The Art of Being Interviewed
When selected for an interview you will already have passed the first hurdle; the company will have seen your CV and decided you have potential for their vacancy. Many interviewers use your CV for the structure of your interview, so you need to be familiar with the content. You should prepare to answer questions to highlight your strengths and to overcome any weaker points on your CV.
Planning and good preparation are vital to success.
Researching the company is paramount in preparation to interview. It will display your willingness and commitment to join the company. Perhaps call the company and ask them to send brochures or product information. An increased product or commercial knowledge will help your confidence.
A key part of the role of your consultant is to ensure that you enter the interview room feeling confident, so make sure you get all the information and help you need from us.
If there are people in the interview who appear junior or do not ask any questions, make sure you make eye contact and seek an opportunity to bring them into the conversation where you can. Remember all the people who are present at an interview are there for a reason and will have a valued opinion.
Be Honest At Your Interview.
Key Points
First Impressions Count
- Make sure you do the simple things correct; arrive with time to spare, be polite to all staff, business dress where applicable and be confident when introduced to staff.
Listen
- Never try to ‘lead’ the interview, often the hiring manager has an interview structure and a timescale to adhere to.
Always be Positive and never dwell on negatives.
Common Questions Asked at Interview
- What are your strong points?
- What are you looking for from this job?
- What appeals to you about this job?
- Why do you think you‘re the right person for this job?
- You seem to have moved about a lot; how do you account for it? Your career moves shown on your career history are totally justified by your having got the job done effectively before you went on to something more demanding and rewarding.
- You seem to have stayed put for a long time; is this now a handicap to you? The job changed and I grew and developed with the company. This displays stability, loyalty and flexibility.
- What salary are you seeking?
- Do you mind travelling?
- What are your long-term career plans?
- Do you ever have doubts as to your ability to do a job?
CV Guide
- It is crucial your CV is very clearly formatted and well written.
- Often it is beneficial to adapt your CV for different roles, especially if you have an extensive and varied career history. Look closely at job descriptions to make sure you understand what the employer is looking for and be ready to adapt your CV to match their requirements.
The Basics
Personal information
- Name, address, phone number and email address. Nationality, age, marital status is optional.
- If you are a foreign national advise your Visa/Work Permit status.
Personal profile
- The purpose being to highlight your key strengths and career plans. This is often a snapshot of your key skills and knowledge.
- Highlight your strengths, both academic and career related.
Career Achievements
- Where applicable highlight career achievements, promotions and any commercial success. Can be highlighted through work history or at beginning on CV. Often the first 10 seconds of reviewing a CV can have a lasting impression.
Work Experience
- List most recent position first.
- Include job title, company name, location and dates of employment for each company. Make sure you provide a clear overview of your role, and then detail your achievements in the role. Try to quantify your achievements.
- But don’t leave gaps in your career, it can often be ambiguous and lead to confusion. Often considered a negative, perhaps candidate has something to hide – you will be asked about them!
Education
- Again, most recent first. If you are degree qualified, name the university. List qualification and grades attained. If school qualifications are a distant memory don’t detail your grades in any depth. If you have only part-completed a course, make it clear. Don’t leave an impression that you are trying to pull the wool over the eyes of an interviewer.
Skills/Work related courses
- Can be very relevant to the vacancy and industry sector, so make sure you document further training and development.
Other considerations
- If proof check your own CV it is possible to leave mistakes in it. Get someone else to check it. It’s a good idea to read it out loud – if it doesn’t sound correct then tweak it.
Length
- CV length can vary largely dependent of the candidate’s seniority, skills and years of experience. The key point is to be clear and concise. A four to six page CV from senior engineer or director is commonly preferred.
Format
- Don’t add images or colour, keep formatting simple and consistent. Use Word rather than PDF. Often PDF will not fit in with many companies’ systems.
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