Preparation

The better you have prepared, the more confident and relaxed you will be at your interview.

Make sure you know:

• The exact time (and you should arrive a little early)
• The location and how to get there
• The interviewer’s name and title

Some other important points:

• Appearance is very important – dress smartly and appropriately
• Take a copy of your CV with you
• Find out as much as you can about the company beforehand – the internet can be very useful for this. Good research can impress the interviewer with your seriousness about joining the company.
• Think about questions you would like to ask – most interviewers will give time for this and your questions should be relevant and well thought out.

Questions

Interviewers want to get to know you, and they will ask you questions which are designed to to reveal your character. They are looking for qualities such as reliability, initiative, confidence, communication, flexibility and independence. You should try to answer questions fully, but make sure you keep to the point. Be honest, and if you don’t have an opinion, say so. It is important to be prepared, but don’t rehearse too much, or your responses will sound insincere. These are some of the things the interviewer may ask you about:

Yourself…

Often the interviewer will begin by simply asking you to speak about yourself. For them it is a chance to hear you talk and break the ice. For you it is an opportunity to summarise your qualifications, career and abilities, and emphasise those skills related to the position you are applying for. Keep to points which are relevant, do not digress into unnecessary personal details and do not talk for more than four or five minutes.

Your career…

The interviewer may ask you if you are happy with your career so far. You should always give a positive response – they want to know how you view yourself, to gauge your self-esteem and confidence. You can qualify your answer if you feel, for example, that your career is moving too slowly, but most importantly you want to appear as a positive, successful person.

Achievements…

You want to give the interviewer the sense that you are an achiever. Be ready to describe a fairly recent, work-related example, identifying the skills it demanded and its benefit to the company.

Strengths and weaknesses

You should be able to speak about both in a straightforward and honest way, communicating a good level of self-awareness and objectivity to the interviewer.

• You should be prepared to discuss three or four of your strengths, such as technical abilities and personal qualities, and how they could benefit the employer, giving examples.

• Speak about a professional weakness that you are taking or have taken steps to overcome – this shows your independence and your willingness to change and improve. Avoid trivial personal weaknesses.

Likes and dislikes

If the interviewer asks you about your personal likes and dislikes, for example in your present job, answer with caution. You do not want to say you dislike a task which may turn out to be crucial to the job you are applying for or draw attention to weaknesses. Keep to ‘safe’ general topics, such as issues related to the size of your present company.

Reasons for leaving your current job

You should be prepared with a straightforward and positive response to this question. Greater challenges, more responsibility, further experience and a change of environment are all good motivations for leaving, and will make a better impression than negative or financial reasons.

Interviewers may also ask about…

• Your long-term career aspirations
• Your expectations from a company
• How your colleagues would describe you
• Why they should give this job to you rather than anyone else
• How you feel about working long hours or weekends
• Whether you prefer working alone or in a team
• Work-related awards you have received
• Recent courses or training you have completed

They may ask you to describe recent examples of:

• Systems you have used to keep track of your responsibilities
• Responsibilities you have taken on
• A time when you had to delegate authority or responsibility
• A time when you have had to discipline or correct a colleague
• Important decisions you have had to make recently

Final words…

At the end of the interview you should feel confident that you have communicated all the interviewer needs to know about yourself and your abilities, and have asked any questions you have. Ask the interviewer what the next step is – this shows your interest in the position.

Decisions

If you are offered one or more of the positions you have applied for, it is important to consider all offers carefully, balancing the pros and cons of each position and comparing them with your present position and your reasons for wanting to change.

Etiquette

Once you have decided, it is also very important that you respond with integrity to all parties involved. Even if you decide to refuse an offer, it is important that you do so in the right way.

Here are some points of general etiquette when dealing with agencies or potential employers:

Offers

• If you have had several offers, and decide to accept one, do call and let the others know that you have taken another position.
• Acceptance of a verbal offer is legally binding for both parties. You should write to confirm your acceptance of an offer.
• If you have accepted a proposed salary or hourly rate do not try and renegotiate it without good reason.

Counter offers

• Before accepting an offer, you should have considered how you would react to a counter offer from your present employer. It is worth being aware that statistics show that the majority of employees who accept counter offers leave the company within a year.
• Once you have accepted an offer, it is unprincipled to use it to try and negotiate a better salary with your current employer.
• If you are still considering a counter offer from your current employer, out of fairness to all involved you should establish a date by which you will make a decision.

Resignation

• If you decide to accept the new position you should write a letter of resignation to your current employer, giving them your final leaving date. Try and leave on the best possible terms.

Agencies

• If you are going through an employment agency, remember that they are there to help YOU find the right position, and they want to make the situation work for everyone. They are on your side, so be honest with them. They will respect the confidentiality of anything you tell them.
• Let them know if you have other offers you are considering.
• Be accurate about the time and duration of your availability
• Inform them as soon as you start considering a change of job – don’t leave it to the last minute.
• ‘Sudden departure’ without notice is unprofessional and will severely damage your reputation with the client and the agency.
• Your relationship with your agency is very important – keep in touch with them and with developments in the job market.