You’ve got an interview!
Be honest, does that fill you with excitement,… terror,… or a heady mix of both? What’s the one thing you can do to calm those nerves, and give you the best shot at success?
P-R-E-P-A-R-A-T-I-O-N.
With almost two decades’ experience across Human Resources and Recruitment, I know a thing or two about interview performance.
A lack of preparation is sure to affect your confidence, so use these 5 top tips to prepare for your next interview.
1. Do your research
Before you attend an interview, you must understand what you are getting into. Do your research on the company’s mission, target customer and what services/products they offer. This will help you understand the context of the role and how to tailor your responses to questions.
How can you do this research?
Here are a few ideas:
- Check out the company’s website.
- Google them and read any relevant sources
- Search social media and read comments from customers as well as company content
- If you’re lucky enough to know someone who works there, ask them too
By understanding the company’s values, you can cover the most relevant parts of your experience in your responses.
It’s also important to research the culture of the company. For example, online employee policies may give you an idea of how they treat employees. You might also gain an insight into the expectations on employees.
This will help you gain a sense of the work environment, but you could also ask about this at the interview.
More to come on that later!
2. Understand the job description
This might seem an obvious one, but it can be easy to assume you know what the job is and not give the job description enough attention.
This preparation stage will form the basis of your interview prep, so let’s be systematic, shall we? Start with the main duties of the role. Have you had experience of these? Or relevant experience that may be transferrable? Make a note so that you can expand on this as you prepare your answers to likely questions.
Again, more on this later!
Do the same with the essential qualifications that the job requires. Assuming you have these, make sure the relevant information is at your fingertips.
Next, the required skills and experience. Consider each one in turn, and demonstrate that you meet the required standard.
A helpful technique to use to outline your relevant experience is to remember the acronym STAR:
- Situation – outline the context/situation you were in.
- Task – describe what you were trying to achieve.
- Action – detail what action you took and the skills you utilised.
- Result – summarise what happened, what worked well, and what you might do differently next time.
This helps you structure your answers and demonstrate the relevance of your experience.
3. Practice responses to common interview questions
Ok, so you might not be able to predict exactly what you will be asked in the interview, but you can make a pretty good guess.
Here are some common interview questions:
- Tell us about yourself/your work history.
This type of question is a likely opener. It might suggest that the interviewer hasn’t fully read your CV… or, if they are an experienced interviewer, it might be an easy opening question to put you at ease. Whatever the reason, you should prepare an answer to a question along these lines.
Don’t be fooled into thinking they want to know about your passion for skateboarding or collection of clogs. Interpret ‘Tell us about yourself’ as ‘Tell us how your work history to date makes you suitable for this job’.
This is where your preparation and studying the job description comes in! Your answer should cover the areas of your work history that are most relevant to the job.
- Tell us about your strengths and weaknesses
You should give this some thought as part of your preparation and, again, link it to the job description. Consider the required skills and experience and align them with your own strengths.
Be prepared to provide examples of how you demonstrate these strengths too. Remember STAR? Structure your examples in this way.
What are your development areas? Consider your weaknesses and how you overcome them. Again, prepare examples using STAR to demonstrate self-awareness and a desire to improve.
- Why should we offer you this job?
This is a great opportunity to demonstrate the research you have done into the company/organisation! Your response should encompass your suitability for the job, but also why you want to work for this company.
What is it that made you apply for this job rather than the same job elsewhere?
4. Prepare Questions For the Interviewer
‘That’s all of our questions. Is there anything you would like to ask us?’
Chances are high that this will come up at the end of the interview. Be prepared with some thoughtful questions.
I’d recommend thinking of at least 2-3 questions. You might find some are covered during the interview, so having a few backups will ensure you aren’t left without anything to ask!
Showing that you have given this thought proves your interest in the role, but it is also an opportunity to find out more about the company and culture. Asking questions about development opportunities will give you an insight into how they value employees and their personal goals.
Questions about work/life balance will tell you everything you need to know about the culture of the organisation.
If there are aspects of the job that aren’t clear, this is your opportunity to ask. Afterall, the responses will help you decide if you actually want to work for this company!
One of the most important things to remember as your interview approaches, is that interviews are two-way.
Yes, the interviewer wants to know if you are suitable, but they don’t hold all the power. An interview is also an opportunity for you to decide if you want the job. You have some power here too! Remembering this is a real confidence-boost.
5. Create a good first impression
Obviously, you want to make a good impression. But how?
Try these practical tips:
- Arrive promptly.
Aim to arrive at the venue around 10 minutes before your interview time. Any earlier and you risk inconveniencing your interviewer.
You don’t want to risk being late either, so aim to arrive in the area earlier and wait in a cafe or library until it is time to arrive.
- Body Language.
Ensure you make eye-contact with your interviewer(s), using open body language. Remember that folding your arms across your body sends the message that you are closed off. Probably not the impression you want to give a prospective employer!
- Dress appropriately.
What ‘appropriate’ means will vary depending on the job and company culture. If in doubt, opt for smart businesswear.
- Confidence.
Consider what techniques will help improve your confidence in an interview setting.
You should have some answers prepared, which will help. However, if you are particularly nervous about interviews, then you might consider a mock interview or an interview coach.
You can also practice your responses out loud, so that you can deliver them confidently.
Conclusion
As you can see, the key to maintaining confidence in the interview, is preparing as much as you can in advance. You can make a reasonable guess at some of the questions that might come up. Preparing for these will give you a good grounding to think on your feet if you need to.
If you still feel that familiar flutter of nerves at the thought of interviews, you might also consider an interview coach. Military Spouse Works is launching a comprehensive interview coaching service that will leave you prepared and ready to impress at interview.
Get in touch today to discuss the support you need. Send me an email on info@militaryspouseworks.com to get started