Congratulations! You are going to meet your prospective employer and you need to give the best impression possible. The guide below aims to help you demonstrate your abilities to a prospective employer.

Pre-interview preparation is as important as the interview itself. To ensure your interview counts you must prepare. As soon as your interview has been confirmed it is imperative you do as much research as possible about your potential employer. Such research not only portrays you, the potential employee, as enthusiastic, but also gives you the opportunity to ask knowledgeable questions and to get the most out of your meeting.

Typical information you should identify;

• Company Statistics – employees, office locations etc
• Company presence in market – projects, acquisitions etc
• Company History
• Products/Services
• Competitors
• Also, always make sure you know where you are going and who to ask for, as obvious as this sounds, having directions, a map and parking information are all too often over looked.

The Best Source of information is undoubtedly the Internet and these days with so much information at our fingertips there is no excuse. If access to the Internet is a problem ask for a company brochure to be sent to you.

Get to know the job in question. Be specific – when reading through the job specification and its requirements draw comparisons with your experience, and prepare examples you can provide at interview to demonstrate these skills.

Remember the interview is a two way process, so take full advantage of the meeting and don’t just answer questions, ask them as well. Asking questions underlines your interest and also provides you with the necessary information you need to assess the opportunity.

Information you should seek to gain from a meeting includes;

• Finding out the background of the team and the Manager conducting the interview
• Staff turnover
• Career progression
• Training policy
• Where the company sees themselves within the market place.
• Business strategy, growth and expansion plans.

This is not an exhaustive list of questioning, but provides a refresher.

• Why have you applied for the position?
• What do you know about our company and market?
• What skills and qualities do you have which make you suitable for this post?
• What are your short term and long-term career goals?
• How do you prioritise your workload?
• What have you achieved in your current position?
• What projects have you managed? If so how successful were they?
• What methods do you use to enthuse and engage others?
• What are you duties and responsibilities?
• Why do you think you can do this job?
• If we took a reference from your boss what would he/she say about you?
• If you were asked to carry out instructions you disagreed with, what would you do?
• How well do you work within a team?
• If you joined us how long could we rely on you to stay?

Start the interview on a high with a firm handshake and a confident introduction. During the interview ensure you make eye contact with the interviewers and avoid fidgeting and defensive body language i.e. arms folded. Speak clearly and slowly and keep your answers relevant to the question, if you don’t understand a question don’t be afraid to ask for clarification.

It’s important to know your CV inside out and to have thought carefully about what questions the interviewer may ask, and how you might respond. It’s important to avoid stumbling over questions or waffling at your interview.

• Do discuss your experience, but don’t make the mistake of stopping there. Employers want to know how your background and skills will apply to their situation and ultimately how you can benefit the company.
• Know your strengths and weaknesses – think carefully about a suitable weakness.
• Know what motivates you.
• Identify your three main achievements before the interview and prepare evidence or statistics to back these up i.e. cost saving, accident reductions etc.
• Underline your personal goals and career goals.
• State exactly what it is about the opportunity that interests you
• Don’t be negative and cause doubts – don’t criticise your current organisation, your boss or even yourself.

When the interview draws to a close ask the interviewer if they have any reservations, this gives you the opportunity to overcome any objections there and then. Re-affirm your interest and enthusiasm in the role and express thanks.