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Interview Tips: Make the Job Interview Work for You!

A few handy interview tips to help you in your next job.

Overview

An interview is a meeting between two parties in order to determine whether or not they are suited for working together. The interviewer has a job that they need extra support in running, and the interviewee has the relevant skills and experience that could help with running the business. Through this meeting, both parties can assess whether or not they would be a good fit for each other.

As the interviewee, it is easy to go in on the back-foot: you really want/need the role, you are on their territory, and they are essentially interviewing you.

But confidence is key, in order to overcome these fears, and taking that next step and making the interview work for you.

Some interviews can be very casual, tell me about yourself, and that’s all you are asked.

Preparedness

The interviewer may not be completely prepared, and lack organisation in some cases. The interviewer may spend most of the interview talking about the company, rather than asking the interviewee questions.

The interviews that are run well enable the interviewee to sell themselves more effectively and share key points that the interviewer should understand about them.

You can learn a lot about a company, its staff and their attitudes whilst you wait in reception. Look about and see and feel the atmosphere of the building. Would you like to work there every day?

Attitudes

What was the demeanour of the receptionist? Was it amicable, affable, and professional or did it give off an impression of aloofness, apathy, and disrespect? If the company employs people with that disposition – would you want to be a part of that organisation?

How does the interviewer deal with you? Do they treat you with respect? Bother to make you feel at ease, explain things to you, give you enough time for the interview? Or does the interviewer continue to run his/her business throughout the interview? Or take little notice of what you are saying and is more interested in telling you what he/she wants?

Do they bother to ask appropriate questions or is the whole interview controlled by them to such an extent, that you leave feeling that you were not able to get over the key points you wished to make?

All these markers give you a good level of understanding as to how you would be treated if you worked there, and what the work ethos in that organisation is.

So when going for an interview, remember to interview them at the same time!

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33 Responses

  1. Really useful tips for an interview 🙂 Loved the idea of checking the atmosphere of the company where you go for the interview.

  2. This is a really useful page. No one like interviews, but there is enough here to help calm nerves and enable you to feel more confident and prepared so you can present yourself to the very best advantage. It’s well worth following Penny’s advice.

  3. Very useful tips! Most of us are often so nervous that we pay little attention to these aspects – they can say a lot about the company and should definitely not be overlooked!

  4. Great tips ! Worth keeping in mind that you are not the only one being interviewed, you are there to interview them too.

  5. Great Interview Tips, they are really helpful, especially as some Interview questions can so be daunting! Thank you!

  6. Such an insightful post! And it is so true that you need to evaluate your potential employer as well. There’s no reason why the interview shouldn’t be a two-way process!

  7. Really helpful post. To approach an interview with an inquisitive and more open frame of mind is definitely a tip I’ll use in the future to try to overcome my nerves and decide if it suits me.

  8. Great Blog on useful interview tips. I fully agree with the idea of checking the atmosphere of a company, its staff and their attitude.

  9. This is really useful information. I have an upcoming interview via video link so it would be useful to have tips for that too.

  10. Very helpful tips, It’s true first impressions are everything not just for the employer, but applicant too!

  11. Thank you for these interview tips.
    I quite often find that I am asked a bunch of questions that are either not related to the role or totally irrelevant and to be honest that puts me right off wanting to work there. Making a good impression to the interviewer is great but you can sometimes find your not impressed by them which is also very off putting. It does say a lot about a company. Thank you!

  12. Having taken the decision to take voluntary redundancy I have just had my first job interview in over 30 years. Your tips on here and in the other information Penny sent to me were really helpful and pleased to say I got the job

  13. That is some really useful tips. I get nervous at interviews so these are some really good tips to consider when it comes to my first interview in Administration.

  14. Great stuff again! I have just discovered the Blogs on the website and I am enjoying it.
    It might be a good idea to discover the STAR technique as I believe it is really popular in interviews.

  15. This is a great reminder for those about to attend an interview. I agree that the reception waiting area is the best place to get a feel for a company.
    It’s great you focused on how the interviewer treats you the interviewee, I think a lot of people forget to watch out for this.

  16. This is great advice and reinstates the section of the course about confidence! Also very helpful to think of the interview as you also interviewing them!

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