Archive for the ‘Interviews’ Category

One undeniable fact today is that for most jobs there is a lot of competition. 

Many good candidates, people that are very capable, will undoubtedly feel their fair share of frustration, disappointment and rejection. Plenty of times when they were a “very close second” or “pipped at the post” for a job.

Not much that can be done?

Well, there is! Make a diary note to get back in touch with the recruiter, about that position, a couple of weeks later.

When you are job hunting you are up against lots of other job seekers, some out of work, others looking for a change. Whatever their reasons, after the offer has been made and the job accepted, plenty can still (and does!) go wrong.

The candidate may get a better offer with another employer, they might receive a counter offer (increase in salary) from their existing company, another position might open up. 

If this happens, it isn’t fair to assume that you will get called, but if you follow up you are showing your enthusiasm and pro-activity.  You are also showing that you want the job, want to work for that specific company and believe in your own capability to do the job. Often your details can get lost under a mountain of other CV’s. One telephone call from you can result in additional interviews and possibly a job offer. If you are re-interviewed, often the process is shortened because of your prior interviews with this company.

Does this work, yes! in the last 6 weeks I have placed 2 candidates that made follow up calls. One was to replace someone that accepted a counter offer, the other when the employer opened up another position exactly the same. Would I have called the candidates? Probably, but quite possibly not! 

It takes a bit of effort, but its worth it. It’s also a lot easier following up with recruiters who you’ve already built rapport than only making cold calls for new jobs.

You’ve secured the interview, researched thoroughly, thought about how to present yourself, got interesting questions to ask, put on your best shirt and tie, arrived early, your preparation couldn’t have gone any better – in short your ready!

What can possibly go wrong?

Nothing?

Not quite, what if the interviewer isn’t prepared for you?

The majority of people you see for interview won’t be professional interviewers, they may be the Managing Director, IT Director or Manager, even the HR Manager in anything other than large companies (and even in some of those!) may not necessarily be trained in how to carry out effective interviews

The person you see will undoubtedly be busy, they may have forgotten your appointment, maybe they can’t find your CV, maybe they haven’t prepared questions, are inexperienced or are just not very good at interviews!
What should you do?

If you are well prepared you can turn this situation to your advantage, but you must prepare for this eventuality (it happens often!)

As with every interview, the message you need to leave is simple. How their company will benefit by employing you?

Think about this in advance and have 5 pieces of information (as a minimum) that communicate this, if possible, get them in to your answers. If not bring them up yourself!

Here are a few scenarios:

Unprepared Interviewer

Challenge

The interviewer has forgotten about your meeting, they’re uncomfortable and can’t find your CV. On top of this they haven’t read your CV or prepared any questions (what a great start!). When this happens the interviewer often buys time by talking, at length, about their own experience and company.

Solution

Remember that you only have limited time to make an impression, make it easy for the interviewer and focus on your performance

When you have relevant information, bring it in to the conversation e.g. “it’s interesting you mention the customer service award as in my current role I was involved with a CRM implementation that improved my companies Customer Service Index by 20%!”

If you are positive and proactive the interviewer will settle down and will be encouraged to ask follow on questions about you

Closed Questions

Situation

You have prepared thoroughly, you’ve got engaging information that will impress and be interesting but you can’t get them into your answers as the interviewer is asking closed questions. The answers you are giving the interviewer are correct but you’re not building any rapport with the interview or doing anything special that will make you stand out to the interviewer.

Solution

Just because the interviewer is asking closed questions doesn’t mean you have to give Yes / No answers. Be expansive (but relevant), use the information you have prepared and bring this into your answers

Yes / No answers to closed questions are wrong and they will not give you the opportunity to impress the interviewer.

Interruptions

Challenge

The phone keeps ringing, there are several knocks on the door, you have to change your meeting room etc

Solution

Use the times when you are being interrupted wisely. These interruptions should give you time to prepare and think what information you can give next or think of a follow up to the point you were making. Make sure the interviewer remembers what you were talking about by reintroducing the conversation like this,

’as I was saying…’ or   ‘In relation to the point you were making…’

Negative Approach

Challenge

The company or interviewer may have been trying for a while to find a suitable person to fill the position or the job might have a high turnover of applicants. They may be frustrated with the whole process.

