Applying for a job is only half the task, make sure you're prepared by visiting our advice section.
Are you looking for some interview advice, CV tips or do you feel that you deserve a payrise? View our videos for some handy tips.
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This is paramount! It will make you stand out from all other candidates being considered for the role in question. You might appear to be the best candidate on paper, you may have glowing credentials, but a lack of preparation before the interview can let you down. Most interviews will only last one hour, you will probably not get a second chance!
The organisation's website is THE best source of research. Most sites now have press release or news sections that will provide you with up-to-date information. There may also be a career section and a financial information section for potential investors.
Trade publications are the next most specific source of information. Many of these journals now have their own websites with both current and archived material on them. Most national newspapers and even uktemps (uktemps news) have news links with archived material that can be sourced and searched through very easily.
Networking with anyone you know who knows someone who works within the organisation to gain information that would otherwise not be available to you.
If you can bring any research or knowledge to the interview and add it to your "sell" then it can look very impressive to potential employers.
You must try to leave the interviewer with as mush of a positive impression as possible - be polite and thank them for the opportunity to meet with them and for their time. Are you are interested in the position? If so then make sure that the interviewer knows this. If they ask if you are interested - say 'yes', always be positive.
Immediately afterwards it is wise to note down your thoughts on the interview and convey this by email or telephone to your recruitment consultant and ask any questions that you might have while they are still fresh in your mind.
If you applied direct to the company then make sure that you contact your point of contact at the organisation. Did you get a business card from the person who interviewed you? You should have... Even if you are being represented by a recruiter and you get a business card from the client then it is courteous to email them direct thanking them and showing your interest.
The sooner you do this, the sooner your recruitment consultant or point of contact can let you know what the organisation is thinking.
At all times stay in touch with your recruitment consultant who should relay positive or negative feedback. Always try your best to get feedback from your interview. It is worth pointing out that this is proving harder and harder to do. Due to the internal structure of many large businesses feedback can often be lost "along the way". This may not be the fault of the recruitment consultant or the interviewer, in fact it is often due to too many people in the process behind the scenes within the organisation.
A recruitment consultant should prepare you for the next meeting and give you help and advice throughout the recruitment process. Remember that recruitment consultants will be highly experienced in the complete recruitment life cycle from interview through to offer, acceptance/rejection and resignation. Use all their knowledge and experience to help you make the most of the recruitment process.
Ordinarily there are two distinct styles of interview. A straightforward, CV based (sometimes informal) interview and a competency based interview.
Employers are now using 'competency-based' (often referred to as 'behavioural' or 'situational') interviews to separate out the best candidates from those who are simply bluffing their way into a job without the skills, qualifications or experience required.
The theory behind competency-based interviewing is that past work behaviour is a good judge of future job performance. When interviewers ask you competency-based questions, they expect you to show how you have tackled real scenarios in a previous role.
Your response should be a real life example of something that actually happened to you. Try to be a specific and precise as possible, this will indicate a greater level of involvement in the scenario.
Having given your scenario a good interviewer will delve deeper, with further lines of questioning to make a judgement on exactly how involved you were with any of the examples that you have given.
A CV based interview will be much more about a chronological breakdown of your CV, looking at technical proficiencies as well as initial cultural fit and feel. This interview can be structured following your CV through your experience or it can be highly unstructured and informal. These can sometimes be the most difficult interviews because you do not know what the potential employer is looking for.
Quite often you will find that a combination of both styles is very common.
