Interviews are obviously the key point in the recruitment process. It doesn’t matter how good you are at your job, if you don’t interview well it will limit your career choices.
We hope this short guide can help you. Before you even start the interview process you have to make sure that you:
Know your CV inside out
Know where you want to go to next in your career
Know all about your potential employer
Know the facts and figures about your previous employers
Prepare the questions that you are going to ask about the potential employer
Know what sort of interview styles you might be faced with
Know how to manage those styles to ensure that you are offered the job.
Brush up on the dos and don’ts.
Some of our younger candidates may have had a lot of practice at interviews whereas if you are a more experienced candidate you might not have been for an interview for 7 or 8 years. Either way, spending a short time reading this guide and preparing for you interview will definitely bring you benefits.
If you haven’t got time to read all of our tips, it’s still worth reading
Know Your CV inside out
No matter which interview technique your potential employers use, they will want you to give evidence that you can actually do the job. Don’t forget that the interviewer doesn’t know a lot about you except for what is in your CV and that they will use the CV as a prompt to find out more about you and your abilities.
A winning technique is to be able to tell a story about every point you make on your CV. It’s called the SOAR technique and is great for dealing with what’s known as behavioural and competency-based interviews.
Know where you want to go to next in your career
Employers are interested in focused, driven, career-minded people. If you don’t know where you want to go in your career, or even what career you want to follow, the interviewer will not be impressed. Think this through before the interview and ensure that what you want fits in with what’s on offer at the employer. For instance, there is no point in saying that you want to be a regional manager if you are going for a job at a single-branch agency.
Know Your Potential Employer
You’ve got to show respect for the organisation that’s interviewing you and the best way to do this is to know a lot about them. Fortunately, the internet now makes this a doddle. Check out their website and look to see how long they’ve been in business, what they specialise in, where their branches are located, who the main players are in the organisation, who their clients are and what their turnover and profits are.
If it’s a major company quoted on the stock market you can also do an archive search on www.guardian.co.uk or www.ft.com
Know the facts and figures about your previous employers
Refresh your memory on the facts and figures of your present and former employers. If you can’t remember much about a previous company will you be able to sell the new company effectively?
Prepare the questions that you are going to ask about the potential employer
A detailed description of the position
Reason the position is available
Culture of the company
Anticipated induction and training program
Advanced training programmes available for those who demonstrate outstanding ability
The sort of people who have done well
Earnings of those successful people in their third to fifth years
Company growth plans
Most successful sectors / disciplines
The next step
Know The Interview Style
Recruitment companies use a number of different interview styles. Those that have a prolonged interview process (3 – 4 interviews) will probably use a behavioural or competency-based style, although the initial interview with the branch manager or senior consultant may be more ad hoc in style.
It doesn’t take too much effort to learn to recognise the styles. If you can do this, you can adapt your interview technique to the style demanded and come out winning.
Behavioural or competency-based
Preference-based
Ad hoc
Manage the styles and get the offer
Putting a little bit of work in prior to the interview really will bring you the benefit of many more job offers. At the end of the day, you’re in recruitment and the employer will want to see you ask for the job, close them down so that they offer you the job, (or at least get offered the next interview).
Concentrate on getting the job first and then consider if you really want it later. Unless you definitely do NOT want the job, tell the interviewer how keen you are on the position.
Ask if there is any reason why you would not be offered the position / the next interview. If the interviewer says that they need to think it over, ask them what it is that they need to think over, address those points again and try to close them down again.
If think you are being too pushy, don’t. The interviewer will think that if you are keen to sell yourself you will be keen to sell their company.
Interview style guide
Recruitment companies use a number of different interview styles. It doesn’t take too much effort to learn to recognise the styles. If you can do this, you can adapt your interview technique to the style demanded and come out winning.
When you’re interviewed, it’s likely that the interviewer will use on of just a few standard interview techniques. Knowing more about them can help you to shine.
