Preparation really pays off. If you leave it to the last minute you hugely reduce your chances of getting the job. Here are ten top tips with more information on each in the chapters that follow:
- Be certain that as far as possible you really do want the job and know how it will fi t your needs and circumstances. Uncertainty looks like lack of commitment to the employer and will mean they rule you out. Why you want the job is one of the most important questions they will ask.
- Do your research: fi nd out how this job adds value, what the job involves, what’s going on for the organization. When you do this – and know how to weave it into your answers – you build your own motivation and also fl atter the employer.
- Employers understand that candidates get jittery but you will benefi t from learning some simple techniques for staying calm and centred throughout the process.
- Plan your interview outfi t carefully: it should be an exact match in style and look to whatever the interviewers are likely to wear.
- An assessment centre is a much fairer way of choosing people than the traditional interview. If you are invited to go through one, feel pleased and relieved. It gives you a much better chance to show what you can do than relying on the interview alone.
- Enrol a friend or family member to give you a practice interview and to offer you feedback.
- Most interview questions are completely predictable and you can plan and prepare for them. Offering evidence of how your experience fi ts the job through skilled storytelling hugely increases your chances of getting it.
- The interview is a social occasion not an exam or an interrogation: treat it as the two-way event it is. You are choosing the selectors as much as they are choosing you. Be enthusiastic, smile.
- Never negotiate salary and benefi ts during the interview. After they have said they want you, expect to negotiate on up to three aspects of the offer.
- Plan your entry into the new role carefully. Take your time to learn what the job really is before plunging into doing it.