Job Interviews, how do you prepare?

BennyC

BennyC

BennyC

Soldato
Joined
25 Sep 2006
Posts
14,455
Over the next two weeks I have two job interviews coming up. I'd be interested to hear how you would prepare/have prepared for interviews.

It's in my nature to go prepared so I have been reading up on the companys in question and also their competitors. I'm also compiling a list of potential questions I think I could be asked and bullet pointing some of the key points I would use in my replys.

I'll get there in plenty of time and of course will be 'suited & booted'.

I have never actually had a 'formal' interview but I have been interviewed before. My current position was from temporary work which went permenant, the interview was a fairly casual affair.

I'm not worried and I feel fairly confident I can handle myself well I just want to make sure I give the best answers I can.

So is there anything else I can be doing?

Thanks,

BennyC
 
It sounds like you are doing all the right things. Also think of some questions that you would like to ask, things like 'what is the team like?' etc are good ways to show interest in a role if they are not already covered in the interview before hand. Always think of examples to back up your answers, if you get a question about how well you can work in a team then you need an example of a situation where you have performed well in a team environment, that sort of thing.

Information about the company is a must, I've never been to an interview where I wasn't asked what I knew about the company in question. Information about their competitors and the market in which they operate is also extremely useful as it shows you are engaged.
 
For interview preparation I plan the following:

- The Ice Breaker
-- Tell me about yourself (make sure you prepare this well, don't dive into personal life, focus on education and previous employment)


- Generic questions
-- Why should I employ you? (What can you bring to the role, state a few skills that can help you in the rol)
-- Why do you want this role? ( What is it about the role that you want - varied work, something you've specialised in before)
-- Why do you want to work for the company? (Gather a few facts with numerical data, always impresses)


- Competency-based questions
-- Tell me about a time when you....(had responsibility, handle difficult situation, time constraints, leading a project etc..)
-- Best way is to write down scenarios you've encountered in life and match them up to competencies. Google for more info!


- Questions about the company/role
-- Prepare at least 2/3. I always ask at least 2 but no more than 3.
-- Either think of questions from what you've researched about the company, or questions you want to ask about the job. Never ask about £
 
Last edited:
BennyC said:
Over the next two weeks I have two job interviews coming up. I'd be interested to hear how you would prepare/have prepared for interviews.

It's in my nature to go prepared so I have been reading up on the companys in question and also their competitors. I'm also compiling a list of potential questions I think I could be asked and bullet pointing some of the key points I would use in my replys.

I'll get there in plenty of time and of course will be 'suited & booted'.

I have never actually had a 'formal' interview but I have been interviewed before. My current position was from temporary work which went permenant, the interview was a fairly casual affair.

I'm not worried and I feel fairly confident I can handle myself well I just want to make sure I give the best answers I can.

So is there anything else I can be doing?

Thanks,

BennyC
Click to expand...


1)Research everything you can about the company, how it is run and who runs it. Google is very effective here, as are the companies own websites.
2)If you want to get into more detail you could start profiling them, looking into their annual accounts, look at their competitors accounts etc. If they are a PLC it can be easier to get more information quickly than with an LLP/Ltd
3)If it is a local authority, most of their information including budgetary spend and structures / service unit functions will be on public record so this makes like easier although you have to trawl through lots of overly simplified speak to get to the exciting details.
4)Why bother with the above you may ask? Well a lot of companies still appreciate the ‘company man’ who takes an interest in their business and day to day activities. This sets you apart from the other 99% of applicants who turn up and view it simply as a job. This may be overkill for some roles but you never know if one of the interview panel will be a manager who is in the job for the job (so not important and they probably won’t discuss it) or a director / senior manager who has a more invested interest in the company.
5)Research everything you can about the roles listed in the job description and absorb enough information to have a meaningful discussion around them.
6)Look at other jobs they are advertising to get a feel for what else they do and what they expect from other staff.

Minimum prep time for the jobs I have gone for over the last few years has been 40+ hours. This level of effort in the prep work, got me the jobs.
 
Do a little research into the company, in most interviews I have been asked what company slogans are and what the company does. Just simple things to show you are interested.
 
I forgot to add, make sure you have interesting and relevant diversionary topics of conversation tucked away in your head. This often helps if you are getting press-ganged into a line of questions you cannot answer and you end up out of your depth. Having a topic you can deflect onto is gold-dust. You can usually tease the focus for this out of the employer in the first couple of mins either in the meet and greet part or as they are telling you about what they do at the start of the interview.
 
Last edited:
snort a load of coke and go in there all fired up, they will be impressed with your energetic enthusiasm !!!!
 
neil3k said:
rub one out in the carpark before.
Click to expand...

This made me LOLOL

I do as much research on the company in question,

Pertinant questions i like to ask include;
Why has the vacancy arisen?
what is the companys preferred promotion path, do they prefer promoting from within, or from outside

this could be slightly cheeky, but ask the interviewers about their job roles, why did they join said firm, how much do they enjoy the firm, work, colleagues etc etc
did they get to where they currently are from outside or did they start at said firm in a different position, did promotion come easy? or was it a brutal struggle?
what would they say to recommend why working for that particular company is better than working somewhere else :)
 
Sounds like you already know how to approach this, it's hard to suggest much more without knowing the job/industry or format of the interview. You may not know this until you turn up.

Always good to gen up on the company, it's background and their market. In my experience the awkward questions are often seen as the simplest - usually the career orientated ones where they ask you the infamous: 'Where to you see yourself in... <insert timeframe>' etc. This can be difficult to answer if your are not familiar with the role hierarchy of that particular company. Either way, many employers want to see that you are thinking about your future and have ambitions.

Had an interview recently for a major operator and had to go through various stages with increasingly senior personnel. As I progressed through, the questions went from technical (hard) to my career and goals finally to my personality traits (easy). The one I had to really think about was: 'What career path do you intend to take in future and how can the company help you achieve that?'

Good luck anyways

I got the job btw :)
 
BennyC said:
Over the next two weeks I have two job interviews coming up. I'd be interested to hear how you would prepare/have prepared for interviews.

It's in my nature to go prepared so I have been reading up on the companys in question and also their competitors. I'm also compiling a list of potential questions I think I could be asked and bullet pointing some of the key points I would use in my replys.

I'll get there in plenty of time and of course will be 'suited & booted'.

I have never actually had a 'formal' interview but I have been interviewed before. My current position was from temporary work which went permenant, the interview was a fairly casual affair.

I'm not worried and I feel fairly confident I can handle myself well I just want to make sure I give the best answers I can.

So is there anything else I can be doing?

Thanks,

BennyC
Click to expand...

Just have questions ready and relax, that's it really. More often than not, people interviewing you is very impressed with themselves due to the position of power they hold over you and subsequently just LOVE to here themselves speak. Every interview I've ever had or witnessed this was the case. Keep them talking by asking pointed questions about the company and let them share their wisdom with you. They'll love you for that and you'll probably end up walking away with the job.

Make it a conversation and not a Q & A.
 
Thanks for the advice so far. I'll give that guide a read.

has anybody been asked in an interview if their current employer is aware they are looking for other work/roles?

I'm not sure which would be the most favourable way to answer that? Obviously my current employer isn't aware but don't want to make myself out to look like a sneaky mo' fo'. I guess it's just a given and probably won't be asked?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom