Chapter 1

Understanding the Interviewing Game

In This Chapter

Realising what interviewers want from job candidates

Understanding the skills and qualities sought by employers

The job market is increasingly competitive, and many interviewers are inundated with too many applications. In this chapter, I share with you the secrets of what interviewers are really looking for, and how to prepare the ammunition for your answers.

 This book contains plenty of advice and loads of mock answers to tough interview questions. But simply reading through the book won't get you anywhere. What you need to do is figure out how you would answer different interview questions by using my answers for inspiration.

Recognising What Interviewers Are Looking For

At first glance, different job adverts seem to require a dazzling array of skills, experience and qualities. But in actuality, most employers are really looking for four basic factors to find the right person for the job. These four factors can be summarised as the four Cs of interviews:

• Competence: Interviewers look to recruit people who have the skills and personal qualities to do the job with minimal supervision.
• Confidence: Employers want to hire people who are at least reasonably composed and secure about themselves. They want people who can deal with new people and new situations without turning into a trembling wreck!
• Commitment: Interviewers want to give the job to someone who sticks at it. They want a self-motivated person who persists in the face of difficulties rather than gives up at the first sign of trouble.
• Chemistry: Interviewers want someone that they feel they can get on with. All employers feel they have a unique culture – and want to know that you can fit in with the rest of the team.

Demonstrate your competence and commitment by giving good answers to the many questions thrown at you. You can demonstrate confidence and create chemistry by using your tone of voice and body language to show that you're the kind of collected and likeable person who gets on with everyone. Be aware that the interviewers are not only evaluating what you say, but also how you say it. No matter what section of the book you turn to, be sure to keep the four Cs in mind.

Finding Out about Key Skills and Qualities

When interviewers say they're looking for ‘competent’ candidates, what exactly do they mean? Well, dozens of surveys have asked employers what they want from potential recruits. This section covers the top ten skills and personal qualities that employers look for. Parts II and III take you through how to answer these questions, but for now, make a mental note of these skills and then weigh up whether you possess them.

Interestingly, most of the surveys agree that these skills and characteristics tend to apply to employees at all levels of an organisation and across most industry sectors. So a high-street retailer looking for a shop assistant tends to want more or less the same skills and qualities as an international corporation looking for a senior manager – although obviously to differing degrees.

Communicating with people

Unless you are being hired to work in a sealed room with no contact with colleagues or customers (which I very much doubt!), you need to have good communication skills.

When discussing your communication skills with interviewers, think of examples of occasions when you:

• Listened to the needs of other people, such as colleagues or customers.
• Conveyed information to other people – perhaps speaking on a one-to-one basis or presenting to a group of people.
• Handled difficult situations, such as customer complaints, on the telephone.
• Used your written communication skills in preparing reports or documents for other people to read.

See Chapter 3 for more about communication skills.

Influencing others

Although communication skills are important, most employers want people who also have powers of persuasion – being able to win others over or change their minds. In preparing for your interviews, think of times when you have:

• Had a discussion with someone and helped him or her to see your point of view.
• Changed someone's mind.
• Persuaded someone to take a course of action that they were initially not in support of.

 Persuasion skills are particularly prized when dealing with customers or clients – for example, in listening to their needs and then selling products or services to them.

See Chapters 4, 5 and 9 for more on influencing skills.

Analysing situations

Managers want to hire candidates who can research issues and assess situations. Make sure that you think about times when you:

• Gathered information about a topic or issue.
• Broke down a complex problem into a number of smaller issues.
• Weighed up the pros and cons of different options.

See Chapters 9 and 12 for more about analytical skills.

Solving problems and making decisions

Employers are looking for people who can assess situations and then work out the best course of action to take. Be ready to talk to interviewers about occasions when you:

• Made suggestions about how to tackle a problem.
• Initiated or participated in brainstorming sessions.
• Weighed up different options and chose a course of action to solve a problem or tackle an issue.

See Chapters 9 and 12 for more about problem-solving skills.

Demonstrating drive and determination

Organisations do not want to hire people who only work when given explicit instructions as to what to do; they want to hire candidates who are self-motivated and can demonstrate a bit of initiative. Think back to times when you:

• Suffered a setback or disappointment at work but got back on your feet and got on with a task.
• Had an original idea and used it to be more effective or productive at work.
• Overcame a difficulty or obstacle that was preventing you from achieving a goal.

Chapters 4, 5 and 9 contain more information on demonstrating drive and determination.

Teamworking with colleagues

Employers are constantly talking about the need for employees to work together more effectively as a team. Try to recall instances when you:

• Helped someone else in the team with their work or duties.
• Resolved conflict or disagreement between other team members.
• Provided a team member with a shoulder to cry on.

 Effective teamworking is about putting the needs of the team above your own.

Chapters 5, 9 and 12 contain some examples of popular questions about teamworking.

Developing quickly

Employers want people who can develop quickly in the job, especially for entry-level jobs (including graduate entry roles). Managers don't want to hire people who need a lot of handholding! In preparing for interviews, try to think back to times when you:

• Became proficient at a task or duty more quickly than others expected.
• Gained knowledge about a topic or issue because of your hard work and dedication.
• Picked up a new skill with minimal supervision.

