Many
people fail to perform well at interview, but their performance in
most cases can be remedied. At Purple House, we have accumulated years
of experience of seeing what makes people succeed and fail at interview
and have heard all sorts of feedback from both candidates and clients
that can benefit you.
All you need to do is click on the questions below to see the answers. You may
be familiar with most of what we cover here but we’d suggest that few will
fail to find something new and useful to contribute to their job-hunting strategy.
We hope that it makes a real difference to you and please
contact
us if you have any further questions or queries.
Answers
1. Interview Preparation
Interview preparation is probably the single most important differentiator between
good candidates - the one who is best prepared invariably gets the job.
Think about it from the perspective of the potential employer. Preparation is
evidence of professionalism, interest in and commitment to their company, and
is indicative of the way a candidate is likely to work. If someone doesn’t
prepare properly for an interview, what kind of an employee are they likely to
be? Preparation is crucial and can be broken down into two different areas: research
and planning.
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2. Research
Research involves finding out as much as you possibly can about the company,
the people you will be meeting and the role in question. Without exception, you
will need to do the following:
Regularly monitor the financial press and read the company’s annual report
and accounts, and corporate information. The company’s website is usually
the best place to start.
Review the job and person specifications and original advertisement. Anticipate
the competencies the company will look for which you’ll be tested on, highlight
the key aspects of the role and prepare around these.
Gain a general understanding of the business the company is in, who their competitors
are and where they are positioned in the market.
Anyone who hasn’t gathered such basic information prior to an interview
is likely to be exposed. You risk the employer questioning your sincerity in
applying for the position.
Additionally, you can do the following:
- Go through recent releases or press cuttings, in which the company is featured.
- Listen to what your recruitment consultant says about the role, company
and interviewer. Remember the consultant generally only gets paid if you
get the job, so ask them to gather information or ask questions on your behalf,
before your interview.
- You may not be the only candidate who has done his or her homework, but
you’ll stand out from those who have not. Research will give you the
chance to excel at interview and enough information to make the right decision
if you are offered the role.
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3. Planning
Use the information you have gathered to arrive at a clear picture of where
you think the company is going. Make a list of questions which demonstrate
your research and allow you to gain further important information at interview.
Intelligent questions can set you apart from others.
Questions around the company’s current activities are always a good area
for discussion. Don’t be afraid to ask challenging questions around the
market conditions, the challenges the business faces, what the key HR and business
objectives the organisation has for the next 12 months etc.
In addition, the interviewer will be looking for evidence of relevant experience
and skills so prepare for obvious competency questions and think of examples.
You should also plan answers to certain questions they are likely to ask and
these are likely to be those that you would ask if you were interviewing and
those generated by the job spec and any advertisement. There is no substitute
for reviewing and re-reviewing these.
Importantly, do review your CV. Some candidates slip up by not knowing what
is on their own CV!
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4. Preparing for Interview
Your first interview is absolutely crucial! Too many candidates underestimate
its importance and perform poorly. What can you do to ensure that you don’t
fail at this stage? Think about the following:
- At interview, your CV has already passed the test and what they are looking
to explore is the person behind it.
- Remember this is only the first interview and many topics may remain uncovered
- The interviewer may decide the tone of the interview even before it takes
place and continue with it in order to assess how you respond in certain
circumstances.
- Most important of all, be mindful of the key questions the interviewer
is trying to answer. These include "Will this person fit into the team?
Would I like to work with this person? Will they hit it off with the management
team?"
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5. The Interview Itself
First impressions are crucial. Most interviewers make judgments within the first
few minutes of meeting someone. Here’s what you need to do to make the interviewer
immediately feel good about you:
- Be on time and be polite to the receptionists and support staff
- they can be very influential!
- Dress smartly and professionally. Smile and give a confident,
firm handshake.
- If they don’t take the initiative immediately, open the
conversation.
- Listen as well as talk and be friendly, appear enthused.
Once the interview begins, pay attention to body language. Here are
a few useful pointers:
- Be relaxed and position yourself so your body is facing the other
person.
- Make regular eye contact especially if there is more than one
interviewer.
- Model your own body language after that of the interviewer -
research indicates that interviewers favour candidates whose body
language is similar to their own.
- Let the interviewer lead, they will have set areas to cover and
a set time limit.
- Be brief but avoid giving one word replies to questions. Do check
at the end of the answer that you’ve given them enough information.
Above all, make sure you answer the question and give compelling
evidence.
