An interview is a two-way conversation between you and an employer. 

The employer is interested in you because, on paper, your qualifications, skills, experience and personal qualities seem to fit the firm’s requirements. The interview lets the employer meet you and decide if you are more or less suited for the job than other candidates.

The interview also lets you find out more about the company and its employees, products and services. You can then decide if it is the sort of organisation you would like to work for.

The interview could be as short as fifteen minutes or may last over an hour. There might be one single interviewer or a “panel”.  Where there is a panel, two or more interviewers sit together and take turns to ask the candidate questions.

Sometimes the company might ask the best two or three candidates back for a second interview.

Preparation

If you want to be successful, you must prepare for the interview.

Step 1                                     

Let the firm know you will be able to come to the interview.  Phone, write or email to confirm that you will attend. The employer might tell you the preferred method of letting them know.

Step 2

Find out as much as you can about the organisation before the interview by looking at its website on the internet. This way you can see if it really is the type of company you want to work for. It will also impress the employer that you have been keen enough to read up about the organisation.

If for some reason you cannot check out the firm on the internet, it's worthwhile phoning the company to find out basic facts such as:

What does it do?
How many branches does it have and where are they?
How many people work there?

Step 3

Look over the job advertisement, job description or any other information the employer has sent you. From this you can build up a picture of the kind of person the employer is looking for. The article and exercises on 'What are your key skills?' can be helpful here. Check over your application form or CV. 

Step 4

Try to think about the types of questions the interviewer is likely to ask? See the section below on 'What questions will come up in an interview?'.

Step 5

Towards the end of your interview you will usually get the chance to ask questions. Try to think of two or three suitable questions. You could ask:

• What training will I get?
• What's happened to people who did this job before?
• I read about your new product... or your plans to... Can you tell me more about that?
• What are the best things about working here?

Finally, round off with, "When will you let me know your decision?"

Don’t ask about pay or holidays unless the advert states that these are open to negotiation.

Step 6

Find out exactly where to go for the interview and plan out how you will get there in good time. Plan what to wear and put out all the clothes you need the night before. First impressions do count. Clothes do not need to be new, but they should be clean, ironed and smart. If you are male, wear a shirt, tie and jacket.

Interview tips

• Do confirm that you can attend the interview.
• Arrive in plenty of time, preferably at least ten minutes early.
• Do not sit down until asked.
• Do not fidget or slouch.
• Speak clearly.
• Make eye-contact.
• Dress smartly.
• Do not smoke even if asked.
• Do not criticise any of your past employers. 
• Answer questions fully but always keep to the point. Don’t answer with a bare “Yes” or “No”.

What questions will come up in an interview?

One reason an interview might worry you is that you don’t know what questions will come up and so you feel unable to prepare for it.

It’s true that you cannot know for certain which questions the employer will ask. However, some questions are “old favourites” which occur again and again. You should at least prepare good answers for these.

Open (non-specific) questions

• Tell me about yourself
  Your past, in the form of your CV, is already on the employer's desk. So, here, stick with the present. Describe briefly your work, family and interests.
• What are your strengths?
  Here they want to know about personality traits rather than skills. Examples might include: patience, imagination, flexibility.
• What are your weaknesses?
  Turn your weaknesses into areas for development. “I’d like a bit more experience or training in….” Another strategy is to mention a “weakness” which can be seen as a strength: “If I get absorbed in a task I don’t like to have to move on to something else before I’ve seen it through.”
• What achievement or accomplishment are you most proud of?
  Have a ready answer which is relevant to the job in hand: “I created a database of our international clientele and the company still uses it every day.”
• Why do you want this job?
  Say how your skills and goals fit the company's needs and goals. You can mention tasks and duties you would enjoy. (A good phrase to use is “a challenge”) Don’t mention pay, hours or holidays.
• Why are you the best person for this job?
  Mention your key skills and transferable skills and say how they would be useful in the job. Make sure that you can give at least one good example for each of the skills and qualities the employer wants. (See article 'What are your key skills?')

Specific questions

• Why did you leave your past job(s)?
  Always try to give positive reasons for leaving past jobs. So, don't say you left your past jobs because you were unhappy there. Instead, say you left to move on to something better. Don't be negative about previous employers.  
• Do you prefer to work alone or in a team?
  By all means, state a preference. Put it in a positive light: “I like to get on with my work in my own way. I enjoy the challenge of using my own initiative.” Or, alternatively, “I believe that many heads are better than one.” However, make clear that you are able and willing to work in either environment.
• Can you take instructions?
  This is about management. You want to show that you can accept instructions and also constructive criticism without getting upset.
• What do you know about our company?
  Make sure that you do your homework before the interview. You want to show that you are interested enough to research the company well. Use any network contacts to find out about the company. (See the article on 'Networking'.)
• Where do you see yourself in five years’ time?
  This tests your ambition as well as your company loyalty. If there is a promoted post within the firm (not the interviewer’s own post!) then you could mention that. If the job has no obvious promotion prospects then it might be all right to mention a related, more high-flown job with a different firm.
• What are your long-term goals?
  See the response to the above question.
• Do you have any questions?
  This is usually the final question and your last chance to make an impression. You could ask positive questions about training, meeting who you would report to, potential development areas in the job and likely growth areas in the company.

Awkward or difficult questions

Most interviewers stick to fair questions, relevant to the job. However a few interviewers, particularly those in competitive industries, might put in a “trick” question, or even a personal question, to see if you can cope with the unexpected. The main thing is to keep your cool. Examples might be:

• If you found it impossible to meet a target or a deadline, what would you do?
  You should take this kind of problem to the line manager at an early stage, while it is still possible to re-allocate the workload.
• Can you work under pressure? 
  Don't give a simple yes to this. Take the chance to sell your planning and time management skills.
• If a customer is cheeky or aggressive to you, what would you do?
  Keep a sense of proportion. Deal with criticism, even if unfair, on the spot, while remaining polite yourself. Bad language or harassment is a different matter. You should complain to your manager.
• If you caught a workmate stealing from the company what would you do?
  You might think the expected answer is “Report it to the manager”. However, this question again tests your sense of proportion as well as your personal morality and divided loyalties. Give real-life examples. Loading computer hardware into the boot of your car is a different matter from taking home a company pen or pencil.
• Tell me something you’ve done which you’re ashamed of.
  Best to have in mind some minor misdeed from childhood or youth. An option could be the “white lie” you told for a good reason.
• Describe a problem you had to deal with and how you handled it. Focus on your own actions, and don’t blame or say anything bad about your workmates.

 After an interview

You will probably want to put it all out of your mind. But before you do this, jot down your thoughts on how it went and what you might have done differently. This could be useful in the new job if you get it, or at a future interview if not.

You may find the following headings useful to help you organise your thoughts:

• questions the interviewer asked me
• questions I was not ready for
• points to note for the next interview.