Interview Tips
Interviewing can be a nerve racking process, even for the most confident of us! Preparing for your interview will not only make you more knowledgeable, but it will also make you more confident. So, what kind of things should you be preparing for your interview and what are the top tips that we can give you to prepare you for success?
Tip #1
Research! Firstly, you must analyse the job at hand. What is it and what are they looking for in the person? Note down the strengths, and ensure that you mention these during the interview. Not only do you do your research into the job that you’ve applied for, but of course, you must research into the company as much as possible… Understanding what they do, understanding the kind of clients that they work with and also seeing if there are any recent updates in the news about them; keep on top of the trends!
Tip #2
CV! Being in an interview is a lot of pressure and can make you feel as though you forget things. You know your background and you want to portray this in the best light as possible to the interviewer. Ensure that you read through your CV properly and highlight all of the important points in your career to date, and make sure that you mention these.
Tip #3
Time management! Being able to arrive to your interview on time is the first impression that you’re going to make. Of course, if you’re on time, you’re not going to get a pat on the pack… however, if you’re late, it will definitely be noted. As well as being late, you can also be too early. Arriving to an interview more than 10 minutes early is also noted as bad time management.
Tip #4
Outfit! It’s a raw truth that we’re judged within the first 6 seconds of meeting somebody. What image do you want to portray? It’s always better to be smart than casual, even if the company dress down every day. Ensure that you’re clean and well presented.
Tip #5
Positivity! Just because you’re in an interview, it doesn’t mean that you need to behave as though you’re being interrogated by the police. Smile, have a laugh. Make sure that you inject your personality into the interview so that they’re able to determine whether you’d be a good fit for the team or not.
Tip #6
Details! Note down key points of your career to date, and go into detail. Give the interviewer some facts, figures and statistics. Not only will it show that you know what you’re talking about, but it will also impress them.
Tip #7
Strengths! Play on your strengths and make sure that your interviewer knows what these areas are. What areas do you excel in and why?
Tip #8
Honesty! Lying in an interview is never a good move. Although we suggest playing on your strengths, we don’t mean that you should be elaborating the truth and making things up. Be honest with your interviewer and if you don’t have experience within something that they have asked, or you don’t know the answer to a question; be honest!
Tip #9
Listen! Although you may think that interviews are all about getting in as much as you can about yourself, you must also listen to their wants and needs. Listen to these and understand how you can help them… This way you’ll be giving a much more defined and targeted response to questions.
Tip #10
Questions! As much as they’re interviewing you, you still want to find out if this is the right job for you. Ask targeted questions that you’re interested in knowing the answers to. What didn’t work in your last company? Maybe you could ask targeted questions around this, in order to see if these problems will arise again in your new position.