The Interview : A Science of It's Own

The interview process is daunting for even the most experienced communicator. Add to that the fact that we don’t traditionally like talking about ourselves and our accomplishments, and you can find yourself stuck for words. It’s all the more important to prepare as thoroughly as possible before pitching to an experienced interviewer.

So you’ve landed an interview. Terrific! It’s a difficult market that we find ourselves dealing with in Ireland these days both from a Candidate and Client perspective. Clients are more and more resolute during the recruitment process and they are prepared to dig deep in the marketplace to find the right calibre candidate. Candidate’s have a wide choice of opportunities. However, bagging the right role is easier said than done. All the more reason for plenty of preparation.

Resume

You need to know it upside down and inside out. What were your key responsibilities, achievements, why did you leave, dates, targets, detail, have all your ducks in order, no excuses, ….period! Most of us should probably admit to our CV’s being like a small house with a series of extensions being constantly added. Does your CV need demolishing and a thorough refurbishment? Do you look at your CV as being a bit tired? Do you get inspired when you talk about your career and achievements to date? It’s important to instil confidence, enthusiasm and energy into your delivery during an interview. You need to be thinking ‘My god, I was bloody amazing at that role’. Make your career story a bestseller. One word of caution, don’t over embellish...

The Interviewer / Company

Treat this aspect of your interview process as any good sales person would treat a prospect. Preparation is the key. Look at the company website and thoroughly familiarise yourself with the products, office locations, culture, mission statements etc. Google the person who is going to be interviewing you. Perhaps they’ve written an article or appeared in the press (hopefully for the right reasons!) recently. The ILAC library is still an old reliable for press cuttings and bits of information that you may not find on the web. However, practical research is more likely to impress so if possible view the company’s products in sales outlets, speak to distributors, intermediaries or users to gain firsthand information.

Housekeeping

Dress appropriately, be properly groomed, and act like a consummate professional. Remember perception is reality. Most sales people have to sell themselves before they utter a word about who they are representing or the product they are pitching. Know the address of the interview venue and drive there a few days in advance if needs be. Just don’t be late. Present yourself at the reception area about 5-10 minutes prior to the arranged time for the interview. Remember that busy receptionists may take time to get to the interviewer and this delay may reflect on you in some way. Anyway you will have time to compose yourself, take a few deep breaths and blend in!

Interview Questions

Volumes have been written on this subject. There absolutely no right or wrong way. It’s best to anticipate the questions you are likely to be asked and have a stock of answers linked to situations you’ve encountered in the past. How did you deal with an irate customer? Conflict in your team? A difficult marketplace? A seemingly insurmountable target? You will sound a lot more convincing if you can contextualise your response in the mind’s eye of the interviewer. You may well also cover a multitude of questions they have for you!

Questions you may have for the interviewer

It’s a good idea to position a question so that the interviewer almost sees you in the role thereby possibly affirming that you are the right person for the job. You might ask ‘What would be expected of me during the first few weeks in this role’ or something similar that feels comfortable to you.

Post-Mortem

Bring a blank pad and pencil with you to the interview. This will serve two purposes. Firstly, you can write down any questions you may have for the interviewer. Secondly and more importantly you can jot down the key areas of the interview session immediately after the event and when everything is fresh in your mind. Were there any questions that the interviewer seemed to repeat during the interview? This can be an indication that they were not quite happy with your answers or worse still, they didn’t believe you! Were there responses you gave that produced vigorous nodding and agreement? All of this information is key to a second potential meeting and will allow you to prepare in a more focussed manner. Aside from that, you are giving your time to attend this interview and if you are serious you will need to constantly hone your interview style if you are to convince your audience that you are a winner!

Colm Buckley
Director
The People Group

01 6619636