Interview Tips

We want to offer you a few tried and tested techniques to consider and ensure that when you attend an interview, you get the job.

The Purpose

• For You - there are two objectives for you in an interview. The first is to impress the interviewers (your potential new employers), so that they will want to make you an offer. The second is for you to "interview" your interviewers to see if their company and the position is right for you.
• For The Interviewer - their objective is to understand what you have to offer technically and personally and whether you will contribute to the company structure and culture. These are sometimes difficult areas to assess. Interviewers generally do not want to intimidate interviewees! They should aim to relax you so that you give your best performance. Although inevitably, an interview can be stressful, particularly if you want the job!

The Preparation

Always prepare well for any interview. If you have prepared well, you will feel more confident and therefore likely to be less nervous. But nerves do play a part in the interview and can enhance your performance – so it isn't a bad thing!

Background Research

• Company - what they do, their structure, where they are based, turnover, aspirations – all this can usually be found on their website
• Interviewers - find out who is interviewing you (name, job title, time in the company, area of responsibility, team etc), their background prior to joining their current company – in fact everything you can. Research them on LinkedIn. Ask your consultant for information about them.
• Address - make sure you have the correct address! Check Google maps for the journey and overestimate the time to travel there, take into account time of day (rush hour?).
• What to take – a copy of your CV (to refer to), passport, anything else they have asked you to take, any work of particular relevance or importance – but recognise that you only want to discuss this if specifically asked.
• What to wear - err on the side of smart unless you are told otherwise – suit or other smart outfit is ideal.
• Running late? Call the company or your consultant to give them an estimated arrival time, but don't panic – it happens!
• Prepare some questions - you must think about some of the things that are important to you to know about a future employer. So make sure you have a list of these written down so that if they are not covered by the interviewer, you can raise them.
• Prepare some answers - CBI is Competency Based Interviewing. Interviewers will ask you questions that require you to provide specific evidence that you have a particular experience or skill. List the competencies you think the job needs e.g. adaptability, compliance, team work, decisiveness, communication, influencing, delegation, leadership, tenacity etc. There are many more possible competency combinations. Prepare at least one example of where you have demonstrated each competency. Practice your answers.

On The Day

• Arrive in plenty of time
• Greet your interviews with a strong handshake and a smile

Engage

• Look alert, enthusiastic and interested. Use a positive body posture.
• Make constant eye contact with all the interviewers; focus on the one that asked each question.
• Answer each question clearly and succinctly. Don't ramble.
• If you are not sure that you have answered a question, ask.
• Speak honestly – interviewers can tell if you are not!

The Likely Structure

The interview is likely to take around an hour and follow a structure not necessarily in this order. You should expect to talk for about 75-80% of the time.

• Introductions
• Explanation of the interview process
• Background to the company
• Questions about your experience
  • Current role
  • Previous role
• Personal strengths & weaknesses
• Why you are looking
• What you are looking for
• Career aspirations
• Practicalities – location, availability etc
• Opportunity for you to ask questions
• What happens next
• Thank yous

The Questions

There are 4 main types of questions you may be asked:

• Open – Encouraging you to talk
• Closed – Yes/No or specific answers e.g. 10 years
• Probing – Exploring in depth a specific area of your skill set
• Situational/Competency – Describing an experience you have enabling you to demonstrate an experience.

Making A Great Impression

• Try to relax and be yourself.
• Really show interest in the company, the role and the interviewers.
• Take some control e.g. ask if you have answered a question to their satisfaction or ask if you need to give them more information.
• Turn your weaknesses into strengths and show how you are overcoming them.
• If you find yourself digging a verbal "hole" for yourself, make light and add some humour.
• Close the interview with affirmation that you really want the role and why.

Some Don'ts!

• Don’t be unprepared
• Don’t be too talkative and long-winded
• Don’t be opinionated/biased or argue
• Don’t get into a salary/rate discussion – leave this for your consultant to manage

The Follow-Up

Contact your consultant as soon as you finish the interview to let them know how it went – the good and the not so good. There is nothing wrong with a courtesy email to the interviewer/s thanking them and confirming your interest in the role.

If you would like advice on creating your CV, job opportunities in the market or to hear more about our latest roles, speak to the specialist Technical Recruitment experts.