The interview process gives you and the employer an opportunity to decide if you are the right person for the job and if the job is right for you. It's important for both parties to make a sound decision, for the right reasons.

Interviewing is fraught with difficulties, including:

• The interviewer may not be confident or competent.
• The process is easily influenced by perceptions – e.g. you may remind the interviewer of someone they like or dislike. Adding an interviewing panel of 3 or 4 people only escalates the issue.
• It's a subjective process, where one piece of negative information can destroy four times the amount of positive information. 
• Solely interviewing a candidate is a poor predictor of on-the-job competence and behaviour, yet it is still the most commonly used method of employee selection.

To avoid the pitfalls, these suggestions could enhance your chances of success:

Preparation

Analyse the job advertisement and job description, before interviewing, to identify what the interviewer is most likely to focus on. Chances are they will have listed what's most important first.

Differentiate between questions that are factual or behavioural and consider questions that are likely to asked but not openly stated.

Factual questions:

• What are your strengths?
• What do you consider to be your weaknesses?
• Describe your life achievements
• Describe your management style, philosophy of life, key life values etc.
• What are your salary expectations?

You can prepare for these types of questions by using a simple story telling mechanism to ensure there is fluency and structure to your answers; good stories have a clear beginning, middle and end, so replicate this in your answers.

Behavioural interviewing

A competent interviewer will expect you to be familiar with behavioural interviewing; rather than asking you to describe how to do something, they may ask you to give an example of a situation you were in where you demonstrated certain skills. Interviewers are looking for examples of how you have behaved in the past as this is a more accurate indicator of how you will behave in the future. Some examples of behavioural questions include:

• Give me an example of when your work was criticized and how you responded.
• Describe a situation when you were involved in conflict.
• Tell me about a time when you experienced considerable stress at work and how you handled it.
• Describe a time when you had to make a difficult decision.
• Tell me about the most challenging situation you have had to deal with at work and how you handled it.
• What type of personality do you find most difficult to work with?

The power of clarifying

In interviews, the interviewer asks a question and you interpret what they say and respond. However, the risk is that you may have heard incorrectly or not understood their question fully. The key is to to clarify what they have said, before you provide an appropriate response; if you don’t, you run the risk of going off on the wrong tangent. You can choose to clarify at various points throughout your answer:

Beginning: They ask a question; you clarify meaning and then respond.

Middle: Ask “am I on the right track? Is this what you looking for?” during your answer.

End: Once you have answered, check they have gained sufficient information by asking “does that answer your question, would you like more information”?

Further techniques and skills

Job hunting is always challenging but there are some techniques you can implement to significantly increase your chances of a successful interview. No matter how much is written about the importance of preparing and practicing before you interview, most people seem shocked to be asked questions that any person could reasonably figure out will be covered.

What are your strengths?

After researching the role and company before your interview, you should be fully aware of what the employer is seeking. Make sure to cover this in your answers and give relevant examples of each strength.

What are your weaknesses?

Choose one area of weakness prior to the interview and only mention this during your interview. Remember also to say what you are doing to overcome it or improve; overcoming a weakness is actually developing a strength. Responding by saying that you do not have any weaknesses demonstrates that you may have limited Emotional Intelligence.

What motivates you?

While we all understand that money is a key driver in a most people's careers, employers don’t want this to be the main focus of why someone wants a role. Highlight how you enjoy learning new skills, working within an engaged and positive team and having the opportunity to progress in your career.

Why did you leave your last job?

The interviewer wants to understand why you have left (or are looking to leave) and see if there were any issues or problems that you may have caused and could potentially bring to a new role. Always be positive and do not tear apart your last company; no employer likes hearing a potential employee talking negatively about their last job - it will only give the signal that you may be trouble.

Why do you want to work for this business?

This is a vital question as the employer is attempting to find out your motivation for working for them, in particular. Briefly share your knowledge of the business and comment on how your skills, experience and education would fit well within the company. Talk about the development opportunities the company offers, your interest in the industry or their presence in the marketplace. An employer wants you to be excited about their company and will always hire someone who has a passion over someone who does not show any interest. This is another reason why you prepare; it's hard to be passionate about something you know nothing about.

As Louis Pasteur is quoted as saying, “fortune favours the prepared mind”.  Make the time to prepare properly, and you will have taken a great step towards getting to ‘Yes’ at your next interview!

For more advice, contact Tom and the team on 0800 282 669, email [email protected] or visit www.cv.co.nz