Your CV / Resume is the tool that gets you the Interview but once you have the invitation to Interview – what next?

58 [yes, FIFTY EIGHT] Top Tips for Interviews

1. Fear of interviewing? Practice makes perfect. You’ll get better over time. And it is possible to practice for Interviews.

2. Interviews are a dialogue between two people. What you give is what you get. So be proactive. Ask questions and initiate discussion.

3. Confirm your interview time, date, and location one day in advance. Use this as a way to connect with your contact who could provide additional last-minute information.

4. NEVER be late for interviews.

5. If you are going to be late, call and reschedule instead. You’ll make a much better impression being on time.

6. Bring extra copies of your C.V. with you. Never assume the interviewer can find your C.V.

7. Arrive 15 minutes early and retire to the restroom. Check your appearance in the mirror. Hair in place? Make-up intact? Tights crisis? Women should pack an extra pair, just in case.

8. Introduce yourself to the secretary and be seated. (Secretaries are often hidden power bases, so engage them in conversation.)

9. Take off your coat and hang it up before the interview. In trainers? Change into good shoes before you enter the building.

10. Look busy. Take out reading material on the company or peruse company literature available in the reception area while you wait. Don’t fidget.

11. Some companies require all applicants to fill out an application, regardless of position. Fill it out completely, even if you have a C.V.

12. Stand up to greet the interviewer and extend your hand. Give a firm handshake, but don’t crush. And don’t pump you arm up and down.

13. Once in the interviewer’s office, wait to be seated. You don’t want to sit in the interviewer’s favourite chair.

14. Even if offered, don’t smoke, chew gum, eat, or drink coffee during the interview. And don’t eat garlic or drink alcohol before the interview.

15. Be observant. Are there pictures on the desk? Who’s in the pictures? Trophies, awards? For what? Art? What kind? Be aware for small talk later on.

16. In interviews, be careful not to dwell on your personal life. If asked, be brief but polite. Remember, the interview is about what you can do on the job, not at home.

17. Don’t name-drop, especially with a recruiter. If you know someone important, say so. But make sure there really is a connection. Recruiters have heard it all.

18. Never argue. If the interviewer says something you disagree with, let it go. This isn’t a debate. It’s an interview.

19. Answer only the questions asked. Be direct. Don’t ramble. And never volunteer information.

20. Be brief. The more you try to embellish your answers, the more likely you are to say something that disqualifies you.

21. The earlier it is in the interview, the shorter your answers need to be. The interviewer has limited time and a list of questions to ask you.

22. Never take anyone with you to interviews. Go alone.

23. Don’t assume the interviewer is knowledgeable about your industry, field, or speciality. Don’t use jargon, company lingo, industry buzz words.

24. Be a good listener. Listen actively by nodding your head in agreement acknowledgement. Lean forward to let the interviewer know you’re interested.

25. Maintain good eye contact. Eyes averted spell lack of self-confidence, nervousness, insecurity.

26. Watch your body language. Don’t fidget, cross your arms, slouch. Remember, everything you say and do broadcasts who you are.

27. Be enthusiastic, upbeat. Show your excitement for the job and company. Bring out your evidence file and share your company research with the interviewer.

28. Never ask about salary or benefits in the first interview. Save those issues for the negotiation session. You want the company to fall in love with you first.

29. Whoever mentions money first loses. If asked your salary requirements, respond with ‘What is the range for this position?’ If pressed, give a broad range, but never a specific amount.

30. Interviews are a dialogue between two people. Don’t let the interviewer ramble or get side-tracked. Put your two cents in.

31. Control the interview by asking questions. People feel compelled to answer.

32. Be able to explain in two to three sentences what your job duties were. Keep it simple and basic.

33. Be able to explain in two to three sentences why you’re looking for a job. Laid off? Downsized? Resigned? Why?

34. Never assume the interviewer knows what’s been going on at your company. Explain why you left, but be brief.

35. Interview rule number 1: Never say anything negative about your company, your boss, your job, your colleagues, yourself.

36. Research pays off. Not knowing anything about the company interviewing you will hurt your chances of being hired.

37. Personality and intelligence can compensate for lack of specific job experience. Radiate self-confidence, enthusiasm, congeniality.

38. An interview is a sales pitch. Be prepared to sell your features and benefits. Why should they hire you? Make yourself irresistible.

39. Never show confidential documents or memos from your previous employer(s). No one wants to hire someone who steals company property.

40. Stumped for an answer to a tough question? Take time to collect your thoughts before you speak. Guard against babbling.

41. Don’t be afraid to say ‘I don’t know.’ Then add, ‘Would you rephrase the question?’ Honesty wins points.

42. An interviewer cares about three things: Can you do the job (experience, education)? Will you do the job (hours, money, location)? and Will you fit in the company (personality)?

