Career centre - perfecting your interview skills

Because you want the choice to be yours.
Your Crone Corkill consultant will fully brief you before an interview, providing invaluable insight to the role, company and format of the interview, guaranteeing a good first impression. However, there's a lot you can do before an interview to secure a job offer.

Be prepared

Research
If you are knowledgeable about the company you are interviewing with, you will come across as proactive and committed.

Visit the company website, including their press centre, for up-to-date information.
Read the company brochure/annual report.
Keep an eye on the business press for any relevant industry articles.

Job description

Familiarise yourself with the role requirements, thinking of examples that highlight your own strengths in each area.

You will find that most employers will want to better understand your key motivators, knowledge, skills and experience, so will probe you on a set of specific competencies including:

Communication
Give an example of a difficult or sensitive situation that required you to use excellent communication skills. How did you handle it?

Customer Focus
Tell them how you provided service to a client or colleague beyond their expectations. How did you identify this need?

Teamwork
Describe a situation where there was conflict within a team working situation. What effect did that have on the team? How was it resolved?

Innovation
Explain something you have implemented that was new for your company that improved the performance of your team or the value of the work delivered. How did you come up with the idea?

Time Management
Provide a specific case when you failed to complete a project on time. How has that experience affected the way you deal with deadlines now?

For all the examples you give, consider the work situation you encountered, the action you took and the positive effect it had.

Be prepared to talk in more detail about your CV experience and how it can be applied to the new role. If you have gaps in your CV, make sure you can give positive explanations such as travel, school, maternity leave, etc.

Plan your journey

Obtain clear directions and plan your route in advance. Aim to arrive 10 minutes early. If you are delayed for any reason, contact your Crone Corkill Consultant immediately who will phone the client on your behalf. Remember as well to allow plenty of time for the interview itself.

First impressions last

Dress Code
Clients will hire someone who will best represent their company so dress smartly and professionally. A suit is advisable.

Body language

Consider the following:

A firm handshake demonstrates you are assertive.
Smiling says, "I'm friendly and enthusiastic".
Regular eye contact shows you are confident and alert.
Avoid appearing nervous by maintaining an open stance, as well as refraining from folding your arms and fidgeting.

Question time

The interviewer will take the lead, which you should follow, both in the direction of the interview and its tone.

Bear the following guidelines in mind:

Concentrate and listen very carefully to the questions.
Take the time to formulate a clear and concise answer. Provide only factual experiences or qualifications.
Speak confidently and remember to sell yourself.
Do not appear negative by criticising any previous employers or seem unfocussed by showing a lack of career planning.

Example Interview Questions

Q: Tell me about yourself.
The interviewer wants to hear a short summary of your qualifications, career history and skills – in particular what you will bring to the new role.

Q: Explain your most recent role and what you did on a day-to-day basis.
Describe how you fit into your department and what your reporting lines were. Talk about with whom you interacted and your key responsibilities.

Q: What would you enjoy about this role? Why do you want to work here?
Focus on the positive reasons such as a new challenge with more responsibility. Compare the diverse duties of the role with your current abilities and interests.

Q: What have been your achievements so far?
Recall recent work successes (i.e. projects you have been involved in, what were the results, how they impacted the business, etc.).

Q: What are your strengths?
A very common question so prepare your answer. Think about three or four of your main strengths and how they would benefit an employer. Examples include technical proficiency, flexibility and positive attitude.

You may also be asked about weaknesses, which are not necessarily negative as everyone has some. Briefly explain what you personally do to overcome your particular weakness.

Q: Have you ever come across a difficult situation at work and how did you handle it?
Make sure it is a work-based problem that did not originate from you. Keep your answer simple and to the point.

Other Questions to Consider

How would your friends/colleagues describe you?
Where do you see yourself in five years?
How do you react when your work is critiqued?
Do you like to work in a team or by yourself?
What can you bring to this organisation?
How do you work under pressure?
When you are not busy, what do you do?

Questions for you to ask

An interview is the employer's opportunity to find out about you as much as your chance to see if this is the assignment for you. Have a few questions prepared as it shows you are interested and take the interview seriously.

Consider these:

How does the department fit into the bigger picture of the company?
Tell me about the company culture.
How long has the interviewer worked for the company? Why does he/she think it is a good company to work for?
How does the interviewer feel your skills meet the requirements of the role?