Preparing for your Interview
Here are some interview tips and techniques tips the will help support your interview success
Research
Researching the company you are interviewing with is crucial and don't forget to show you've done your research too!
Great ways to research a business is via their website and on LinkedIn.
Key areas to research are:
- History of the Company
- Location(s) of the Company
- Services/Products the Company offers
- Size of the Company
- Business Objectives
- Company values
- Plans for the future
If you know who you are interviewing with, don't be afraid to check them out too!
Review their career history and background on LinkedIn, you never know your paths may have even crossed before.
Preparing Questions
You should always prepare questions ahead of your interview, this will also help reflect your interest in the position and business.
Don't be afraid to ask questions about the company, the role and even the individual(s) you are interviewing with.
Example questions you can ask during your interviewer are:
- What would a typical day look like in this role?
- What are the biggest challenges this role would face?
- What are the main key skills required to be successful in this role?
- Why do you enjoy working for the business?
- What are the company's growth plans for the next few years?
- Is this a new position or a replacement hire?
- How big is the team?
- Are there any opportunities for future progression and development?
- What are the company's key selling points?
Practise your Answers
It's common for companies to ask a few 'generalist' questions about you, practise and prepare some answers to ensure you don't get caught off guard. It is also a great idea to note down your key strengths and achievements so you don't forget to share these during the interview.
Questions that often come up are:
- Where do you see yourself in five years?
- What made you join this industry?
- Why would you like to work for our company?
- What have you learned in your career?
- What are your weaknesses and what are your strengths?
- Can you talk me through your career history so far?
- How does this role differ from your current role?
- What are your greatest career achievements?
STAR Technique
A commonly used interview response technique for behavioural based questions is to adopt the STAR method:
- Situation: Describe the situation and when it took place
- Task: Explain what the task was and its goal
- Action: Provide details about the actions you took
- Result: Conclude with the result of your action
Additional tips to help maximise your performance:
- Check you have the correct time and date
- Read the job description in detail and have a copy to hand
- Tell them why your previous experience is a match to the job opportunity
- Plan your outfit (gone are the days where every interview requires a suit) check your attire is industry appropriate and if in doubt opt for 'Smart Casual'
- If you are interviewing in person, make sure you check the journey first and plan your route and parking
When interviewing via Video always ensure :
- You are in a quiet place with no distractions
- You have good lighting and can clearly be seen
- Open the video with a smile, this will have the interview get off to a good start
- Do a test run, make sure your microphone is working (we are tired of the phrase 'you're still on mute')
Things to avoid
- Try to stay focused on the question and avoid going off-topic
- Avoid negative phrases and comments
- Stay professional and don't speak negatively about your previous employer
- Ask about the remuneration but don't just focus on discussing the salary
- Overcome your nerves, a great way to do this is to sing, shout, dance, exercise anything to make you feel more relaxed and at ease
