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In this issue I cover:

The Dreaded Interview – what should I expect and what should I not do?

Different Types of Interview you might meet;

Dealing with Interview Nerves;

Assessment Centres - what are they?

Psychometric Test;

Body Language - the Unspoken Clues;

The 3 Unbreakable Rules.

The Dreaded Interview – what should I expect and what should I not do?

PREPARATION

Preparing and presenting yourself well will help you to stand out from the other candidates.

Have you confirmed that you will be coming? Have you planned your journey? Foreseeable delays are never an excuse.

How will you look? Is your interview outfit appropriate and comfortable? Have you researched the company as well the job? Will you take your CV and copies of the application form, job specification and job ad? Have you planned your answers to some likely questions?

They will almost certainly want to know:

• Why you applied for the job

• What skills and experience you have to offer

• Why it’s better to hire you rather than the other candidates

• How well you will fit in

Have you planned some questions of your own?

What do you need to know to help you decide if this is the right job for you?

QUESTIONS TO RE PREPARED FOR:

• Tell me about yourself.

• What attracted you to this job?

• What were the main responsibilities in your last job?

• What makes you think you can do this job?

• What aspects of your experience do you see as being most relevant?

• Why do you want to work for this company?

• We were really looking for a younger/older person...

• Will you say some more about [a particular aspect] of your experience?

• Why did you leave your last job?

• What are your strengths and skills?

• What are your weaknesses?

• If I asked your boss or manager, how would they describe you?

• You have been with one company for a long time — how would you cope with the change?

• Where do you want to be in three years time?

• Your experience seems to be rather limited in the area of...

• This job seems to be a considerable reduction /increase in pay/status/ or responsibility. What will this mean to you?

• It’s quite a change of direction for you — how might you cope?

• Why were you made redundant? Why were you chosen?

• What do you do outside work time?

• How will you travel to work?

• What level of pay are you looking for?

SITUATIONAL QUESTIONS:

You might also be asked questions like ‘What would you do if . . . ?‘

There are three basic rules for answering these types of questions:

1. Contain the situation. Don’t make it worse.

2. Start to make the situation better.

3. Make sure your solution is realistic.

Poorly conducted interviews:

You may come across an untrained or inexperienced interviewer. They may talk a lot and not ask you or allow you to present yourself effectively.

If at the end of the interview you feel that you haven’t been able to sell yourself, offer the interviewer a summary of your suitability and interest in the job.

Different Types of Interview you might meet

Not all interviews follow the same format. Here are some of the types you may encounter.

Screening interviews:

The aim here is to do an initial sift of candidates. They are often carried out by recruitment consultants or personnel or HR staff. Sometimes they are done over the phone. They usually focus on your relevant experience and skills so that the candidates put forward for second interview are qualified to do the job.

One-to-one interviews:

These are the most common types of interview in the private sector. With only one person involved, it’s important to try and develop a relationship.

A series of one-to-one interviews with different interviewers might take place. The interviewers may cover similar ground. Sometimes, two people may interview you together.

Panel interviews:

These interviews are more common in the public sector and education and in some charities.

The panel usually consists of people who have a common interest in making a successful appointment. To ensure fairness and consistency, the panel asks all candidates the same set of questions in the same order. The panel’s chairperson will normally introduce and direct the proceedings.

The thing most candidates seem to worry about with panel interviews is who to look at.

The answer is simple.

Look at the person who asked you the question and glance occasionally at other members of the panel as well to show that you are including them in your response. On the positive side, panel interviews can be much fairer to candidates in that there is less room for personal bias from the interviewer.

Competency based interviews:

These are becoming increasingly common. Instead of being assessed against the other candidates, using whatever standards the interviewer chooses, you are assessed against the competencies required in a job.

Competencies are the skills, qualities, knowledge and characteristics needed to succeed in a particular job.

Competency based interviews don’t just look at what you did but how you went about it. They will want to collect examples of your past behaviour which are relevant to the requirements of the new job.

So you might face questions such as:

• Describe the toughest problem you have faced in the last six months. What would you have done differently if you tackled it again?

• Tell me about how you have improved production quality. What did you do?

Try to keep your answers concise and structured around the competencies that you used — so that the interviewer can pick them up easily from what you say.

The interviewers will probably write down most of what you tell them.

Telephone interviews:

Formal

These are often used as part of the selection process for jobs in the customer service or telesales area. The company will tell you when the interview will take place. You will usually be asked a series of structured questions and perhaps asked to take part in a role-play situation on the telephone.

You might also come across automated telephone assessments. Candidates are asked to respond to questions using their telephone keypad to indicate their answer. If telephone manner is important in a job, employers might also carry out a telephone performance test.

Informal:

This is when a company rings you up unannounced to ‘have a chat’ or to ask you to clarify something on your application form. Get them to call you back in a couple of minutes when you have had time to sort yourself out and do some quick preparation.

If a job advert invites you to ‘ring for further details or for an informal chat’, do take up the offer, you might learn something, but be prepared to make a good first impression. Have a copy of your CV at your side, a notepad and a copy of the job advert.

Be ready to explain why the job interests you and what you can offer in relation to what they are looking for.

Dealing with Interview Nerves

Don’t try to get rid of them completely.

Adrenaline helps to keep you on your toes!

The best way to combat nerves is to make sure you are well prepared, on time and looking the part. You will then feel confident and are far more likely to be successful.

Assessment Centres - what are they?

An assessment centre is an organised event where a group of job applicants are asked to carry out a series of tests and exercises under observation, sometimes working alone, sometimes in a group with other applicants.

Employers use them to assess competencies, skills and the suitability of applicants for jobs. They can last from half a day to two days and can include any or all of the following:

• Written or computer-based tests;

• Group exercises with set tasks and goals that can involve open discussions or physical activity;

• Interviews;

• In-tray exercises (typical tasks which test your skills in prioritising, delegating and time management)

• Role play;

• Presentations;

• Working with data or gathering information to help you reach a decision.

Psychometric Tests

Ability tests can assess such things as verbal and numerical reasoning, diagrammatic and spatial awareness and mechanical understanding. The specific tests you might be asked to do will relate to the job that you are applying for.

Personality questionnaires are not tests.

They are a series of many questions with no right or wrong answers that help to give a profile of how you might behave, or show some aspect of your personality.

There is a lot of evidence to show that these tests and questionnaires, professionally used and evaluated can give employers more objective, reliable and relevant information about an applicant’s likely success in a job.

But how can they help you?

• They will enable you to demonstrate your strengths and the real you.

• Ability tests will measure how relevant your skills are to the job.

• They are carefully designed and fully researched so that they are fair to candidates.

Body Language - the Unspoken Clues

FIRST IMPRESSIONS MOST DEFINITELY COUNT

...so in the first few seconds of the interview make sure that you:

• look them in the eye;

• smile (but not a cheesy grin);

• shake hands with a firm, dry handshake (if offered).

IN THE INTERVIEW ROOM:

• only sit down when asked;

• sit well back in the chair and sit upright but comfortably - you can't talk well if you slump;

• don’t cross your arms — it’s a negative sign;

• smile;

• maintain good eye contact, but don't stare

BE POSITIVE AND ENTHUSIASTIC ABOUT

• the position you are applying for;

• the company you now work for;

• or the job that you have just left.

The 3 Unbreakable Rules

1. Never, ever be late.

2. Never ever say anything rude, critical or unpleasant about your previous employer, manager or colleagues.

3. Above all, stay focused, be positive and LISTEN.

Comments, ideas or feedback?

I'd really love to hear from you - just reply to this e-zine and let me know what you think.

Best Regards

Peter

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