New Year New Career – improve your interview technique

Interview Tips

Tips on how to prepare for an interview and how to create a good first impression.   The first 5 minutes of your interview is really important when you first meeting your interviewer and small things can make big differences.

• Be smart and professionally dressed i.e. a business suit, clean shoes and tidy hair.
• Arrive in plenty of time and take their telephone number in case you have a delay on your way.
• Research indicates that around 92% of a judgment about a person is made within the first minute and a half of meeting.
• Be prepared for your interview – research them on the internet and understand what they do and who you are being interviewed by.
• How much do you want this job? (You )  Need to show your enthusiasm.
• Have good eye contact with your interviewer or panel of interviewers – engage with them all.
• Be aware of your body language, do not slouch as it will appear you are not interested.
• Think if you were in the interviewers seat what would you want to know from yourself to recruit you for this vacancy.
• Do not assume the Interviewer understands what your previous experience has entailed.
• Answer the questions fully and give real examples of ‘how’ you have achieved a positive outcome, specify what these were and the benefits.  Be clear about what your personal contribution was and use ‘I’ rather than ‘we’.
• If you are going for a Sales position then do not forget to close at the end of interview.
• Take with you Qualification Certificates or proof of previous performances – companies always want to see proof of your successes if possible.
• Think of relevant questions – interviews are not supposed to be one sided.  You need to make sure the job and the company is right for you.  Making a mistake can be painful for both parties.
• Before leaving the interview, ask what the next stage is and how soon might you hear from them.
• Interviews can be nerve wracking, particularly if you really want the job, so don’t forget to smile – the interviewer is also assessing whether your personality will fit into their company and we all like to deal with people we like in whatever business it may be.
• If you have the opportunity of the interviewer’s email address send a short polite email to thank them for their time and to reiterate your interest in the role.

Written by Laura Miller