Preparing for an interview

All of these action are important though, for example if you know yourself to have difficulty being punctual for appointments or to be lacking in confidence about train travel, then the first action in the list is particularly important for you to do. In other words, you should identify the actions that you know will help you to prepare for the day of the interview. This will also help to ensure that you are as confident as possible on the day. If in doubt, you should prepare for the interview by doing all of the actions on the checklist.

When you are invited to attend a job interview you need to be prepared for different kinds of interview arrangement and styles of interviewing. A selection process can involve being interviewed by a panel of people, or even going through a series of interviews rather than having a single interview with one person. You should be ready for this.

Some interviewers may be tougher than others in the questions they ask. Sometimes one person on a panel will be elected to ask the straightforward, 'easy' questions while another may be chosen to ask the more searching or 'difficult' questions. You need to be prepared for all types of questions and should not expect an interview necessarily to be a formality for the job.

It is normal for interviewees to feel a bit nervous before an interview. Feeling a little nervous can even be beneficial since, like excitment, it will heighten your senses and help you to be ready for a challenging situation. However, it is also important to anticipate the kind of questions you are likely to get and think about how you would like to answer them.

It is now becoming more common for companies to choose to interview candidates by telephone sometimes. This may be at an initial stage of the selection process or later on during the recruitment process. In some ways, a telephone interview presents more of a challenge for the candidate especially in how to create the best impression. However, there are some preparations that you can make for a telephone interview.

In most cases, the day and time of a telephone interview will be arranged in advance. Make sure that you are ready and waiting if the call is being made to you or that you telephone punctually if the call is to be made by you. Make sure that you are able to speak in a suitable setting without background noise or possibility of interruption. As with a face-to-face interview, You may be interviewed by one person, or by several people, may take turns to ask you questions over the telephone. You may also be asked to carry out a task such as some research before the interview and then to report back on it. If possible, find out what you can about the interview beforehand ( e.g. how long will it last? should you expect to be interviewed by several different people?) as this will help you to prepare for it.

Since you will be depending on your voice to project yourself, it is important to rehearse for a telephone interview. When you have gathered all the information you can about the company/organisation and the interview ask a friend to role play the interviewer and rehearse the interview by telephone. This will allow you to practise creating the best impression you can using your voice alone. It will also help boost your confidence. Allow the interviewer to guide the interview and signal to you when it is over and don't be afraid to ask the interviewer to repeat a question if you have not understood it.

If you are asked to give a presentation on the day of the interview it is likely that you will be given a topic on which to speak and allowed some time before the day of the interview in which to prepare your presentation. Your audience, who are likely to be the interviewing panel and possibly other members of the company or organisation, will not only be interested in what you have to say but also how you say it. In other words, you will also be assessed on your communication skills as well as your ideas. You should aim to interest them in what you have to say and also persuade them that you are a good communicator.

Make sure you have prepared your presentation as well as you can. Most companies and organisations will expect a Powerpoint presentation these days unless you are told otherwise. Whether or not to include handouts is a personal choice. You should have checked over your Powerpoint presentation carefully for typographical mistakes etc. beforehand, and timed and rehearsed your delivery of it.

You should aim to be confident that you know what you want to say and in your ability to say it. If you are using your own laptop computer make sure that you have all the necessary equipment to deliver the presentation. It is wise to have a back-up file of your presentation with you on disk or memory stick. If you are not using your own laptop make sure you have arranged transfer of your Powerpoint file either before the day or that you have it available on memory stick or similar in order to upload it to the computer that you will be using for your presentation. You should also have considered what kind of questions you may receive after the presentation and how you might answer them.

Aptitude or psychometric testing is sometimes used by companies or organisations to gain a fuller profile of the candidates applying for a particular post. It can help to identify the range of competencies or strengths that individual candidates possess but which may not be apparent during the face-to-face interview or from their curriculum vitae. As with all tests it is important to read the instructions carefully before beginning and to aim to leave a little time at the end of the test in order to check your answers.

Group activities are often designed to see how well you can perform a practical task or one that involves interacting with other people in some way. You are likely to be assessed on how well you can work with others in a team or you may also be assessed in terms of how well you can lead a team too. Among other things, those assessing you will be looking for your ability to listen to and learn from others and your ability to generate ideas and help take things forward in the performanace of the assigned task.

Group activities can take different forms. You may be asked to take part in a discussion, practical exercise, simulation or role play. In order to perform as best you can in a group activity, about which you may be told very little before the event, you can prepare yourself by remembering to:

- make sure you take the time to understand the task fully when you are given the instructions

- be ready to cooperate and listen to others as well as taking an active role yourself in discussion

- take the activity seriously but at the same time stay focused and calm especially in your dealings with other people

- be aware of the time allocated for the activity and help with time-keeping

Now that you have identified aspects of a job interview that you would like to know more about, select one of the links below to find out more:

Quest for Learning: Employability Skills
http://www.questforlearning.org/html/emp-module3/m3.html [No responsibility is taken for content or information contained on external web pages]

Job interviews
http://www.getthatjob.net/interviews.htm [No responsibility is taken for content or information contained on external web pages]

Applications, CVs and interviews
http://www.prospects.ac.uk/cms/ShowPage/Home_page/Applications_and_interviews/p!eefmd[No responsibility is taken for content or information contained on external web pages]

What employers want
http://www.soton.ac.uk/careers/undergraduates/yourfuture/skillsdict.html [No responsibility is taken for content or information contained on external web pages]