Getting a Job -five Tips For Interview Success
1. What do I know about the job I am applying for?
Cover the following:
Key Thoughts – What would be my ideal? Am I likely to be a fit to this environment?
2. What do I know about the organisation who will be employing me?
Cover the following:
Key Thoughts – Have I really researched the organisation? Am I likely to be a fit to this organisation?
Note: For information look at the organisation’s web site, marketing/recruitment literature, trade journals, press releases, articles on the web, and personal contacts (including someone already employed by the organisation or working in a similar organisation).
3. What do I know about myself?
Cover the following and prepare to give examples to provide more detail:
Key Thoughts – Who am I? What am I really looking for? What is my ideal employer? Who will most want my talents and the contribution I can make?
4. What do I know about the world at large?
Cover the following:
o Current economic climate
o Political Issues of the moment
o Social Trends
o Technology Advancements
o How these factors might be impacting my potential employer
Key Thoughts – How in touch am I with the world at large so that I can make an informed choice about a future employer? Do I really have an interest in learning more about the bigger picture surrounding the organisation?
5. What do I know about the wider context of the organisation’s market-place?
Cover the following:
Key Thought – How can I demonstrate that I am really in touch with the organisation’s challenges given the wider context and public opinion? And, am I really interested!?!
So here it is – a Five Point Self Examination before the examination itself!
Of course not all recruitment interviewers are this rigorous and will cover all these points, and you will be amazed at the superficial nature of the questions you will receive. Interviewers generally fail to really examine you and probe your knowledge. Don’t be surprised. There are very few really proficient interviewers!
However the key message is this – really do your homework. Make the organisation feel that it is truly your first choice and reinforce what you can do for it and not what it can do for you!
Thoroughly prepare answers to these questions in the five sections above and at least you will be a credible candidate! And that is the first step to progressing through the interview process and hopefully getting a job as a result.
Good luck with your answers! And have some questions of your own such as:
Jeremy Francis
Check out my ebook -“Help Yourself to Future Success”
Ryan