Preparation:
There is no such thing as enough preparation. Do what you can, but try to do
at least ten times more than you think is enough.
Dress code:
If you dress like a banker, you may be employed as a banker and paid a
banker's salary. If you dress like a new-age traveller ... Read the signals,
and try to look like you're already on the payroll; it's one time in life when
conformity really matters. Dump your coat with the receptionist, maybe even
your brief case - it helps to reinforce the feeling that you already work
there.
Behavior:
like dress, sends a huge message. If you wanted to wear a sandwich board into
the interview, would it say 'Employ me, I'll fit in', or 'Born to be wild.
Please subsidize'? Here again, remember that selectors love to minimize risk.
Decision makers:
There's little point strutting your stuff in front of someone who has no
influence over the appointment decision.
Openings and
closings:
should be clear and
positive. Think about what you're going to say. Research suggests that
interviewers are most influenced by what you say at the very beginning and
very end of the interview
Tough questions:
You can
learn some pretty good answers from books, but the best answers will be: (a)
to the toughest questions you could ever ask yourself; or (b) to the questions
that really matter as far as the job is concerned.
Prejudice:
... which simply means 'pre-judging'. We all do it. If your interviewer is
unreasonably prejudiced against you for some reason that has nothing to do
with the job (age, skin color, politics) - do you really want to work there
anyway?
CV:
If your CV lets you down at interview, that's because you haven’t really
thought about what it's saying. It should, essentially, suggest that you are
the answer to an employer's prayers. If you’re using interview time to recover
from CV failure, you really have set yourself an uphill battle.
Qualifications:
There are probably well over 50,000 different courses and qualifications in
the UK. How do employers tell one from another? On the whole, they can't. The
employer who wants a 'relevant; degree' may just have the kind of ego that is
flattered by being surrounded by fawning graduates. Focus on the needs of the
job itself in terms of experience and know-how.
