Interviews

These days, very few appointments are made without a face-to-face interview, often several, hence interviews, and your performance at them, can profoundly affect your career development.

In addition to the following advice, Tomnay Noble is highly experienced in coaching people to improve their interview technique. To discuss interview coaching, please contact John Tomnay jtomnay@tomnaynoble.com  .

Background

When it comes to interviews, there are basically 3 groups of people: those who are naturally superb at interviews, those who are awful at interviews and who simply can't be coached to improve, but by far the biggest group are those who can both improve and have the capacity to do so. This advice is aimed specifically at this latter group, who with experience and proper preparation are able to substantially improve their interview performance.

There is a certain injustice in the fact that interview performance is so important and that interviewers judge interviewees purely on what they see. If they see the product of someone who has learnt from 3 or 4 recent interviews against someone who is attending their first interview for several years, the former has a significant advantage. But there's no point in feeling sorry for the person who simply hasn't been to many interviews or had the opportunity to do so, it's a simple fact of life.

However, proper preparation can made a real difference, particularly to this latter group who have had minimal recent interview experience. And if you ever question how worthwhile taking time to prepare for interviews might be, just think about how many hundreds, if not thousands, of hours you have spent preparing for academic and professional exams ultimately to provide you with opportunities in the recruitment market. By comparison, the time taken to prepare for interviews, is tiny.

Preparation

Interviews are not that different from examinations. Successful students, often independently of their teachers, establish exactly what is required to pass and then ensure that on the given day they deliver against those standards. Both examinations and interviews require preparation for what is essentially a series of questions.

Preparation can be broken down into two parts - general preparation, which is required for any interview, and preparation that is specific to a particular role.

General preparation

Like any examination, it is possible to predict a significant number of questions that you will be asked. You are almost certainly going to be asked a series of questions about your life and career to date. Look at your CV. Starting from the age of 16, anticipate questions covering every significant decision you have made. They will all begin with "why?". Having posed the questions, spend some time writing down answers, until you can describe your life and career to date quickly and fluently as a series of logical decisions. It does not matter that, with the benefit of hindsight, you made a wrong decision. What matters is that, given what you knew at the time, the decision was made for positive reasons. Taking this process to its logical conclusion you will come to perhaps the most important question of them all. Why are you sitting in the interview?

Another block of questions is likely to be about your professional experience. To avoid appearing foolish, ensure that there is nothing on your CV than you cannot convincingly substantiate. Anticipate being randomly challenged on any skill or experience you claim to possess.

Finally, address all the questions that are personal and pertinent to you in your current role. For example, what does being whatever your job title is mean to you? What are your purpose, objectives and ambitions? Your strengths and weaknesses? This doesn't require you to bare your soul in the cause of honesty but to strike a healthy balance between truth and fairness.

This exercise may take a little time. When it is completed, take a long hard look at your answers. Put yourself in the position of an interviewer and address any contradictions. If you have done exactly the same job for 10 years, why should you suddenly have become consumed by ambition? If you are not impressed with any of your potential responses, it is unlikely that an interviewer will be. Don't be too proud to run your thoughts and ideas past other people, particularly those who appear to have a demonstrably good track record of being successful at interviews. The benefit of this preparation is that there will be few questions that will take you by surprise and you will not find yourself embarking on explanations or making statements that you regret even before you have finished speaking. Anticipating questions and providing logical and coherent answers will improve your confidence and your chances of success.

Specific preparation

Prior to attending an interview, you need to do some specific preparation. Find out as much as possible about the organisation and the position. If you have not worked in a particular industry sector before, find out what the major issues are. Time spent thinking about the industry sector, the organisation, the role and the relevance of your background and experience is never wasted. Anticipate any deficiencies in your experience and the ways that these can be overcome.

The purpose of this type of preparation is twofold. Not only does it save the interviewer having to give unnecessary explanations and allow you to ask sensible and informed questions, but, more importantly, it shows that you have taken the time and trouble to prepare for the interview. The type of person who demonstrably prepares for an interview, is highly likely to the same person who adequately prepares for professional assignments.