Solution

Dealing with a negative interviewer is not an easy task. You first need to make them relaxed and reassure them you find it easy to adjust to new work environments, enjoy getting on with people, and most importantly that you can do the job well that you have applied for.

It would be good to hear any comments on bad interviews / interviewers and how you’ve dealt with them!

Written by Richard Morgan at Remit Resources

If you’ve done the right preparation and make a good first impression you now need to press home that advantage.

Couple of obvious things first, look at the interviewer, listen to what they say, try and be open and relevant with your answers, speak clearly and let the interviewer run the interview!

There are many different types of interview both face to face and telephone. I will cover the details in depth elsewhere but they can include, Behavioural Interviews, Competency interviews, Panel Interviews, Group Interviews – if you arranged the interview through a recruiter or direct yourself, ask, in advance, what to expect.

Whatever the form of the interview, one very important thing you must keep in mind at all times, to get to this stage the interviewer thinks you can do the job!

They will use the interview to confirm this.

There are hundreds of questions they could ask you, however they phrase them, they are trying to answer these three simple questions:

1. Can you do the job -do you have the right skills and experience?
2. What is your attitude and commitment to work like?
3. Does your personality fit in to their culture?

If you have done your preparation in enough depth you will already have identified your key strengths and skills and how they relate to this company and this role. This is your chance to communicate this to a future employer.

Every answer you give and the way in which you answer should be answering one of these three questions.

You will also get the opportunity to ask questions, use this chance but think about what you ask!

If you don’t ask any questions what do you think the interviewer will think?

If you ask about the number of holidays or what the policy for sick days is, what do you think the interviewer will think?

Ask intelligent questions that you want to know the answer to that will help you make an informed decision.

We talked here about first impressions. They are very important, so are last impressions, leave on a positive note!

If you’ve read all three posts (thanks, I’m not sure how many people will have got this far!) you will notice one thing, there is no big secret! It’s all very simple stuff, prepare thoroughly, think about the messages you want to convey, be positive, be friendly and try to make friends!

Written by Richard Morgan, Remit Resources

OK, so you’ve got the interview and done your research.

The next issue is presentation.

First thing, what time to arrive?

Aim to be sitting in reception 10 minutes before the interview starts (no earlier and no later).

No interviewer wants you to arrive earlier than 10 minutes. People are busy, it’s inconvenient and sub consciously what does it say about you!

Being early is great, I recommend it, but wait outside their office.

On this point, (I know it’s obvious but so many people do it!) don’t be late. There are no excuses, if the train was late, the traffic was bad it doesn’t matter to the interviewer. Think about how you are going to get to the interview, parking, train times etc. in advance. In my experience 99% of people who are late for an interview do not get the job. If there is any chance you are going to be late you must call ahead to let them know ASAP .

We’ve all heard the clichés “you never get a second chance to make a first impression” or “first impressions count”. Overused, yes! True, yes! There is also a fact about 93% of communication is non-verbal of which 55% is visual, I’m not sure I agree with those numbers but I think the message is loud and clear – first impressions count!

This doesn’t mean you need to be in a Savile Row suit but you do need to be smart, suit shirt tie (top button done up!) clean shoes, tidy hair! The rule here is dress smart and professionally, the dress code might be casual when you start work but you can’t be overdressed for an interview (again it goes without saying but you’d be surprised how many people don’t do this).

Be friendly! To everyone, you never know who you might meet. Be especially friendly to the receptionist, they can have an influence. If you are sitting in reception for 10 minutes speak to the receptionist, you might find out something interesting about the company, you will definitely get a feel for what it’s like to work there and a friendly 5 minute conversation really does calm the nerves!

