Maximise your chances of interview success - Get prepared!

Questions questions questions!! Interviews are full of questions. Some questions are predictable - so doesn’t it make sense to prepare?

One thing is certain - interviews are stressful. Getting ahead of the game by preparing for the predictable will relieve some of the pressure and leave your mind processing power free to tackle some of the tougher questions that come your way

Depending on the level of the job you may just have to talk through your CV and give an account of what each job involves or at the other extreme you may have to answer tough situational (tell me a time when… ) or behavioural (what did you do about…. How did you react or feel?) questions that require examples, facts and figures and detailed outcomes to properly answer.

If you are going for a non-managerial, junior or unskilled role you will need to demonstrate that your contribution to the company meant more than just turning up each day. Be prepared to discuss your previous roles of course - but in your preparation consider also the successes you had, how you maybe shared your skills to help a colleague in their development and how that helped them, where you had influence over others even though you were not a supervisor. Consider not just the skills and abilities you needed to do the job, but also the skills that each role required in order to exceed expectation, for example the ability to prioritise work, your presentation skills that you maybe used in induction training for others, communication skills developed in building effective business relationships and which produced positive outcomes, training and mentoring others, motivational skills, the ability to embrace change and adapt, the use of specific software, like Excel or a sector specialist package which will save on training time and costs. Think in terms of the contribution you made and why the company was better off because you were there - where did you add value? Where could you add value for a new employer? Include any recognition or awards that your work earned you – and if you have paperwork (certificates, copies of annual reviews) take them with you just in case Doing this preparation as a checklist for yourself before you go for interview will mean that this information is at the front of your mind and available in your memory bank for easy recall.

Whilst you are going through this exercise it is a good time to take an objective look at your CV. Are there any gaps? If so, make sure you have a credible and truthful explanation. Have you covered the key areas of your contribution and responsibilities in each role? What was your reason for leaving? (avoid saying you were headhunted, rather focus on the positive outcome of the move in career terms) What were you paid? Were there other incentives and how did you do in meeting those targets? Does your work history flow logically or is there something that sticks out - if so ensure you can explain why you went of at a tangent at that time. Have you included all your qualifications and work related courses? Have you recently upgraded or re-qualified? Do you have bearer references that might just clinch the deal?

So what questions can you prepare for? Here are 20 to get you started.

1. What do you know about our company?
2. Why are you applying for a position with our company?
3. Why did you go and work for your last employer?
4. Describe a typical day
5. What kind of people do work best with and why?
6. What did you like most / least about your last job?
7. Which of your duties did you find most difficult - why?
8. What motivates you?
9. Why do you want to leave your current job?
10. What do you consider to be your greatest strength / weakness?
11. What element of your job gives you the greatest satisfaction?
12. How do you approach tasks you dislike?
13. What does this job offer that your last job did not?
14. What would you like to avoid in your next job?
15. How would you describe your relationship with your last supervisor?
16. How do you like to be managed?
17. How would your friends describe you at work?
18. What did you learn from each or your previous jobs?
19.What does the prospect of this job offer that your previous jobs did not?
20.The three most important duties in this role are X, Y and Z - what experience do you have that would qualify you to perform these tasks?

The list is potentially a great deal longer but hopefully this will help with the preparation of your interview responses. Winners always practice - success demands investment in preparation.

Good luck

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