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Preparing for your interview

Now that you have been invited to your interview or assessment centre you should be confident as you realise that your CV or application form has impressed the employer sufficiently to get you this far. The fact that you have been invited for an interview usually indicates that the employer believes you could have the right profile for the advertised opportunity but so is everybody else called for an interview! Your task now is to show how you are best suited for the role.

Remember that even for technically-focused questions there are usually no absolutely right or wrong responses in recruitment selection interviews. The interviewer will not only be interested in your specialised knowledge and skills but also, and often more importantly, your approach to the questions or situations they introduce as well as how you communicate in terms of style, attitude, confidence and professionalism.

Remember that you will not need to know everything about the potential job or the skills to do it just to get through an interview. The older the candidate, the more the interviewer will expect you to bring proven experience to the job. Younger candidates such as graduates will usually be more considered in terms of their "trainability" - i.e. how quickly they are likely to learn the desired skills and behaviours. Employers will also be assessing how well they feel you will fit in to their business culture and for senior posts how well you are likely to champion the organisation's vision and values.

In terms of personal qualities or behaviours, good interviewers will often want to know what motivates and demotivates you, how you have approached problems and setbacks in your life so far, how you normally get on with different team members, and what sort of situations frustrate you. It is important to be true to yourself with these sort of questions as you will have a much happier and productive career in an environment where you feel at home and where you will be valued!

Try and find out how the culture and values of the organisation match your own. For instance, if you will be expected to work very long hours, ask yourself how happy you will be in that sort of pressurised environment where long hours are the expectation rather than the exception. If these sort of things are important to the interviewer, you will probably get asked about how you balance your work with other parts of your life, for example family and outside interests etc. It may well be that the employer is looking for a very well-balanced individual rather than someone who works 12 hours a day because they think it is culturally appropriate to do so!

Remember that the well-known advice ... "Be yourself" is fine in most circumstances and hopefully in interviews or assessment centres as well. But beware if "being yourself" means being a little flippant or over-humorous. While most interviewers will appreciate a sense of humour it is very easy to go a little bit over the top in an attempt to be seen as the most genial candidate! Remember that while you need to be friendly and approachable you also need to be seen as professional at all stages of the selection process.