43. Remember people’s names. Use last names unless the interviewer indicates you by your first name.

44. Past performance is the best indication of future performance. If you performed miracles for your last employer, you can do it again. So capitalise on your successes.

45. Don’t interrupt. Some interviewers talk more than they listen. That’s OK. Be a good listener.

46. Ask for business cards of everyone you talk to in the interview process. This is critical for following-up thank-you letters, future networking calls, general job search record keeping.

47. Interviewing rule of thumb: It takes 10 to 15 networking contacts to generate one interview and 5 to 10 interviews to generate one offer.

48. Rejection is tough, but don’t take it personally. Detach. It’s just business. After each rejection, evaluate why. Then figure out what you can do in the future to avoid the same thing happening again.

49. Never leave an interview without thanking the interviewer and going for the trial close. Ask, ‘What’s the next step? Where do we go from here?’

50. Anyone’s worst nightmare – a group interview. Relax. Don’t panic. Direct your answers to the person asking the most questions but maintain eye contact with everyone.

51. A lunch interview? Order something easy to eat. Always graciously decline alcoholic beverages, even if the interviewer indulges. And mind your manners.

52. If the interviewer keeps you waiting for more than 30 minutes, reschedule. you’ll both feel better meeting under different circumstances.

53. Fear of shrinking? Don’t make an issue out of taking psychological tests. They’re no big deal, and many companies use them, both pre- and post-employment.

54. Don’t be intimidated by interviewers, especially personnel types. They want you to be the right candidate. It makes their job easier.

55. Assess how you did after the interview. Did you babble, evade questions, fidget, reveal too much? Learn from your mistakes, but don’t be too hard on yourself. You’re learning how to interview.

56. Write thank-you notes immediately. Be brief, but gracious. This is a courtesy note only. Resist going in for the kill with a final sales pitch.

57. Don’t use ‘Thank-you’ stationery or stationery with business letterheads. And never send humorous cards.

58. The next time you make a job move for money, take this test: divide the difference between you old salary and your new salary by 12; take about 35 to 40 percent off for taxes and deductions. That’s how much more you’re going to take home each month. Then ask: is making the move worth it?

have you got a tip to share?  Let us know.

WRITTEN COMMUNICATION – Being able to think through in advance what you want to say; having report writing skills; showing you can gather, analyse and arrange date in a logical sequence; avoid jargon and adopt your writing style for appropriate and different audiences and be able to briefly summarise your written content.

NEGOTIATING AND PERSUADING – Demonstrating you can develop a line of argument, using tact and diplomacy and handle objections to your discussion; make concessions to reach agreement and show that you can challenge points of views expressed by others; be able to emphasise the positive aspects of your point of view and understand the needs of the people you are dealing with.

VERBAL COMMUNICATION – Making effective use of speech, conduct, dress and body language; the ability to present to an audience [using visual aids, building rapport, getting your message across, etc]; accurately hearing what people say to you and being able to clarify and summarise what they are communicating without interrupting; being able to help others define their issues and having excellent telephone skills.

CO-OPERATING (TEAMWORK) – Understanding your strengths and weaknesses and how they contribute to a team; being able to contribute ideas effectively in a group and taking a share of the responsibility in a group; accepting and learning from constructive criticism and giving positive, constructive feedback to others; being assertive rather than passive or aggressive and concentrating on behaviour that could be improved.

INVESTIGATING AND ANALYSING – Being able to clarify the nature of a problem before deciding what action to take; being able to collect, collate, classify and summarise data and formulate questions; showing that you can gather information systematically and find where the required information is available; be able to use results effectively using text/graphs/tables/pictures; have impressive decision making skills; be able to formulate questions and condense information to produce notes.
LEADERSHIP – Being able to set objectives; organise and motivate others; take the initiative and persevere when things are not working out; being able to take a positive attitude to both frustration and failure; being flexible and prepared to adapt goals in the light of different situations; demonstrating you can accept responsibility for mistakes and wrong decisions.

PLANNING AND ORGANISING – Demonstrating that you can manage your time effectively and use action planning skills to prioritise tasks effectively; being able to set achievable and measurable objectives and identify steps needed to achieve goals; being able to use lists ad complete work to a deadline; having effective time management skills and be able to work effectively under pressure whilst managing stress.

NUMERACY – Being able to use simple statistics; calculate percentages; multiply and divide accurately; read and interpret graphs and tables; use a calculator and being able to manage a limited budget.

Ki work currently has a network of over 50 career coaches throughout the UK and are contracted to the DWP providing job search support for professionals.

The career transition programme’s main target group is professionals that

- have been unemployed for 3 – 6 months or over;

- were earning over £40k per annum;

- could be looking for an alternative to full time or contract employment; and

- can afford the fees of £595 plus VAT.

