Advice Guides - Interview Preparation

Research and find out as much about the company before hand. Get the brochures, go on the website, read the mission statement, read their annual report.

Find out the little things, is there a car park or a bus route, work out your travel to work, what’s the location like in relation to shops, banks, restaurants etc, is there a staff canteen?

Do they produce an internal staff magazine? Phone and ask for a copy.

The list goes on, but by finding all of this out you do not need to fill in the gaps at interview. You can already decide that the company is one that ticks all the boxes and concentrate on listening and selling yourself during the interview.

Prepare for the questions they are likely to ask you (We have included likely interview questions later in a separate advice guide).

Understand the job description and the key responsibilities, then look at your experience and achievements and prepare to give EXAMPLES as proof of your ability to deliver against the job requirement.

“Let me give you an example of what I achieved / experienced in a previous role that demonstrates why I could fulfil your job requirements” is the general idea.

• Can you do the job?
• Are you motivated to do the job?
• Will you fit in with the culture, team?
• Are the opportunities in line with your future goals?

Basically this is what most interviewers are looking to establish.

The CV will have covered certain things already, these are measurable and easily identifiable from the CV document. Eg. Qualifications, previous job titles, types of companies worked for, how many years experience etc.

So the majority of questions at interview will be trying to get to know you and your values.

To finish preparation – know the exact place, time, the type of interview, is it one-to-one or panel, does it include assessment centre or skill evaluations? Remember get the name of the interviewer right!

Set off early to compensate for traffic and take a contact number if the unforeseen happens.

Allow enough time for the interview. We’ve known many people leave an interview because they did not establish the length of the interview process.