The SOAR Interview Technique
This is particularly useful in behavioural, situational or competency-based interviews. You can spot these interviews easily because the interviewer will usually ask something like “Tell me about a situation where you were....”
You should answer these questions with a little 2 minute (not 10 minute!) story following the SOAR technique.
S stands for Scenario. Begin your story with a brief description of the scenario you were in. Don’t bore them to death with it. It needs to be brief and clear. You just need to give them the big picture.
For example, take this question framed from the competency, ability to manage a small team of professional staff: “Tell me about a time a couple of your team members were not working well together and you had to intervene.” Answer: “I was managing a team of five recruitment consultants who generally worked on separate accounts, but needed to work together as a group for preferred supply contract.“ “When we were putting together the recruitment plan, I realised that two of the team members just didn’t work together well. They’d had an argument at a five-a-side game and now they wouldn’t share information and were creating a lot of tension in the team as a whole.”
O stands for Ownership. This is where you explain very clearly, that it was your responsibility to get things resolved. “It was my responsibility to get the recruitment plan prepared by the end of the following day, so I had to do something immediately.”
A is for Action. Tell them what the action you took, but don’t go into too much detail. An example could be: “I only had 24 hours to get the recruitment plan prepared, so I called a quick team meeting and gave different tasks to the two guys who didn’t get on so there were no collaboration issues, I arranged to meet them at the end of the week to deal with the wider problem.”
R stands for Results. Tell them what your action actually achieved. For example: “The recruitment plan was put into place before the deadline, the tension between the conflicting pair had eased and the customer loved the plan. It also increased my credibility with the other team members as they could see that I had handled things really well.”
Behavioural or competency-based interviews
The basis of behavioural interviewing otherwise known as “targeted recruitment” is “past behaviour is a predictor of future behaviour”. Questions asked of you will relate specifically to your experience. Expect questions like:
“Tell me about an account that you developed from beginning to end.”
“Describe a problem you have solved. What was your approach and what was the outcome?”
When confronted with a behavioural interview, you will be glad you practiced your SOAR stories. If, during a behavioural interview, you find yourself beginning answers with, “Well, what I would do...”, stop!!!!
Think about a specific example and begin an answer with, “Well, what I did was...”.
If you have detailed information about the role you are being interviewed for, you can do some very specific preparation by aligning your experiences with the job’s key competencies.
Preference-based interviews
(The preference-based interview is usually the preference-based ‘part’ of an interview.)
This method is used to find out what individuals really want out of a career. It is based on a theory, for example, a recruiter could be interviewing an accountant who would love to be a HR manager.
If you don’t convince the interviewer that you really know what you want out of life and out of a job, you will probably fail the interview, so brush up and have your answers ready!
The sorts of questions that are likely include:
What are you looking for in the future?
What sort of company would you like to work for?
What branch of recruitment do you want to specialise in?
Where do you want to live?
Why are you exploring other options outside recruitment?
Who had the greatest impact on your life?
Describe your past mentors.
Ad hoc interviews
If a line manager in an organisation is interviewing you, or the interview is a one or two stage process, there is a good chance that no pre-ordained method will be followed.
It is still really important in this situation to know your CV and the organisation. You will need to develop answers so that you are prepared for the following questions:
Why did you choose this particular role?
What do you really want to do in your next career move?
Why would you like to work for our organisation?
What do you want to be doing in your career, five years from now?
What was your last salary and bonus?
How did your commission scheme work?
Go through your past performance figures.
Relate them back to your last salary and bonus / commission scheme – do they add up?
What style of management gets the best from you?
Can you get references from your previous employers? What would they say about you?
What have you learnt from some of the jobs you have had? Which did you most enjoy?
What have you done that’s shown initiative?
What is your major weakness? What are you doing about it?
What do you think determines a person’s progress in a good company?
Are you willing to relocate?
How do you spend your spare time? What are your hobbies?