Interview nerves

The most common reason why people fail interviews is that they are viewed as not having the right experience. Outside of this, the most prevalent reason is appearing nervous or demonstrating what is perceived as a lack of confidence.

There are very few people who do not feel at least a little nervous before an interview. Such feelings are quite legitimate. Most interviewers recognise this and, during the first minutes of an interview, will make allowance for it. A faltering voice during the first 5 minutes should be readily excused. What is less likely to be excused, is a continual display of nervousness throughout an interview. Effective communication is an essential part of modern business and awkwardness throughout an interview could be symptomatic of a problem. However, if it is simply interview nerves, the problem can be addressed.

Another benefit of tackling the problem of nerves, independent of the impression they create with the interviewer, is the affect they can have on the clarity of your thought processes during the interview and the dialogue that results.

Without doubt, the majority of people become less nervous as they progressively attend more interviews. This is a result of being able to anticipate questions and the comfort people derive from a familiarity with the interview process - the heart of which is to be able to speak confidently about the one subject on which you should be an authority - yourself.

If you suffer from interview nerves, as part of your general career development, any investment you make in finding a solution is likely to pay dividends and raise your confidence, not only when dealing with selection interviews, but other work-related demands. Do it now, not the day before you are going to attend an interview.

Tone

The tone of voice you adopt in an interview is very important. You need to appear friendly and approachable, but not soft or weak. "Quietly confident" is a good tone to adopt.

How you say things is important. Speak clearly and correctly and, for the listener, comfortably loudly. Softly spoken people are often perceived as lacking confidence. Try and appear to be enjoying the process. Be friendly and relaxed, but alert. Resting back in your interview chair may be comfortable but sends out the wrong message. Before you attempt to be amusing, be sure the interviewer is going to laugh. Finally, it is better to say simple things well, rather than difficult things badly.

When to talk about money

In good business practice you first sell the benefits of your product to the customer before you tell them how much it will cost. In an interview, you are a product and your initial focus should be on establishing your suitability for the position and not the position's suitability for you. It is not unusual for interviewees to fall out of contention for a position because they addressed the remuneration level at the wrong time. Only bargain on terms and conditions, for example, salary, hours, away travel, expenses, holiday entitlements, study assistance, location and relocation once the product is sold, not before.

Your questions

Never forget that interviewing is a two way process. You need not only to win over a potential employer, but also to be sure that they are the right employer for you. The questions you ask are the ideal opportunity to explore key issues. At the end of the interview process you should be quite clear as to the exact nature of the position and what will be expected of you. If you are unsure about something, ask about it, and if even if a subject has been covered but you are still in the dark, don't be shy to ask for clarification. Employers will respect this thoroughness.

Equally, questions are an important part of the selection process and the questions you ask an interviewer will reveal a lot about yourself. Your questions should be relevant and indicate your interest in the position. Most organisations will welcome (and be wary of those who do not) questions on the nature of the role, the department and the wider group. It is quite legitimate at a final interview to ask to see examples of programmes, plans, files and completed reports, and questions on staff retention, promotion and even requests to speak to existing staff are unlikely to be refused.

Rejection

It can be very depressing to attend an interview for a position you wanted and then be rejected. However, there could be many reasons why you haven't been successful. For example, you may have been in pole position, right to the last, then been trumped by a simply excellent and better qualified candidate. Alternatively, you may have been weak in one particular area which was felt to be vital to the role in question or you may have come across very badly for one reason or another.

If you have been unsuccessful, a good recruitment consultancy should be invaluable in ensuring you get the fullest and most constructive feedback, to help tackle any problems and to improve the chances of succeeding at the next interview. If you were very close to being offered the job, they should also help you keep the door open for any opportunities which may arise with the same company, perhaps at a latter stage in your career. It never hurts to leave a positive impression.