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Interview Advice
Overview
Your experience and skills cannot be changed however you can do effective preparation in order to give your best performance at interview, therefore
giving yourself the best opportunity to secure the role you want.
The Reason for Interviewing 
The point of the interview is to identify candidates with
the most relevant skills and experience for this vacancy. That
may sound obvious, however many people forget this aspect and talk generally
about all of their skills and experience. If you have skills that will not be
used in the job applied for, then discussing these skills is not best use of
the interview time, as this leaves less time to talk about what the interviewer
wants to know.
The interviewer is looking for evidence of skills and how you applied them to differentiate
between candidates, and it is your opportunity to demonstrate relevant
experience. This is usually called competency based interviewing.
The interviewer has a specific amount of time to ask the same questions to each candidate. It
is important to use interview time wisely by clearly answering their questions
and providing them with the evidence they require to show them you are the best
person for the job. If you talk too much on one subject, the interviewer may
run out of time, omitting the rest of the questions, and therefore you will not
have provided all the evidence required, so unlikely to get the job. They have
to assume that if the evidence is not provided then you do not have that skill.
Remember, time management and presenting information verbally are often competencies required
for the vacancy. If you cannot do this at interview, they the interviewer will
think you cannot do this once employed.
Answering the questions effectively will also demonstrate effective listening skills which
are usually required.
Revision
Effective preparation will allow you to talk clearly, calmly and logically through
experience and give evidence. This is very important as sometimes you may only
have a 1 hour interview, and if you have years of experience you do not have
time to talk about everything you have ever done.
People always ask – “What questions will they ask me?” The answer to that is on
the job spec. Questions will be asked about your skills in relation to those
listed / required on the job spec and in line with the responsibilities.
Prepare examples of where you have previously used those skills and the context / projects/ task in which they
have been applied. In the examples you must know specific timescale, number of
people involved, their roles…etc
When discussing the example talk about what YOU did. Therefore you should state “I was responsible for or I did….” If
you talk about “We” in terms of the team’s responsibility the interviewer is
left confused. They will not know what you took responsibility for in
the task / project. (If you use “We” the interviewer will wonder if you managed
the task or did you sit on the sidelines making tea?!)
PROBING QUESTIONS TO ASK
At the end of the interview show interest by asking two or three questions
relating to your interest and the role. (Leave out questions regarding the
salary or benefits as the recruitment consultant will have this info) Questions
you might think of asking are:
What are the challenges of this role?
What should be the most important objectives for the person
filling this position?
Is there a formal performance evaluation process?
What departments or individuals will I be working with outside of my immediate group?
What are my long term opportunities?
Alternatively ask further questions about the forthcoming project.
Don't be timid about asking these questions. Asking questions demonstrates that you are prepared, genuinely interested, and
respectful of the interviewer and the interview process.
If it’s a final interview then ask questions to know if it is the job for you.
When you leave the interview room you should have asked all questions important
to you so if offered you will know that you want the job.
Encouraging Productivity, Trust & Partnership - ensure Avant Garde UK is your resourcing partner.
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