Interview Preparation Guide

Planning and preparation!

How you plan and prepare for your interview will clearly increase your opportunity for success!

The UK job market is becoming more competitive by the day and the better prepared you are, coupled with genuine enthusiasm and interest, will ensure that you stand out from the other candidates. 

Interview Preparation 

Company research.

The basic company information you should understand before any interview:

·      When the company was established

·      The company or group turnover

·      Number of employees roughly  

·      Nationality of the organisation i.e. German etc

·      The core products or services they sell

·      Core market sectors they target

·      Industry competitors 

Prepare

• Know you own CV including employment dates, sales figures, achievements etc
• Research the individual/individuals interviewing you by looking at their linked-in profile
• Plan your travel route and obviously allow extra time for traffic etc
• Dress to project an image of confidence and success; your total appearance should be appropriate to the job. If your interview is virtual via Teams, Webex etc you must treat it as you would a face-to-face interview
• Bring a pen and paper to the interview to take notes, this is a lost art, but most decision makers really appreciate someone who makes an extra effort and appears diligent

During the interview

Before the interview you should have considered what you want to communicate and how you are going to make the point that you have the right experience level and motivation for the role.

You will want to communicate personal qualities, functional skills, and special areas of knowledge that relate to the position and job description.

How you communicate those personal attributes and background facts is indicated by your attitude, non-verbal behaviours, and verbal responses.

Your first task will be to help to build rapport with the interviewer(s). The characteristics of building rapport involve (1) attitude and (2) non-verbal and (3) verbal behaviours 

1. Your attitude should be one of openness or sensitivity to the interviewer's style and a feeling of mutual responsibility for creating a comfortable atmosphere, establishing a common ground. You should be thinking positively. (If you don’t think you are the best person for the job, how can you hope to convince the employer you are?) 

2. The non-verbal behaviours, which contribute to rapport, are: dress and posture, eye contact, handshake, voice level, and gestures.

3. The verbal behaviours contributing to build rapport include: courteous observations, initiation of discussion, and disclosure of personal qualities.

Be aware of your body language and how you communicate non-verbally. You will want to convey sincerity, a dedication to achievement, confidence, and a high energy level. These attributes are communicated through your attitude and actions as well as through your verbal responses. Consistency between the non-verbal and verbal messages is very important to an effective interview. 

The non-verbal behaviours that are important in an interview include:

• Eye contact which should be open and direct when listening, asking, and responding to questions. Eye contact is usually broken when concentrating or reflecting on what you want to say or what was said
• Posture which should be well balanced, erect, relaxed, straight-on and open. Know your nervous habits and practice controlling them
• Hands which should be used in a relaxed way for animation, communicating excitement, interest
• Facial expression which conveys sincerity and can add to or detract from your words
• Voice tone which should be firm, warm, well-modulated and relaxed
• Timing which involves your use of silence, and comfort with pauses
• Active listening which affects how you respond and communicate your interest 

How you communicate verbally involves your ability:

• To use active verbs
• To use concrete examples
• To be concise and complete
• To summarise and make transitions

To be positive and 'own' what you have done and what you know!

Knowledge of what contributes to a 'strong answer' also contributes to effectiveness. A strong answer does not create more questions than it answers. The components of a strong answer include:

• Backing up a statement with a specific example
• Sharing your role (the challenge and accomplishments)
• Sharing the outcome or solution
• Summarising to emphasise your strengths
• Strong answers can also be described as frank, open, thoughtful, complete, and concise 

You should be ready to ask questions from a prepared list. Techniques for asking good questions begin with the use of open questions. Questions should be developed ahead of time and should reflect the amount of research the candidate has done rather than their lack or research.

Salary questions are usually inappropriate in the first interview, but you should research the salary range for the job/field ahead of time, consider how much the job is worth to them, and recognise that the consideration of the pay raise structure of the organisation is just as important as the entry level rate in assessing an offer. 

Be alert to and evaluate management style, organisational structure, turnover, job responsibilities and growth potential, work atmosphere, staff/supervisor and co-worker relationships.

At the end of the interview 

Ideally you want to know that you have performed the best you can and that there are no reservations that, if possible, you haven’t overcome. You must ask the question – “What reservations do you have about me doing the role?” 

This is a closing technique that could give you more information, it is not a negative! 

You must then set parameters for the next contact: 'When may I expect to hear from you?'

'What is the next step?'

After the Interview

Ideally you should send an email to thank the interviewer, stressing your interest in the position and that you are hopeful for a 2nd interview/positive decision.

Good luck with the interview!

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