't show what sort of person you are.  It doesn’t matter whether you are a new graduate or at a senior management level – you still need to prepare.  In fact, the more senior you are, the more work you should do.

A Word about Application Forms

Before the interview you may be asked to complete an application form, even if you have submitted a CV. It is often a bone of contention with candidates feeling that they are either victims of bureaucracy or that employers are incapable of reading CVs.  It is neither - they are important to your prospective employer and therefore should be to you. Often the forms will have questions which the CV has not answered – many there for legal reasons to protect you as well as your future employer.

Research

It is crucial to do as much background research into the company and the job as possible. If you do not it will show up at the interview.  If you are being interviewed for a specific vacancy, do get hold of the job description and competencies.  An agency will normally give you this information as a matter of course, but if you have applied directly and you have not been given these then e-mail or ring the company and ask if they are available. If there isn’t then you know that no one else is going to have an unfair advantage over you. A good Interviewer will be using the job description and competencies to help screen applicants - so it helps a great deal if you already have seen these.

Search the company name on the Internet looking at news items as well as their own web site. Again a good recruitment company will usually provide you with good information but it is up to you to do your homework and pointless going along with relevant company/job information strategically placed in your inbox.

On the day

The big day has arrived and you have done your research and have a pretty good idea of what you want to say. Remember first impressions are crucial as it is human nature to sum someone up within the first few minutes. It is up to you to set the tone for the rest of the meeting.

Arrive on time. Never be late - Interviewers are not interested in traffic conditions on the Southern motorway or late running ferries. Be well-dressed (even if the company dress code is casual it is always best to “dress up” as you can always dress down AFTER you have secured the job). Be confident and greet the Interviewer with a firm handshake.

Honesty

Obviously all interviewers have their own individual style but topics which may be well covered are qualifications and experience and reasons for leaving previous employment. If you had a hiccup in your degree or professional examinations, be honest do not try and make excuses such as “it was a bad year” or “all the paper was unusually difficult”.  If there were personal circumstances which genuinely made things difficult then by all means mention them, but if the results are honestly due to complacency or lack of work then you will be respected much more for admitting it and having learned something from.  Try always to talk about negative aspects of your CV such as gaps in dates etc and be prepared with positive answers.

Your experience will, to some extent, be covered on your CV but what will be more important is the way you talk about it.  Try to relate your experience as far as possible to the job for which you are applying. Always mention any special work, however small, any supervisory experience and any IT exposure you may have had. This is your chance to do a sales job on yourself so make sure all aspects are covered.  Like you did in your covering letter, think about those “must haves” that the employer has asked for and how you match their requirements.  Your job is to help the interviewer make a good decision. On the other hand, don't go over the top and don’t get too detailed - an interviewer probably won't be interested in the fact that a major audit took ten weeks three days and 14 minutes to complete – keep it sharp, punchy and to the point. Your reasons for leaving your present position will tell the interviewer much more about your motivations for changing career direction. Always try to turn a reason for leaving into a positive reason to joining “I'm bored with my job”  or “I don't get on with my managing director” will not impress. Again relate your answers to the job.

Always be straight in an interview and never try to be clever as it will  almost always backfire.  Be keen on the role you have applied for and show the interviewer why and do not ever talk about “getting a foot in the door” as if the interviewers feels that they are being misled,  the only door you are likely to see again is the one that is marked clearly EXIT.

Questions

You know that you will be asked questions, but 99.9% of the time you will be asked if you have any of your own, so you need to prepare and this is where looking at the company’s website and especially current news items can give you some sensible questions to ask.

Remember to ask questions about the job and the company and make sure they are relevant to your meeting and not just for the sake of it. “how long do I get for lunch?” is hardly going to inspire someone to offer you a job.

Finally

Do not be afraid at the end of an interview to ask what the next part of the process is going to be. If you haven’t been told already.  Thank the Interviewer/s for the meeting and say that you are really keen on the role and why. Or if you are not keen, say so and why - it will save everyone time later.
 
Remember you are at an interview from the minute you walk into the building until the minute you leave, impressions made on receptionists do count so leave them feeling impressed.  There was a lovely advertisement on NZ television once of a reception area with several applicants, waiting for a job interview.  The employer was taking time to see them and one by one the applicants left as they lost patience.  Finally, there were only two left – an older man and a younger executive.  The young man asked “So you here about the job too?” His reply was “No, I work here. I hire the cheesemakers.  Welcome aboard”.  Patience is a skill when it comes to cheesemaking!