What does teamwork mean to you?
What type of books do you read?
What are your strengths?
What can you bring to this role?
Answers to some of these questions will call on self-knowledge from two sources: the assessment of your ideal next career move and your CV. Whenever possible, use SOAR to demonstrate your achievements in answers to these questions. However, other questions can only be well answered if you have anticipated them and prepared an answer beforehand, for example, questions about salary.
It is important in an ad hoc interview to be prepared to answer questions about weaknesses or areas of development. Ensure your weaknesses are acknowledged but it is paramount that you state your intent to do something about these, for example:
Q: What are your weaknesses?
A: I’ve got loads of energy and enthusiasm. I really enjoy meeting people and I’m very pro-active. However, I don’t always follow-up paperwork so that’s really something I should be looking to improve on.
Two commonly asked questions at the start and end of interviews provide you with the opportunity to give an impression summary to the interviewer:
The Interview – The first few minutes
What to expect
Interviews come in many forms - panel interviews, one to one interviews, group interviews etc. Ask your consultancy what form of interview it will be beforehand. You may be asked to take a test before the interview, depending on the type of organisation. These might consist of psychometric or aptitude tests.
There are many different interview styles and each interviewer will have their own personal style. Some interviewers will fire questions at you while others will start off with an open question such as "tell me about yourself" leaving you to do most of the talking. The majority of interviews will be somewhere between the two. Be prepared for any style of interview.
Two-way communication
Make sure the employer knows the benefits of employing you. It is important to sell yourself by telling the employer details of your relevant skills and experience that you have to contribute to the organization.
Try not to monopolize the meeting - let your interviewer talk.
Find out what the key parts of the candidate specification are so you can show how you meet them. Ask how the job contributes to the success, efficiency and profitability of the organization. Show that you have done some research.
Don't give negative information or bad news if you are not asked for it and don't criticize previous employers or jobs. The key is to turn negative information into positive information.
Top Interview Tips at the start
Practice a strong positive handshake and plan your greeting.
Remember to smile and be polite to all the staff you meet,
Unless you feel particularly comfortable, do not accept tea or coffee at the interview as it can get in the way.
If you are taking papers to the interview, carry them in a suitable case or folder.
Those first questions
They say that an interview can be about the first 10 seconds, not strictly true but how you come across in those first 5 minutes do leave an impression and set the agenda.
Get the firm handshake out of the way, settle into to your chair, get any papers or presentation material in the place where you want it. If you are using a laptop make sure it’s powered up and ask permission to have it ready to use on standby mode.
At this point I like to thank the interviewer for allowing me the “opportunity to present myself” and it can be worthwhile explaining the preparation work you have done.
Now over to them, the questions begin. Classic openers:
"Tell us about yourself". Prepare for the worst - a classic opener that can really throw you. Plan ahead by having a presentation statement to cover this.
"Why did you apply for this job?" - The candidate should be careful not to mention a desire for promotion or money. They should really focus on the actual content of the job, referring to the possibility of learning, new challenges, or the prospect of putting their previous experience to work in a new role. They should always provide examples with their answer, rather than just simply stating 'I'm ready for the next step.'
"Why do you want to work for us?" - Explain why you see the company as an attractive employer. Financial package should never be given as a reason, but think about things like the company culture, training program, company structure, the ability to cross-train into different technologies, or the company's ethic. Obviously these need to be relevant and well-researched.
So these are questions they might ask you early in the interview, but what questions could you ask them. Remember the interview should be a two way communication NOT them asking all the questions and then asking you at the end “do you have any questions”.
If you are asked about why you applied or where you see yourself this response enables a questioned to be asked as well - In organizations with flatter structures, be careful when asking about promotion. A better way to tackle this would be 'how can you see the role developing?' Other questions to ask are: 'what circumstances have led you to be recruiting?' and 'how long do people stay in the role?'
Great response to why did you apply –“Well I have ….
