Interview Techniques
On confirmation of an interview, it is essential to do some background research on the Company, in order to appear both prepared and keen.
What You Will Need To Know
- What does the Company do? Exactly what services or products do they supply? How many branches does the Company have?
- How many people work there? How many Departments do they have? Assess where you will fit in amongst the hierarchy structure.
- Is the Company well known in the area? Do they have a good or bad reputation?
- What is the Company’s financial position? Steer clear of those who have had financial difficulties in the past and of those with high staff turnovers.
- What is the strategy of the Company and it’s target market?
Where To Find This Information
- Visit their website – it will hold useful information.
- Read all the information that the Company has already sent you – they will generally provide you with material that will give you an insight into the person they are looking for, a job description and their Company details. However, remember that they will only freely provide you with what they want you to know.
- Talk to any current or previous employees you may know… Never will you receive a truer picture than from a current employee, yet bear in mind that an ex-employee may have a slightly tainted view.
- You could obtain a copy of the Company’s last annual report from Companies House. You will have to pay a fee but it will certainly provide you with some useful information.
- Visit the company – take a walk past their offices, get the general feel of the place.
- Refer to local press with regards to any cover stories on the Company. Also keep an eye on how often they appear to be advertising for vacancies.
- If all else fails, search on Google or any other search engine, it may well bring up some articles on the Company.
Typical Interview Questions
The initial question will be designed to put you at ease yet also get you talking:
- Tell me about yourself?
- Give me overviews of you’re most recent position?
The interviewer is likely to ask questions designed to find out how well prepared you are, how keen you are to fill this position and/or to work for this particular employer:
- Why do you want to work for us?
- What could you bring to our organisation?
- What can you contribute to this industry?
- What are the main issues facing our organisation at present?
- In your opinion, where do we stand (as a company) within the market place?
- Where else have you applied to?
- Where/how did you hear about us?
The interviewer will ask questions designed to challenge you – not just make you feel uncomfortable! They are specifically asking you to recognise your weaknesses and test your reasoning skills:
- What are your weaknesses?
- Why did you leave your last job?
- How would your last Manager describe you?
- How would your best friend describe you?
- How would I know if you were having a bad day?
Scenario Questions
Employers may present you with a hypothetical situation and ask how you would respond. This type of question has a number of purposes, including finding out if you can think on your feet and giving an indication if you can transfer your experience from one situation to another.
Competence/Behavioural Questions
Employers may ask you to give examples of situations when you have used particular skills so that they can gather real evidence of the extent to which
you have developed and used them. The key here is to provide lots of evidence of how you used your skills rather than simply describing the situation, e.g., Give
an example of when you influenced the work of others. What did you do and how did you achieve it? What were the outcomes? Was this the best approach in your opinion?
Technical Questions
If your role involves a technical element requiring specific skill sets ensure you are up to date on your area and aware of recent changes in legislation or the market which will affect the role.
Rounding Up Questions
These will come at the end of your interview and used to clarify your application and availability.
- How geographically mobile are you?
- What salary are you looking for?
- What is your availability?
- If you were the interviewer, what skills and requirements would you feel were necessary for this role?
- Do you have any holidays booked?
Questions to ask the Interviewer
Remember, an interview is not one way! It is as much of an opportunity for you to see if you would want to work for the Company, not just to ascertain if you are right for the role.
Before the interview, be sure to note down any questions you may have regarding the position and company itself. As long as the job is what they say it is, the interviewer will be more than happy to answer your queries and will in fact, more than likely, be impressed that you are taking an interest in them.
Example questions:
- Any other details regarding the said vacancy?
- Where will the position be based?
- Which office/department will you be working for?
- Who will you be working with and who will be your direct Manager to report to?
- What forms of training will be provided?
- How do they foresee the role changing over the next couple of years?
- Finally, what promotion opportunities are there within the company?