Great tips for interview success

This is a guest post by Mary Tait

Interviews!

To further your aims and get that all important starting letter through your door you must make a good impression at interview. Your personality as well as your abilities will undoubtedly be taken into account. Many employers will use the information gained from your Curriculum Vitae to ask questions and try and relate the tasks and experience as well as your achievements to their needs. So it is important that your talents are focused to fit with what the prospective employer seeks.

Employers can get as anxious at interview as prospective employees, so do keep this in mind and try not to let your nerves take over. To help you and them relax many employers may start their interview process on a friendly note generally beginning with such topics as the weather or your journey. From this he may be able to judge whether or not you chat too much or whether or not you are able to cut to the point of the interview without being unfriendly. Nerves can cause you too chat too much so do try and keep them under control. Try and talk directly to the point.

The company may have set guidelines regarding the questions that they ask at interview so if you have a close friend who is working there, there is no harm in asking them for advice.

Remember too that at interview people who make eye contact are seen as trustworthy. Don’t stare though as this will just alarm the interviewer.

Try and avoid asking the interviewer personal questions that are irrelevant to the position you are seeking, but remember too that interviewers like to feel important. 

Skillsets

Organisation
To assess a candidate’s skill a recruiter may ask you how you organise things. Think about how you organise your daily workload, your filing system or a project and explain to him how it has maximised the potential of your time management. 

Problem Solving
Some employers may ask you how you solve problems. They may be interested in your
analytical or customer service skills. Have a think about how you have solved problems in the past and what the outcome has been. The recruiter may give you a hypothetical problem and ask you how you would solve it… be ready. 

Communication
Communication is key in all manner of positions. Before the interview has even begun the recruiter may be already assessing your communication skills. Be clear! The way you dress will communicate your appearance. The way you sit will communicate whether you are seen as tidy or slovenly. Communication skills can say all manner of things about you before you even open your mouth. However, once the interview has begun the recruiter may further assess your communication skills through the spoken word. Can you talk confidently on the phone? Many people can’t! He will be testing your efficiency in communicating and relating information clearly and confidently. He may also ask if about your writing skills and if you have written reports he may be
interested in seeing some of them. Remember too that listening is an all important part of communication. 

Team Work and Social Standing
The recruiter will need to assess whether or not you will get on with the rest of the taskforce. Superiors, colleagues and subordinates, internal and external agencies. Do you work better as part of a team or on your own initiative? Are you a team leader? How would you lead a team? How would you handle a problem with a colleague who wasn’t pulling his weight? 

Decision Making
Dependent on the position you are seeking this may be a make or break question. How well do you manage difficult decision? How quickly can you implement them? How do you reach a decision?

More help on interviews coming soon…… 

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