PODCAST 3 How best to prepare for a job interview Viewpoint careers advice blog

PODCAST 3 How best to prepare for a job interview Have you got a job interview coming up? In this podcast, we explain how best to prepare for an interview and make a success of it. Podcast notes: Preparation for an interview is key to its success. What are your thoughts in terms of ensuring you prepare for an interview properly? One of the first questions your interviewer will likely ask is “Why do you want to work here?” There’s nothing more off putting to an hiring manager or interviewer than a candidate who has not prepared well and blags their way through the interview By researching the company well and then being clear in your answers, you’re essentially communicating to an interviewer that you are 100 per cent interested in the role and the company, and that you’re taking the interview seriously Going into interview room fully prepared, will also make you feel more confident, enabling you to do yourself justice during your interview Read more: How to make your interviewer love you Where should a candidate start when preparing for a job interview? One of the most important elements is to research the company Through a good research, you should understand organisation’s product or services, it’s brand proposition and objectives. This will help you to articulate to an interviewer why you’re so interested in the role at this company Your responses need to be personalised and work examples should be applicable to the role, where possible Read more: Four doubts your interviewer has about you â€" and how to address them How would you recommend candidates go about researching the company before the interview? Research the  interviewer and the organisation on social media Start with LinkedIn, like organisation’s Facebook page and follow them on Twitter so you’re up to date with the latest news Search for the organisation and the interviewer in Google. Search for such information as recent executive level appointments, expansions, new products or services Look at the organisation’s website. This will give you more detailed news and insight into its culture, recent projects and awards Use websites like Glassdoor, they can provide further information about organisation that cannot be discovered on their website or social media pages Find out about the organisations competitors and see if you can gain an understand of what challenges the organisation is currently facing While you want to use your research to inform your answers, it’s important you don’t overdo it. Don’t try to find faults in the organisation â€" this won’t go down well Read more: How to research an organisation and what you should look for Once the candidate has researched the company, how else should they prepare for the interview? A key part of the interview success is to take time to understand what you’re really good at so that you can effectively sell yourself during the interview Conduct a SWOT analysis of yourself to objectively look at your Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats. It is extremely important that you are honest with yourself when conducting this process Strengths: Ask yourself what your key selling points are. Split them into soft and hard skills. In other words, your qualifications and qualities as well as your personal traits Weaknesses:  Look at areas you need and wish to improve on. Be honest but make sure you can explain how you’re working to turn your weakness into strength Opportunities: Start with opportunities you see in a job you’re interviewing for. This will show your interest and positive attitude Threats:  A good example would be overworking yourself by taking too much on. Explain how you can minimise these threats Read more: How to use a SWOT analysis to pass your interview What kind of questions would you recommend candidates ask the interviewer? Asking questions  demonstrates that you’re prepared, enthusiastic and committed to the role. Think of questions that will set you apart from other candidates. For example: Is this role new? If not, how has it evolved? Is there a scope for career progression? How a typical day looks like? Still not sure what questions you should ask during your interview? Here’re 15 questions to ask your interviewer For those candidates who haven’t attended an interview in a while, would you recommend they practise their interview technique prior to the interview? Try making a list of most common interview questions and also the least common questions write down your answers Practice how you structure your answer using the STAR technique: Situation: explain the circumstances, the role you were in, the company or the project Task: describe what a particular situation was Action: talk about actions you took to address and solve the situation Result: explain what has come about from your actions Practice makes perfect, practice your answers in front of a mirror Read more: Why storytelling could be key to your interview success   Any advice on how candidates can make final touches to their interview preparation? The night before the interview is important to stay calm and collected There’s a number of practical things you can do to feel as prepared and confident as possible, for example: Plan your journey to make sure you know where you have to be, at what time and how long it takes Stay focused and don’t get distracted by less important things Sleep well and eat a healthy meal before the interview Plan what you’re going to wear so there are no last minute panics Take deep breaths, listen to your favourite music on the way to the interview and have a final read through the research you have conducted your SWOT analysis, your prepared interview questions and your CV Read more: 14 things to do before an interview What’s the best piece of career advice you could give? Candidates can sometimes see the interviewer as an authority, but that shouldnt be the case Think about how you would behave if you met a decision maker at a firm where you’d like to work and start talking about yourself and what you do â€" no strings attached. This will make you feel more relaxed and confident than when you see an interviewer as an authority who decides how your career will evolve.   Subscribe to the HaysWorldwide podcast Did you enjoy this podcast? Subscribe to the Hays Worldwide podcast on SoundCloud and download it on iTunes.