Interview Preparation

1. Pre-Interview Telephone Screening Calls

It is your application that will get you a phone call. It is your performance in the phone call that will get you an interview. Therefore prepare well for the telephone screening call.

Key areas to review in ensuring your application sells you:

• Achievements as opposed to generic descriptions
• Key examples to support your claims (results focus)
• Stability of employment (dates match/no gaps)
• Evidence of promotion
• Written communication (particularly cover letter/email)
• Verbal communication (telephone screening)

Effective screening question preparation:

• Reason for considering a change?
• What is it you are ideally seeking to do next?
• Resume-specific questions:
- eg 1. “I see on your resume that you have had a couple of relatively short stays in your recent companies. What was the reason for this?”
- eg 2. “We mentioned a need to have managed budgets in our ad. In which roles have you been responsible for doing so?”

Think about what you would ask if you were assessing someone for the role and have your answers thought through in advance. Ensure you sound lively, alert, energetic, confident and warm yet professional on the phone. The telephone screener will be assessing not just the content of what you say but how well you communicate. Be concise, articulate and listen to the question so that you answer it directly rather than missing the mark with your response.

2. Preparing for the Job Interview Itself

Performing at an employment interview is a critical step in any effective selection process along with sitting other assessments such as psychometric tests, role plays, assessment centres and reference checking.

The interview is an essential part of the process in the employer assessing and grading information about your experience, training, achievements and interests, as well as (of equal importance) your motivation, career aspirations and “fit” for the role. It will help them assess your communication skills and personal style and whether they can see your and others in the business effectively working together.

The McKinsey Group stated that recruitment techniques are becoming more and more scientific and objective with the likes of competency based questioning, targeted selection and psychological assessment. However they still highlighted that no amount of questioning can compensate for really trying to get to know that person at the interview and working out whether they will work well with the organisation.

Therefore a good selection process encompasses the scientific tools now available to us to assess technical fit along with getting an intuitive feel for the person to assess cultural fit and making a judgment across all factors.

Finally the McKinsey approach is to ask at the end of any interview, “Could I see myself spending 24 hours on a plane with this person?” You should be asking yourself the same question about the employer.

Key Issues To Remember In Interview Preparation:

• Be thorough in preparing yourself. Research the company and position looking at things such as: suppliers/customers/competitors/brands/key industry issues
• Be prepared to respond to questions relating to technical skills relevant to the job also to questions relating to motivation levels and personal attributes
• Identify in the advertisement what are the key competencies required?
• How am I going to show that I have those competencies?
• Don’t assume they have read your resume!
• Try always to be on time or slightly early and always accept water if it is offered
• Be aware that the interview process is a two way process, where you as a good candidate should be interviewing the employer as much as vice versa
• First impressions are critical – people make up to 10-12 judgements about you in the first 5-10 seconds that you meet
• Remember your appearance – professional, better to overdress than under dress. Don’t let people discriminate against you based on what you wear. Remember clean shoes!
• How you speak – speak with energy, enthusiasm, and clarity and use examples to support your presentation. Be succinct and calm
• Body Language – good eye contact, firm hand-shake, be standing to greet, be warm, positive
• Maintain eye contact – (try looking into one eye only) – tune 100% into the interviewer. Listen carefully
• Let the interviewer feel like they are in control of the interview. Ask questions but not too many. Questions around performance are useful e.g. “How will you measure my contribution and performance”?
• Respond to questions succinctly, do not waffle but have examples in your past to support what you can do
• Be attentive
• Have a list of relevant skills and experience that you bring to the position. For example: Position Accountant – e.g. report writing, budgeting, planning skills
• Thank the person for their time, smile and be positive
• Check what happens next

3. Possible Interview Questions

Future Questions:

• Describe the ideal next position for you?
• Does any particular industry interest you
• What sort of culture do you perform best in?
• Where do you see yourself in five years?
• What sort of management style gets the best out of you?
• Describe your preferred style of management
• What did you like most or least about your last position?

Competency Questions:

• Give an instance where you have added value in your last position?
• Can you give examples of where you have shown initiative, motivation and commitment?
• When, in the past, you have started with limited resources, what have you done to ensure you achieved your goals, despite the constraints?

Personal Attribute Questions:

• Describe yourself as a person
• Describe your strengths
• How can you contribute to a future employer?
• Describe the areas in which you can improve (weaknesses)?
• If I rang your manager, what would they say about you?
• How do you handle conflict?
• How do you react to criticism?
• Do you best perform under pressure or not?
• What motivates you to succeed?