Job Interview Techniques: Preparing for an Interview

Think of  an actor, musician or sports person and the amount of time they spend preparing in relation to the time spent performing.  You only have 45 minutes to 1 hour to perform in your interview and it is therefore imperative that you have planned what you want to say and how it is going to be said.  There are three main areas to preparation:

1. Researching the company for which you are interviewing. Not only will you have a better idea of what you are potentially letting yourself in for, but it provides you with ammunition to drop into either your answers, or your questions at the end of the interview: eg.  'I understand that last year your company merged with Company X.  How do you see this affecting the finance department and what will it mean in terms of opportunities for advancement?'
   
   It is obvious that if an interviewer is faced with two candidates who are equally suitable for a role, they will favour the one who has put in the effort to research the company.  Either use the Internet as a resource or contact the company asking them to send relevant information.  If you can't be bothered to do the research, expect the job to go to someone who can.
   
   
2. Preparing yourself.  It is now common practice for interviewers to focus on key competencies - skills or attitudes that are necessary to the role in question.   Most interviews will follow a structure that is designed to bring out those qualities.  The questions should be answered by giving specific examples from your background that highlight the relevant competencies.  Therefore it is important to have ready-made examples that you can use on cue.  Go over your CV and recall your greatest achievements.  What were the skills and attitudes that you used to bring about the achievements?  How did you use them?  What did you learn from the experience?  What would you do differently if faced with the same situation again?  By the time of the interview you should be able to give 90 second to 2 minute stories of when and where you used a wide range of competencies.
   
   
3. Personal appearance.  Within the first 2 minutes of the interview, the interviewer will already have formed a judgement of you and your suitability for the role. Make sure it is a positive one.