Preparing for an interview

If you want to stand out from the pack when presenting for a job interview, preparation is critical. It seems logical enough, yet we too often hear of circumstances where highly accomplished and skilled people have performed poorly in an interview due to lack of preparation.

The interview is an opportunity for you to convey to the interviewer why you are interested in the role, how your skills and experience are suited to the role, what value you can add to the company and importantly, what sets you apart from other candidates.

If you are asked to attend an interview, Helm Recruitment will try to brief you about possible questions, or areas the interviewer is likely to focus on, to help make the interview process smooth sailing. However, there are a number of things you should do to assist your own preparation and increase your chances of success.

• Ensure you have a good understanding of the role for which you are interviewing and the key skills and experience the employer is looking for. (During the interview, you should look for opportunities to demonstrate how your skills and experience align to the role).
• Your prospective employer will want to see that you’ve done your homework on the company. Ensure you conduct thorough research by visiting the company’s website, review annual reports and recent ASX announcements, where relevant, or by reading articles in the financial press. Have some idea about the company’s key businesses, its target market, the financial performance of the company, its’ key competitors, the company culture and values, as well as anything currently topical about the company.
• Review your resume thoroughly beforehand and ensure you are familiar with all the details; identify the information that is most relevant to the role for which you are interviewing, including your key achievements.

On a more practical level:

• Ensure you know who you are meeting, when you are meeting them and where – and of course, arrive in plenty of time.
• Dress appropriately for the role and environment for which you are interviewing – personal presentation is particularly important for client-facing roles.
• Enter the interview with a firm handshake and be sure to make and maintain eye contact with the interviewers. Try to communicate clearly and confidently and keep any nerves under control – there is no reason to be nervous if you have prepared properly.

The most important part of your preparation will be thinking about answers to possible questions.

Example interview questions

Your prospects of success will be greatly enhanced if you are able to anticipate the questions likely to be asked during an interview and provide convincing and credible responses.

Employers will assess your suitability for a role by asking a combination of ‘traditional’ interview type questions and ‘behavioral’ type questions. Traditional interview questions seek general information about a candidate and don’t test any specific skill or competency. The candidate is judged on the general impression that he/she leaves.

With behavioral interviewing, interviewers seek information about a candidate’s past performance in previous roles as a predictor of his/her performance and success in future roles. Behavioral interviewing is much more probing than the more traditional interview approach and focuses on experiences, behaviors, knowledge, skills and abilities that are related to the job for which you are interviewing. In these situations, the employer asks specific questions to assess if the candidate possesses the competencies they are looking for. More information on mastering competency-based interviewing follows below.

Common traditional interview questions include things like, ‘Tell me about yourself; Why do you want to work here? What are your strengths and weaknesses? Where do you see yourself in five years? What are your main career accomplishments to date?’.

Your response to these questions should be honest, without embellishment of your experience or skills (without downplaying those skills and experience either). They should be relevant and tailored to the role for which you are interviewing and demonstrate that you see a career path and professional development with the organisation. Try to be succinct and informative with your answers without rambling on (especially if you are nervous).

You should be positive and informative in your approach. Avoid criticizing your current or past employers or colleagues, otherwise, the interviewer may think you’ll be similarly negative about that company and/or that you aren’t able or willing to take responsibility.

Inevitably, an interviewer may ask a few difficult questions that may stump you if you haven’t prepared beforehand. For example, ‘What did you like or dislike about your old job? What were your reasons for leaving? Why weren’t you working during X period? Why do you want to work here?’.

You should always focus on the positive aspects of a role, emphasizing what you learned and how it contributed to your skills and experience, and speak as little as possible about the negative aspects (especially if they relate to problems with management or colleagues). Plausible reasons for leaving a job, or disliking a role, relate to lack of challenge and responsibility or opportunities for advancement, decreased personal satisfaction in the role, financial reasons, job security, seeking employment with a larger, more reputable or even geographically closer organisation.

Similar reasons may account for why you haven’t worked during certain periods. If asked this question, ensure you have a solid and credible response prepared. Emphasise that you are looking to make a lasting contribution to a company and want to ensure a proper alignment of your skills and experience with the job, rather than taking the first thing that comes up.

On the question of why you want to work for a particular organisation, focus on your potential contribution to the company and how it would provide a satisfying work environment for you. If relevant, discuss the alignment of your personal values with the company’s values, creating an environment in which you can prosper. Don’t focus on things like salary although it is acceptable to mention benefits that demonstrate a company’s commitment to their staff, for example, training and development programs, if relevant.

Be prepared to ask questions yourself, especially where they demonstrate your knowledge of the company and understanding of the industry. The interview is an opportunity for both interviewer and candidate to assess each other’s suitability and appropriate questions will provide evidence of your preparation and interest in the role.

At the end of an interview, reinforce your interest in the role and your ability to perform it successfully, without appearing desperate. A company is much more likely to employ someone who is enthusiastic rather than someone who seems only half-interested.

Remember, the interview is your opportunity to sell yourself. You may only get one chance, so it’s worth taking the time to prepare properly, no matter how busy you are, or how experienced you are with interviews, or how senior you are in the workforce. It’s better to conclude knowing you’ve done everything possible to secure the job than to walk away knowing you didn’t put your best foot forward.