See Chapters 4, 6 and 9 for questions relating to your ability to pick up new skills and absorb information quickly.

Being flexible and adaptable

Employers want to hire people who are open-minded, accommodating and willing to help out when the need arises. Try to recall occasions when you:

• Offered to do overtime to help get a project or piece of work completed on time.
• Helped someone else even when it was not part of your job description.
• Changed your mind at work after listening to someone else's point of view.

Chapters 5 and 9 show examples of questions about how you may have demonstrated your flexibility and adaptability in different work situations.

Planning and organising

Employers are always on the lookout for candidates who can manage their own workload. In order to convince employers that you possess these skills, think about instances when you:

• Prioritised tasks to meet a tough deadline.
• Planned out and then completed a project.
• Organised other people to ensure that a piece of work got done.

Chapter 9 contains examples of typical questions about pieces of work you may have planned.

Being aware of the bigger picture

Employers complain that a lot of employees have a very narrow-minded view of their work. They don't see the bigger picture of what goes on outside of their team, department or organisation. Demonstrate that you are aware of the bigger picture by thinking back to occasions when you:

• Had to liaise with colleagues outside of your department.
• Found out some interesting information about a customer, supplier or competitor and then shared it with colleagues.
• Thought about the impact of your work or duties on people outside of your own team.

Chapters 2 and 7 give advice on demonstrating your awareness of the bigger picture.

Chapter 2

Doing Your Job Interview Homework

In This Chapter

Understanding the interviewers’ organisation

Preparing to answer likely interview questions

Setting yourself up for interview success

Congratulations if you're being invited to attend an interview. Most employers receive dozens or even hundreds of applications for every job – so being invited to an interview means you've already beaten off a large chunk of the competition.

However, many candidates go wrong by turning up for the interview without doing any research about the company and preparation for the interview. In this chapter, I tell you exactly how you can research and prepare to give a great interview performance.

Researching the Company

Interviewers want more than a candidate with just the right skills and experience – they want to hire someone who desires working for their particular organisation. And the way to demonstrate that you are keen is to research the company thoroughly so that you can talk confidently about it.

Gathering vital information

Begin your research by reading any information that an organisation sends you – for example, recruitment brochures, prospectuses, job descriptions and even catalogues of their products or services.

Even if an organisation doesn't send you any information, look at their website. If you can't find their site on the Internet, try calling the organisation to ask for the website address.

 Good research can make the difference between success and failure. Make sure that you spend at least a couple of hours reading the organisation's literature and scouring their website for information.

Absorb as much information as you can about the company, their aims and objectives, and what they do. At a very minimum, find the answers to questions such as:

• What are the goals or objectives of the organisation?
• How many people work for the organisation?
• Where is the organisation based? Do they operate only within the UK, or in Europe, or globally?
• Where is their main office or corporate headquarters? How many offices, shops or branches does the organisation have?
• What are the organisation's main services or products?

Visiting shops and premises

If an organisation has shops, branches, showrooms or other properties open to the public, visit at least one of them. Even better, try to visit a couple of their premises to get a feel for how the organisation likes to present itself to the public.

 Visiting an organisation's premises is particularly important if you're applying for a job with a retailer. Retail employers often ask candidates what they do and don't like about their shops. If you don't make the effort to visit one of their stores, you may be rejected for not demonstrating enough interest in the company.

Linking Job Adverts to Key Skills

If you do your research beforehand, you'll have great answers to lots of the questions posed by your interviewers.

 The secret to predicting likely topics of discussion during an interview is scrutinising the original advertisement that drew your attention to the job. Always keep a copy of every job advert you apply for so that you can refer to it if invited to attend an interview.

This section shows examples of job adverts and how to identify the key skills, experience and qualities that you may need to talk about during an interview.

Take a look at the job advert for an office manager that's shown in Figure 2-1. The key words and phrases show questions that interviewers are almost certain to ask candidates applying for this job:

• ‘Experienced office manager’: This phrase tells you that the interviewers will want to know how long you've worked as an office manager.
• ‘Excellent written and oral communication’: Be prepared to give examples of documents that you've written. And, be ready to talk about how you communicate with people both in person and on the telephone.
• ‘Lead a team of four’: Have you led a team in the past? Can you talk about your style of leadership? Be able to give examples of how you built your team, delegated to them and disciplined them.
• ‘Supporting’: Make sure that you can talk about how you have supported other people in doing their jobs.

As you can see, you can quite quickly predict many of the questions that the interviewers are likely to ask you. Here's the breakdown of key words and phrases used in the job advert for a sales position, shown in Figure 2-2.

