Q: This is sort of an ‘asking for a friend’ question, if you know what I mean. Of all the things people do poorly when preparing – or failing to prepare – for interviews, which, in your experience, is the most grievous? Is there one that you encounter repeatedly? (DF, email ).
A: I might give you a different answer next week, but…the biggest shortcoming exhibited by candidates going for interview is the failure to fully research the job they are chasing. By ‘job’, I mean the company, organisation or the actual job itself.
A few phone calls or meetings can make such a difference. In Ireland, people know people, we are a tightly-knit society in that regard and there really is no excuse for turning up knowing very little about the job.
When you’ve done your research, you can drop all sorts of subtle and not-so-subtle nuggets into the interview. If you’ve looked way beyond the job spec, you should know exactly what they’re seeking – and, in this way, tailor your answers to meet their needs.
Not everything is contained in the job spec. And the website is often the company putting on its best face and may not reflect the reality behind the scenes. Plus everybody sees the job spec and the website. By merely looking at those, however closely, you are still only putting yourself in the same position as your opponents.
The trick is to go much further. Make calls to people who work(ed ) there. Or talk to people working in a similar company. Make a point of meeting somebody who knows the sector inside out – perhaps a journalist who covers this area, or somebody who has built a similar business locally or elsewhere.
You can do loads. It’s often boring and unfashionable work, but as you go along, patterns will emerge and you will feel much more confident on the day of the interview.
Robotic approach can switch panel off
In any business contract, there are terms and conditions. Often overlooked or misunderstood are terms of endearment. Do they actually like doing business with you?
The same applies in a job interview.
While you needn’t bend and twist to suit their will, you should make every effort to present yourself as somebody they can get along with. Ultimately, people want to enjoy work. Yes, you must have the ability to do the job, but you increase your chances of getting the job by revealing yourself as someone who will not turn work into a chore.
Reveal your human side: perhaps show some awareness of areas where you may have been weak in the past or skills you still need to work on – just so long as those areas are not fatal in terms of securing the job in the first place.
You may have prepared so well for your interview that you could be sucked into becoming an automaton. It goes without saying, but I will say it anyway: try to avoid being a robot. It will switch then off. It’s a human being they want, remember.
Leave the interview panel believing the sight of your electric bike pulling into the car park of a Monday morning will not fill them with dread.
Sli Nua Careers (www.SliNuaCareers.com ) have offices in Galway, Mayo (Ballinrobe and Claremorris ), Sligo, Tralee and Limerick. Their services include CV preparation, interview training, public speaking and presentation skills, and career direction. For more details, visit www.slinuacareers.com
