How to prepare for an Interview?

Interviews are your way of impressing your experiences and personality upon an unknown entity.

Being fully prepared for an interview, no matter what the position and level is paramount to your success. Below are a few of the key things we see as being very important.

• As standard you should know the information you have provided on your CV inside out, so that no questions asked should come as a surprise!
• Dates, Company names and duties provided by yourself should be correct and provide an accurate picture of your experiences to date.
• You should research the Company profile before an interview to show you have some understanding of the business undertaken within it. (No prospective employer will expect you to recite their Company profile, but if you can retain some information from brochures or websites it shows that you’ve prepared for the meeting). Research on the Company, role and sometimes even the people interviewing can mean the difference between a successful and unsuccessful interview. You have a small window of time to provide as much of a true and honest representation of yourself as possible during an interview, you need to use this time carefully.
• Practice possible interview questions and scenarios with friends or family to help quash any initial nerves. Run through your CV with them so you know exactly what information you’ve provided. Often CV’s can be written in a hurry and not looked at again until interview stage.
• There’s also nothing wrong with taking your CV along to an interview with you, as well as any notes or questions that you have prepared. This is seen as a positive thing by interviewers – that you’ve taken time to consider what you’d like to get out of an interview, rather than just turning up expecting the interviewer to do all the hard work.
• Interviews are a two way thing and you need to ensure you take away all the information you feel you require. If the questions you had written down or you had in your head are answered during the meeting, which is often the case, let the interviewer know that. Tell them they have covered everything you needed to know, that’s far more positive than saying, ‘No I don’t have any questions’ at the end of a meeting.
• Ask for a business card, if one hasn’t been already offered and ask the interviewer if its ok for you to contact them should you think of anything else once you’ve left the meeting.

 Preparation helps ease you into a successful interview. It helps relax your nerves and builds confidence as you know that from your side you have done everything you possibly can to be ready for the meeting.

Get more local career adivce and guidance from our friendly team at Leapfrog Recruitment Consultants.