Greet the interviewer with a firm handshake (I know another cliché!), make eye contact, smile and be friendly! To repeat, first impressions count, whether you believe the stats or not the fact is they are going to make their mind up pretty quickly if they like you or not. These initial exchanges make the differences between a relaxed successful interview or not.

The interviewer will normally ask “How are you?” the answer “how do you think I am, I was made redundant 6 months ago, can’t find a job, we’re in the worst recession on record and I’ve been stuck in traffic for the last 30 minutes and don’t get me started on house prices” whilst quite possibly being technically correct isn’t as effective as “great thanks how are you”.  Be positive, people want to work with positive people!

This also might be a chance to show some of your preparation, you might want to comment on a news article or award they have just won (something positive!). Think about this part of the interview, it’s often an area that gets forgotten but it is your chance to make that first impression.

If you prepared properly you will have a fair idea of the first couple of questions and you will be well on the way to getting the job!

Written by Richard Morgan, Remit Resources

Three Key Aspects of the Interview – Preparation

OK, so you’ve done the hard part and secured an interview.

Now for the easy part and getting the job!

Once you’ve secured the interview the first thing you must do is prepare

It is hard to believe it (unless you’ve spent a lot of time interviewing) but 80% of candidates do little or no preparation before an interview! No prizes for guessing how successful they are!

You can almost guarantee that the first question you will get asked in an interview is “What do you know about our company”. If you respond with anything other than a concise, intelligent summary of their business you are not going to be successful in this interview!

It is the least you can do, it breaks the ice, relaxes you and gets you off to a good start in the interview (the other questions will be tell me about yourself, and what do you know about the job – again very straightforward questions and by the time you’ve answered them you should be in your stride and ready to tackle the tougher questions!)

One of the challenges in an interview is engaging with the interviewer. If you have prepared effectively you should have discovered a couple of facts that make this a little easier:

OK, so how to prepare

• First port of call has got to be the company website. Print a couple of pages and take it to the interview (this shows that you’ve prepared!) Look at the news pages, find out what they are saying about themselves. Look at any case studies and print them, if there’s anything you don’t understand that could be a good question (far better than “how many days holiday do I get”!)
• Google! Obvious yes but don’t just look at their website, look at the news on the company, try searching for the person who is interviewing, they may have given a presentation or written an article recently, something you could use to break the ice! Depending on time to interview setup Google news alerts and get the latest information emailed to you
• Social Media, search on LinkedIn, there is a huge amount of information available, it tells you who works there, what they do, what events are coming up, and it gives recommendations. LinkedIn tends to be social media for business. Don’t limit your research to this though, do they have a Facebook page (have their customers set up pages, good or bad!), what’s on YouTube about them, what are people saying on Twitter. How about forums? What are their customers saying
• Networking. Do you know someone who works there? How about someone you know who knows someone that works there! Starts to get a bit complicated but again LinkedIn does this for you. Don’t just make connections use them!
• The recruiter. Doesn’t replace any of the above as you must do your own research and preparation but the recruiter will know the client, they should understand the business, they should be able to tell you about the interviewers, their style, and the types of questions they ask. If they don’t offer this information then ask them, if they don’t know ask them to find out!

So that gives you background on the company.

Now think about the questions you might be asked.

You can’t control the questions that you will be asked but you can still prepare

• If you were interviewing you, what would you ask?
• What is it about you that is most relevant to this job, where can you add real value? Think about these things and bring them into answers to the questions
• If it’s on the CV be prepared to talk about and expand on it. This is all the interviewer knows about you and it will often form the structure of the interview
• Think of scenarios you have been in and give real examples of situations you’ve been in, how you dealt with it and the outcome. (Once you’ve got 3 or 4 of these they can be tailored to be the answer to almost any question)

Whatever anyone says, everybody is nervous before an interview. If you have prepared thoroughly it helps!

I started this post by saying that 80% of candidates do not prepare for interviews, 95% of people wouldn’t have done all of the above – I wonder who’s got the best chance of getting the job!

Written by Richard Morgan, Remit Resources