1. I’ve read the job description; can you expand what I will be doing? 2. What type of training is provided? 3. How do you see me in the role? 4. Do you have performance targets? 5. How will I know that I am doing well? 6. What are team members achieving?
Again a response to why did you apply to work for us – well I have heard you have xyz management style which I found very positive – so what can you share with me: 'What can you tell me about my boss?' and 'Can you tell me about the management/leadership style within the business?' should give you an idea of whether the organization’s values and the way it operates will suit you. It's important that candidates inform themselves about what they're letting themselves in for. Often people will see a job advertised, and think I'd love to work for that company, without knowing what the reality of life inside that company is like.
Your now into the interview and in Part 3 of this series we cover all the different types of questions you might get asked but also look at the questions you should be asking of the interviewer.
It’s tempting to think that at interviews you just need to ‘be yourself’ – when actually you need to be in control. Making a good impression takes concentration and a little preparation.
Many candidates make simple mistakes at interviews that can cost them the job. Here’s our list of the key things to watch out for.
DO know the exact place and time of the interview, the interviewer’s full name, its correct pronunciation, and his/her title.
DO arrive a few minutes early, but not too early. Late arrival for a job interview is never excusable. You can easily get directions from www.multimap.co.uk by simply entering the postcode of the potential employer. If you need car parking, ask Futura for the best one to use.
DO dress conservatively, preferably in darker colours. Men should wear a dark suit, matching shirt and tie and have clean shoes. Leave earrings at home. Women should wear a business suit. Everyone should pay attention to all facets of their dress and grooming and consider a haircut if overdue.
DO greet the interviewer by their surname, shake hands firmly and SMILE. It takes three times as many muscles to frown as to smile, so take the easy way out.
DO take along proof of your sales figures and/or payslips. It will add massively to your credibility.
DO wait until you are offered a chair before sitting down.
DO get the interviewer to describe the position and the duties to you early in the interview so that you can relate your background and skills to the position. Ask what the qualities are of the people who are already achieving in the company and relate your qualities to them. Smile.
DO find out about the company. Check out their website and look to see how long they’ve been in business, what they specialise in, where their branches are located, who the main players are in the organisation, who their clients are and what their turnover and profits are.
DO refresh your memory on the facts and figures of your present employer and former employers. If you can’t remember much about a previous company, will you be able to sell the new company effectively?
DO be prepared to answer typical questions such as:
What kind of job are you looking for?
What are your strengths?
What are you really good at?
What are your weaknesses?
What are you doing about addressing them?
What do you know about our company?
Why did you choose your particular career?
What are your qualifications?
DO make sure that your good points get across to the interviewer in a factual, sincere manner. Keep in mind that you alone can sell yourself to an interviewer. Make them realise the need for you in their organisation. Smile.
DO prepare the questions YOU want answered. This is your opportunity to find out if the company will give you the opportunity for the growth and development thatyou want. Some questions you might ask are:
Do you have a detailed description of the position?
What is the reason the position is available?
What is the culture of the company?
Is there an anticipated induction and training programme?
Are there advanced training programmes available for those who demonstrate outstanding ability?
What type of people who have done well?
Assertain the arnings of those successful people in their third to fifth years of employment
What are the company growth plans?
What are the most successful sectors / disciplines?
The next step
DON’T answer questions with a simple “yes” or “no”. Explain whenever possible. Tell them those things about yourself that relate to the position. Smile.
DON’T slouch – it looks like you’re not interested. Look alert and interested at all times. Look the interviewer in the eye when s/he talks. Be a good listener as well as a good talker. Smile.
DON’T over-answer questions. You can talk yourself out of a job this way!
DON’T lie. Answer questions truthfully, frankly and as much to the point as possible.
DON’T ask questions about salary, bonuses, holidays, office Christmas parties etc. on your first interview unless you are positive that the employer is interested in hiring you and raises the issue first.