• ‘Self-motivated’: Of course, the interviewers may ask you whether you would describe yourself as self-motivated. But can you give any examples of how you have motivated yourself to achieve goals?
• ‘High-street retailer’: Do you have any retail or customer experience that you can talk about? If not, be ready to talk about why you want to work in retail.
• ‘Flexible and willing to work shift patterns’: If you have worked shifts in the past, make sure that you mention this. If you haven't worked shifts before, think about some of the difficulties doing so may pose for you – and how you can overcome them.
• ‘Outgoing personality’: How will you convince the interviewers that you have an outgoing personality? You need to inject plenty of energy into your interview performance, but also think about stories to illustrate how you enjoy spending time with people.
• ‘Build a career in retail’: This phrase implies that the interviewers are looking for someone who wants to join their company and stay for a number of years rather than someone who sees working in the store as a temporary position. So be ready for questions such as: What are your longer-term career plans?

Consider these key words and phrases when preparing to go for an executive position, such as the job advertised in Figure 2-3:

• ‘Working with the sales team’: Prepare to talk about the trials and tribulations of working with sales people. If you haven't worked with sales teams before, then be prepared to explain how you'll go about working with them.
• ‘Writing marketing materials’: Do you have examples of marketing material that you can talk about?
• ‘Managing our website’: Can you talk about how you have updated another organisation's website or at least contributed to one in the past? Are you ready to talk about using software to manage this company's website?
• ‘Dealing with newspapers and trade journals’: Be ready to talk about how you have dealt with journalists in the past. What success stories can you share about how you've promoted a previous employer through working with journalists?
• ‘Ambitious’: How will you prove to the interviewers that you're ambitious? What major achievements can you cite to demonstrate your ambition?
• ‘Experience in the IT sector’: Be prepared to talk about other IT companies that you've worked for.

Dressing for Success

Making snap judgements about people is human nature, and a lot of interviewers believe that a candidate's dress code says a lot about him or her. Make the right impression on the interviewers by thinking carefully about what to wear on the big day.

Not that long ago, interviewers expected all candidates to turn up in suits. Now, an increasing number of organisations have relaxed their dress codes, and it has become impossible to prescribe how to dress for just about any interview.

 Always call ahead and ask about the dress code. Or, if you are at all uncertain, then go on a scouting trip and watch the flow of people as they go in and out of the building where you are to be interviewed. However, even if the majority of the staff seem to dress casually, do be careful as many interviewers may dress smartly specifically for interviews.

 Wearing a suit may not always be your best option. For example, people in creative roles in industries such as fashion, advertising and media often talk scathingly about suits – people in (what they see as) boring roles such as finance, operations and human resources. No matter what, be sure to think about your clothes.

Suited and booted

If in doubt, go smart. Being slightly overdressed is always better than being underdressed (you can always take off your tie and undo a top button). For men, this means the following:

• Wear a dark suit. Navy blue and grey are the most acceptable colours. Black can come across as a bit funereal. And buy a classic cut with a two- or three-button jacket rather than trying to follow the latest fashion.
• Wear a plain, long-sleeved shirt. Pick a pale colour such as light blue or white. If you suffer from sweating, then wear a white t-shirt underneath to prevent wet patches from showing.
• Wear a plain silk tie. Patterns can be distracting. Let your words rather than your tie entertain the interviewers.
• Wear black shoes. Opt for plain lace-ups without fancy buckles. Polish your shoes. One school of thought amongst interviewers says that unpolished shoes are the sign of a disorganised mind.

Understanding the guidelines for women

As for men (see the preceding section), if in doubt, go smart. But women's rules are less rigid, because so many more options are available. However, here are some guidelines if you're unsure about the dress code:

• Wear a neutral or dark-coloured suit. For interviews with a professional services firm or a big business, wear a suit as opposed to separates. And think carefully before opting for a trouser suit, as a few older, male interviewers are still a bit sexist about women in trousers as opposed to skirts.
• Wear a plain top. Choose an unpatterned blouse or fitted top in a pale colour. Avoid sleeveless tops and don't go for anything too sexy.
• Keep jewellery to a minimum. Wear only one pair of earrings and a maximum of one ring on each hand. Avoid thumb rings or too many bangles as they may detract from a professional appearance.

Getting Ready to Go

Before you set off, here are a few final thoughts for you in the days before the interview:

• Know the time, date and location of the interview. You also need to work out the precise route to get there. If in any doubt as to how long the journey takes, add extra time. Being late is an unforgivable sin.
• Know the format for the interview. How many interviewers will attend the interview? Is there just one interview, several interviews or a mixture of interviews and psychometric tests? If you don't know, find out by ringing up the human resources department, the recruitment coordinator or perhaps an interviewer's personal assistant.
• Have copies of your CV to hand. Because CVs can go astray, print out a half-dozen copies of your CV and be prepared to give them to interviewers who may not have a copy. Carry the copies of your CV in a briefcase or a plain folder.
• Take a newspaper or business magazine. If you arrive more than half an hour before the interview, find a local cafe rather than sitting in the interviewers’ reception – being too early can signal over-anxiousness.

 Nerves can make you sweat and cause your mouth to go dry. Your body odour can become pronounced and your breath may be unpleasant! Deodorise thoroughly on the big day and pop in a couple of breath mints in the minutes before an interview to make sure that the interviewers don't remember you for entirely the wrong reasons.