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6. Do’s
and Don’ts
DO:
- Be enthusiastic and ask questions throughout the interview (not just at
the end)
- Know your CV inside out and anticipate the questions it may prompt
- Be absolutely clear of your reasons for wanting to leave your current employer
- Know exactly why you’re interested in the company and the role
- Keep the information positive - don’t give bad news unasked
- Concentrate on selling yourself and pick up and respond to signals the
interviewer is giving
- Evidence your abilities by discussing them, and evidencing HOW you achieved
something
- Leave on a high note - thank the interviewer for his/her time, reiterate
your interest in the position and say that you hope to hear from them again
soon
DON’T:
- Interrupt the interviewer
- Answer a question with a question (unless to clarify what they are asking)
- Try to be clever or smart!
- Be critical of your current or previous employers or suggest personality
clashes
- Be too laid back, over casual or over friendly
- Avoid eye contact, give short, clipped answers or waffle
- Breach confidentiality
So what should you do if the interviewer doesn’t come across well and you,
as a candidate, don’t like him or her? If this situation occurs, it may
be because the interviewer is inexperienced or simply isn’t at their best
that day, but whatever the reasons, the best thing you can do is to ignore the
fact that you are unsure and still concentrate on impressing them. Here’s
why:
- One person alone is not indicative of a company’s culture.
- Winning the next interview also aids your search generally.
- Failing to impress can undermine a consultancy’s confidence
in you and may make them hesitate to put you forward to their best
clients in future.
- The consultant may be able to use your success in this interview
situation to persuade another potential employer to meet you.
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7. Asking Questions
Asking relevant, intelligent and well thought-out questions demonstrates that
you have done your research and have come up with some thoughts based on it.
They can be challenging, but must be appropriate to the person interviewing.
Also feel free to ask interviewers about themselves but obviously nothing too
personal!
There are certain questions which you should avoid asking such as those regarding "the
package". It is not appropriate at this stage. You may be asked about your
package and what you are looking for so have this is the front of your mind as
not being clear about what you are currently being paid and what you are looking
for reflects badly.
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8. Answering
Questions
It is much harder to give detailed guidelines on answering questions as the response
will inevitably be dictated by the question itself, but there are a few things
to bear in mind:
Don’t be afraid of taking a moment to think about your answer before speaking.
Indeed, demonstrating the fact that you are thinking is often respected.
When asked a technical question, sometimes getting the right answer is less important
than your thought process; be prepared to think out loud.
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9. Feedback
Hopefully the interview has been a resounding success and you are already well
on your way to the next stage of the process. However, the reality of the situation
is that you are unlikely to know what the interviewer is thinking.
If you’re going through a consultancy, it is imperative that you provide
feedback. If you simply didn’t perform at your best and your consultancy
knows this, they may be able to persuade the recruiter to give you another chance.
Alternatively there may be specific issues you’d like to discuss before
progressing further.
If the employer’s feedback is positive and you are interested in the opportunity
you can continue with the interview process, taking note of any relevant observations
from the feedback. However, if your interview was unsuccessful it is important
to get honest feedback as it should stand you in far better stead for next time.
If the reasons for rejection aren’t clear, dig deeper and if necessary,
ask the consultant to go back for more details. It won’t change the outcome
this time but might make a difference in future interviews.
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10. The Next Stage
The biggest problem most candidates face with second and subsequent interviews
is that, on a wave of confidence following the successful first interview, they
fail to treat the next stage with the seriousness it deserves. Generally speaking,
at the second interview you will meet more senior people with higher expectations,
you will be interviewed in more depth now that the list has been narrowed down.
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11. Preparing For Second
Interviews?
The most important thing to do is to prepare just as thoroughly as you did for
the first interview but to take your research and thinking one step further.
For example, although searching press cuttings on a company maybe the icing on
the cake at the first interview, it should be a basic requirement for the second
interview.
The second interview focuses on depth of experience and close analysis of technical
capabilities. The competition is tougher at second interviews - at this stage
you need to convince the employer you can do it better than the other candidates.
Be aware that second and subsequent interviews can also include various other
elements that may be difficult to prepare for such as assessment centres, psychometric
tests and personality profiles and presentations.
At this stage you need to interview the prospective employer thoroughly to be
sure that it is the right company and the right opportunity for you. Don’t
be afraid to ask the following:
- To meet the people you will be working with
- Have a tour of the environment
- Talk with someone else who has recently been recruited.
The second interview could be your final interview, or there may be other
stages. Be prepared for anything – a final interview can suddenly
become a grilling when you least expect it. Never assume you’ve
got the job before you see it in writing.
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