Negative factors to watch for in an interview
It’s easy to send out bad signals when being interviewed – but employers will be watching for these and they could compromise your chances. Here’s what to watch out for.
During the course of an interview, the employer will be evaluating your negative factors as well as your positive attributes. Listed below are negative factors that feed back to Futura the most.
Inability to express thoughts clearly; poor diction or grammar
Being “wooly” when responding to questions
Lack of planning for career – no purpose or goals
Lack of interest and enthusiasm – passive and indifferent
Lack of confidence – nervousness
Over-emphasis on money – interested only in remuneration
Evasive – makes excuses for unfavourable parts of your cv
Lack of tact/maturity/courtesy
Speaking ill of past employers or colleagues
Failure to look interviewer in the eye
Limp handshake
Lack of appreciation of the value of experience
Failure to ask good questions about the job and company (this is most important!)
Persistent attitude of “What can you do for me?”
Lack of preparation for interview – failure to get information about the company, resulting in inability to ask intelligent questions
ALWAYS conduct yourself as if you are determined to get the job you are discussing. Never close the door on an opportunity. It is better to be in the position where you can choose from a number of jobs rather than only one.
Close off the interview
If you are interested in the position, ask for it. Ask for the next interview, if the situation demands. If the interviewer offers the position to you, and you are interested, accept on the spot. If you need some time to think it over, be courteous and tactful in asking for that time. Set a definite date when you can provide an answer.
Don’t be too discouraged if no definite offer is made or specific salary discussed. The interviewer will probably want to communicate with their office first or interview more applicants before making a decision.
If you get the impression that the interview is not going well and that you have already been rejected, don’t let your disappointment show. Once in a while an interviewer who is genuinely interested in your possibilities may seem to discourage you in order to test your reaction.
Thank the interviewer for their time and consideration of you. You have done all you can if you have answered the two questions uppermost in his/her mind:
Why are you interested in the job and the company?
What can you offer and can you do the job?
Finally...
Call Futura immediately after the interview and explain what happened. We need to talk with you before the interviewer calls us back. If you are interested in progressing further it is really important that we tell the employer that you are keen and quickly arrange the next step.
Finally, finally...
DON’T FORGET TO SMILE.
10 reasons for refusing a counter offer
When you hand in your notice, it’s quite likely you will be made a counter offer – but beware: there are good reasons why accepting a counter offer can be a bad move.
You hand in your notice – and your boss immediately makes you a better offer to stay. Sure, it’s flattering – but is it sensible to accept?
What type of company do you work for if you have to threaten to resign before they give you true market value for your skills/experience.
Where is the money for the counter offer coming? Is it just your next salary raise early?
Your company will start looking for your replacement at a lower salary immediately, the wheels are already in motion to replace you ASAP.
You have made your company aware that you are unhappy, from this day you are seen as disloyal.
When promotion opportunities arise, your company will remember who was loyal and who wasn’t.
Any redundancies/cutbacks will start with you.
Your reasons for leaving that have caused you to look for a change will repeat themselves again in the future, even if you accept a counter offer.
Statistics show that if you accept a counter offer, the probability of you leaving or being asked to leave within 6-12 months is extremely high. 80% of people accepted counter offers are gone in 6 months. 50% of accepted counter offers reinitiate their job search within 90 days!
Accepting a counter offer is an insult to your intelligence and personal pride, because you know you have been bought.
Once word gets out, your relationship with your colleagues will never be the same…the defector that was brought back!
The resignation – how to handle what happens when you resign
No one finds it easy to hand in his or her notice. You have difficult feelings to deal with and potentially a difficult situation. But with some preparation and thought, your resignation can go more smoothly.
You’ve accepted your new job. You’re ready to leave the old one. There’s just one thing to do: resign. So, if your move is such a good one for you, why do you feel bad?
