- Candidates
- Writing a successful CV
- FAQ's at Interview
- Preparing for Interview / Competency Based Ints / Psychometric Testing
- Interim / Contract Assignments
Preparing for Interview / Competency Based Ints / Psychometric Testing
Your performance in interview is the difference between you landing your ideal move and not. The face to face interview is a critical part of the process and your ability to impress is short but long lasting. Follow the guidelines below to maximise your chances:
Preparing for Interview
- Nerves are natural but good planning will give you more confidence.
- Research the business, talk to your consultant and demand they provide you with the best information. Use the web, use the Library and network for information from people who have dealt, worked or supplied the organisation. On the company website look for future goals, plans and latest news.
- Read your cv and highlight areas that are relevant to the job specification. Think of example questions they may ask around these and answer them. Preprepare examples which you will use for FAQ's and tailor them.
Interview Technique
- First impressions are vital. Wear a nicely presented suite with a tie that complements and if you smoke, reframe just before the interview. Smile with a strong firm hand shake when you meet. Speak clearly and confidently and maintain good levels of eye contact.
- In the introductory chat stay focused on the questions asked but do not over answer the question. The interviewer may ask you to go through a particualr company experience or role, ensure you dont waffle briefly describe the company and its operation and the role conducted.
- Be very familar with your CV and match the job spec to your CV. Always end a negative question with a positive answer. Think about more difficult questions and do not give irrelevant detail.
- Be ready to ask your prepared questions at the end. Always have question to ask which are open to provoke a flowing conversation.
- Show enthusiasm for the role and strike commonality where appropriate. Ask for a plant / facility tour and thank the interviewer for their time.
- Send an email or letter following up the interview via the consultant or directly.
Competency Based Interviewing Explained
This is a style of interviewing which is becoming more and more popular. It targets a specific work situation and then questions are asked about how you reacted to these. You will be asked to give an example of a situation or task which led you to take a certain course of action. Probing questions will then be used to determine the course of action you took and what changes were created by those actions and the effects of those actions on others. A role has specifc core competencies which have been preagreed on i.e. a production manager may be planning and organising, prioritisation, decision making, people development, conflict etc
How do I prepare for this
Difficult to prepare for unless you know the competencies that will come up in interview however you must read the job specification fully and try to match this to your CV also think about the competencies which may be asked. Whats important in the role?
The STAR model is sometimes a good way of answering questions which are example orientiated. Give me an example of?
- S = SITUATION what was the situation when you arrived at the task
- T = TASK what was the task, define the task and measurables
- A = ACTION what was your action and your direction
- R = RESULT what was the resulting outcome make sure this is a quantifiable tangilbe result.
Good Luck
Psychometric Testing
This is more commonly being used as part of a assessment centre and is used to test numeracy, verbal reasoning and to build character profiles typically tested under time conditions. www.shl.com can provide you with some good examples of tests conducted - log on, print one off and do it under time conditions - the more you practice psychometrics the better you become.