The programme is for 12 weeks and includes

- 6 hours of one-to-one coaching

- 6 meetings with a group of five plus coach

- each meeting for 90 minutes once a fortnight

- a total of 15 hours of support

- web-based collaboration, marketing and research tools.

What might be of interest is that prior to the full launch, we are planning to run one or more programmes for FREE.

Would you be interested in participating in this first stage development?  Contact us now for more information

Boost Your Confidence

If you’ve been displaced it’s harder to keep a positive perspective whilst looking for work so here are a few tips for you:

• Think Positive – yes, affirmations can make a big difference and you could replace negative thoughts with positive self instructions to limit any negative thoughts and behaviour
• Deal with the Negatives – unfortunately there might be rejections and disappointments. Learn from the experience, question what you could do differently and how you would change your approach
• Understand Yourself - don’t listen to what others say about you, or let their ideas influence you.  Recognise your talent, your strengths and your potential.  *
• Use Your Nerves – think of the stress as positive, take deep breathes to control anxiety and work with the adrenalin to deliver your best. Nerves are normal
• Believe in Yourself and Stop Making Excuses – this is a challenging time for you but you have your own unique knowledge, experience and capability which will lead you to success

I recommend Cavendish Films DVDs, which are proven to make candidates at least FOUR times more successful at interview.

*Psychometric tests can give you an in depth understanding, ask me for more information

It’s easy to contribute to the groups, post questions in the ‘Answers’ section and do online research about people, positions and companies.

The idea about building connections and developing a strong network is not new, but on LinkedIn it is fairly simple.  And through the network one can discover jobs, business opportunities or just new contacts.

As an employer, one can post vacancies whislt searching for suitable applicants and as a Jobseeker, one can discover who is hiring, read the profile of hiring managers and discover which of their existing contacts can introduce them. It’s also possible to save information about companies that are of interest.  The company information can be essential in preparation for job interviews and applications.

I thoroughly recommend LinkedIn and if you don’t have a LinkedIn profile, sign-up for one now.  It’s never too late to expand your opportunities.

1. What makes you tick?

Understand what motivates you and use this to identify your dream job.

2. Action plan

Have a clear objective, and some stepping stones.  Make your career change come alive but committing the steps to paper and giving yourself some SMART goals.

3. Check your financial position

 If you are changing direction you might need funds for retraining, or you may want to take a reduced salary to get your dream job.  Being financially secure and having enough money to make the transition ensures a strong starting point.

4. Keep positive

Self confidence and self-belief are most important at this time.  Focus on what you want and how you achieve this, tackling obstacles as they appear.

In every successful job search and career change there are five critical areas:

A focused and realistic job and career objective

A clear objective based firmly on your strengths and supported by your experience.

A dynamic presentation

This objective must be communicated energetically, both in writing and in person, Your CV and your verbal presentation must be clearly focused and show you at your highest level of effectiveness.

A well-planned job search

A campaign based on your clear and growing understanding of how the job market functions which enables you to use your time most efficiently and is the key to the successful outcome of your job search

Building a contact network

Your job search should encompass building a contact network that is both supportive and challenging. Regardless of where you start, the people you meet and build relationships with are the most important factors in a job search.

Thoroughness and persistence

It takes a determined effort to write good letters, conduct productive meetings/ interviews and follow up opportunities. Your commitment to a planned campaign will pay off.

Good luck

This news follows a gloomy report by the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) earlier this month which predicted that up to 300,000 jobs would be axed by 2011 as the economy goes into reverse.

Employment lawyers and legal helplines are reporting a sharp rise in businesses seeking advice on how to sack staff, suggesting a further surge in redundancies may be on the way.

Allianz, the insurance group, says its legal helpline Lawphone last month received a record number of calls seeking advice on redundancy issues.

More than a third of calls received by the helpline were about employment issues, compared with just 2.4 per cent in the same month last year, it said. Employment lawyers are also reporting a rise in businesses seeking advice on redundancies as trading conditions have deteriorated over the summer.

So if you are in the unfortunate position of being redundant, and you’re looking for a new job, how are you going to go about it?

Getting your CV right first time is of prime importance, and understanding your personal strengths will be a necessity.

You can upload your CV to numerous websites, and with keywords, search for roles that are suitable.

At the end of the day, you mustn’t forget the ‘hidden job market’ [yes, that's still there] – and networking. Networking is the best way to meet new contacts who have contacts who may know of opportunities or of people who could open doors for you.

Look out for networking events wherever you live. Use our new widget on the right to find events near you!

There are many networking groups around including BNI, BRE, Breakfast for Business, First Friday, Success in Sussex, 1230, WNC and websites that encourage networking, eg: ecademy, Business Scene, Linked In. And if used discerningly, even Facebook can help.

Online networking can be fun, a useful way to share experiences and ask for support. It can make the job search a little easier and less of a lonely affair. Good luck!