Feelings
You initially considered changing companies, because your present position can no longer offer the growth potential to match your experience. It is true to say that your present company has helped you progress professionally and as a result, you may feel uncomfortable resigning. You will be leaving fellow managers and colleagues. You may even see some of them out of work as social friends. These people may have been instrumental in advancing your career. All or some of the above may make you feel uneasy, however...
When to hand in your resignation
Most people hand in their resignation on a Monday morning. This leaves them open to huge amounts of pressure from their managers and colleagues and can even lead to bad feelings during work time. Far better to submit your resignation on a Friday afternoon. In this way you can get away from all the pressures and spend that vunerable first few days in the company of supportive family and friends.
So what can I expect when I tender my resignation?
Your company will be sorry to lose you. You have contributed to their sales and profits. You are probably involved at the moment in a project within your workplace that requires your talents. Put yourself in your boss’s position. What would you do?
The counter offer
It is natural to resist change and disruption. Your boss will be no exception. They will want to keep you and will attempt to do so with a counter offer. In their eyes, your acceptance of a new job is definitely a mistake.
Counter offers have many variations:
“This is confidential and I shouldn’t really be telling you this, but we were looking at promoting you in the next six months.”
“We will match your new offer and put it into effect next pay day. I had meant to review it anyway.”
“Don’t make a decision now, have a think about it and we’ll sit down next week and discuss it.”
Implications of the counter offer
Of course it is flattering that your company is concerned to hear that you are leaving, so your emotions can obscure the reasons behind your decision to leave. It is natural to be apprehensive about leaving and to let that one final nagging doubt about doing the right thing grow out of proportion the more your boss tries to convince you. Stop and ask yourself these questions:
“I made the decision to leave because I felt the new position offered me the best environment to fulfil my career needs. If I stay will the situation here really improve just because I said I was leaving?”
“If I stay, will my loyalty be suspect and affect my chance for advancement once the dust has settled ?”
“This rise makes me expensive for the job position I’m in. How will that affect any future rises?”
“I got this counter offer because I resigned ~ will I have to do that the next time I think I’m ready for a rise or promotion?”
Remember – it’s costly to replace you!
The professional attitude
The professional manager will make a career decision objectively. It will be free of the emotional pressures one is likely to feel when being urged to reconsider. Advice will be offered by well meaning friends, relatives and business associates. Depend primarily upon your own judgement because quite simply you are the only one who can fully understand the implications.
Remember, the counter offer is only a belated recognition of the contribution you have made to your company. If it had come unprompted, wouldn’t that be a lot more flattering? Move ahead with the goal of making yourself as valuable to your new employer as you now know you were to your old.
Prepare the questions that you are going to ask about the potential employer
A detailed description of the position
Reason the position is available
Culture of the company
Anticipated induction and training program
Advanced training programmes available for those who demonstrate outstanding ability
The sort of people who have done well
Earnings of those successful people in their third to fifth years
Company growth plans
Most successful sectors / disciplines
The next step
The resignation letter: a template for you to use when you resign
Many people find it understandably hard to write their resignation letter, and fret greatly about how it is worded. Our template will help.
There’s no doubt that, in most circumstances, it can be difficult to resign. Writing the resignation letter can be especially hard. But your letter doesn’t need to be long or detailed – just to the point.
We’ve prepared a resignation letter for you to use as a starting point. In most situations, it will be all you need.
Your manager’s name
Your employer’s name
Your employer’s address
Today’s date
Dear (your manager’s name),
As required by my contract of employment, I hereby give you notice I will be leaving your employment as (your position).
I have decided that it is time to move on and I have accepted a position elsewhere. This was not an easy decision and took a lot of consideration; However, I am confident that my new role will help me to move towards some of the goals I have for my career.
I understand that my notice period is (your notice period) but I would like to join my new employer at the earliest date. Therefore, I would like to request that you waive my notice period and relieve me of my duties immediately. Please be assured that I will do all I can to assist in the smooth transfer of my responsibilities before leaving.
