Start Up Guide to Job Interviews

The following guide has been created based on many years of experience, both as a candidate and interviewer. It provides the core skills required as well as the key tips and suggestions to best prepare candidates for job interviews. By utilising the advice listed within this guide the reader will be prepared to present themselves professionally, respond to interview questions comfortably and actively participate in the interview process, creating a well-rounded and positive impression.

Understanding the process – what are job interviews for?

At the most simple and fundamental level, job interviews are there to assess and determine if a candidate is a ‘good fit’ for a specific role within a specific company, as well as whether the company is a ‘good fit’ for the candidate. It is useful to remember this point as we jump into the interview preparation process because often we lose sight of the big picture.

To look at this in more detail…

Is the individual suitable for the job and company?

Employers are looking to determine firstly the personality and attitude of the candidate. They will obviously also be interested in specifics relating to the job (i.e. qualifications, experience, etc) as well as the candidate’s ability to relate to people, situations and tasks, but personality and attitude are generally assessed first in the interview.

In my experience as a hiring manager, the key question we always ask ourselves is “will this individual be able to work within the business to make it better?” This includes not only completion of the work type objectives, but also whether the individual can work well with others to support their roles. Can they take on board feedback without being defensive? Can they explain problems or solutions simply and clearly? They may be perfectly capable at completing the job required, but if they frustrate and annoy those working around them then this can have a profoundly negative impact on the business as a whole. A lot of times, skills related to the completion of a job can be covered through workplace training. It is therefore primarily important that the candidate can engage, socialise and work well with other staff before we consider their specific work type competencies.

There are a range of transferable skills sort by employers. Based on a list compiled by CareersNZ, the top skills in demand right now are:

• Positive attitude

• Communication

• Teamwork

• Self-management

• Willingness to learn

• Thinking skills (problem solving and decision making)

• Resilience

 Additionally, employers will also consider the following:

• Can they do the job?

• Are they motivated?

• Do they fit with the organisation?

Is the job suitable for the individual?

It is just as important for candidates to assess the suitability of the company as it is for the employer to assess the suitability of the candidate. Prior to the interview the candidate should ensure they complete two things: 1) Determine what sort of job, culture, work environment they desire; 2) Research as much as possible about the potential employer and the advertised position. Not only will the second point present a good level of understanding and knowledge during the interview, it will also allow the candidate to assess (based on how the company presents and markets itself) whether the job is desirable. Throughout the interview, the candidate should also be building an understanding of the culture, working style, people and type of day-to-day work undertaken within the business. All these factors will either fit the desired work environment or not and this should be carefully considered by the candidate.

Understanding your current situation – why would someone employ you?

A common mistake made by candidates when preparing for an interview is to over prepare detailed answers for interview questions but not rehearse describing their current situation. One of the most important (but hardest) interview questions is – “so tell me a little about yourself”. If handled well a good answer can set the tone for the interview, provide a great foundation for further questions and make a very good first impression. However a poorly handled answer can result in rambling and awkwardness or even worse, a short blunt answer followed by silence.

Preparing for interview questions

There is a very simple way to do this… Google. There are many, many websites out there that provide information, detail and sample answers to common interview questions. However, candidates should always ensure that the information is specific to the appropriate country and relevant job position.

Candidates should go through sample questions and rehearse answers, making notes of things that work.

A key tool that has worked countless times for me in the past is to rehearse and prepare three positive things and one or two challenges as ‘go to’ answers or items to discuss if needed.

• Prepare three positive attributes or strengths (e.g. you’re honest, you’re a people leader, you have attention to detail).

• Prepare two challenges or opportunities for improvement (you naturally work in the detail rather than focus on the strategic vision, and you were involved in previous project that didn’t go to plan).

This prepares the candidate to answer a range of questions - What are your strengths? Why should we hire you? Tell me about a time you failed? What will you bring to this company? What would you colleagues say about you? What makes you unique? What would you like to improve about yourself?

A few additional rules when answering interview questions:

• Always ensure the answer is relevant to the job at hand. Turn a broad question into a specific answer (e.g. what are your future goals and aspirations – provide specifics and how the job fits into this plan).

• If asked to identify any weaknesses, put a positive spin on it (e.g. “I find myself working in the detail too much, so I am now working on regularly looking at the big picture. This has worked well for me recently when… [give example]”. You don’t even need to list a weakness, just listing something that you’re working to improve is fine, BUT make sure this doesn’t relate a fundamental part of the job.

• If asked a behavioural based question (i.e. tell me about a time when…), be specific and give personal examples. Use the STAR method – provide the Situation or Task, explain the Action taken and then describe the Result (hopefully a positive one). If the candidate cannot think of a personal example, they should provide an instance where they have seen it happen (or heard about it) and explain how they would handle it.

• The candidate should consider what success looks like in the role for them and be prepared to articulate this in the interview. This should include key things that they would aim to deliver and how they would engage with their peers.

It is not easy to talk about yourself in a confident but not arrogant way, portraying experience but with a desire to still learn. Remember, the interviewer does not want your life story, they simply want to learn about what makes you tick. Everyone is different, so the interviewer will be keen to hear about what led to you applying for the job and what key parts of your background make you special and unique.

To ensure this is handled well, the candidate should spend time, prior to the interview, going back over their current situation to rehearse an explanation of their background. Be interesting but not boring (i.e. be able to efficiently and smoothly cover off the key points but don’t ramble). The best way to do this is to prepare three points that you want to cover which are also easy to remember. For example:

1. Where did you start your training, how did you get into this chosen field? - e.g. I grew up in [country] and I’m an [engineer, lawyer, etc] by trade. I graduated from the University of [XX] with a [XX] degree. I worked in [city] for [company] doing [XX] work.

2. What have been the most interesting developments in your career / life? - e.g. The most exciting projects I worked on included [list them], which helped me develop a real passion for working with multi disciplined project teams and leading challenging projects.

3. Why are you excited about this role? - I saw this role as an opportunity for me to grow my experience in [list new industry or job] and develop my skillsets. I’m particularly excited about … [working with new clients, learning from the team, etc]

To take this one step further, when providing background information there should be a subtle focus on points that are relevant to the desired position or company. This stems back to researching the company and position and then adjusting personal statements to highlight relevant strengths. The interviewer will have key things they are looking for so will pick up if the right points are made. 

Attitude and Impression

Having the right attitude is critical to success in a job interview. Many things can portray the right attitude so it is important to identify them and get it right.

Dress Code

This is a difficult one and will largely depend on the job and position. The best thing to aim for is to be slightly overdressed. If unsure, the candidate should do some research to see what is suitable. A further suggestion is to drive by the company office / worksite to see what is common attire.

The clothes should also fit well. A suit or jacket too large could make the candidate look young and inexperienced. Pants that scrape the floor show a lack of attention to detail.

Time Management

If the interview is ‘in person’, candidates should be early (on site 15 mins early and then head in for the interview 5 mins early). Use Google Maps Street View to confirm that the address is correct and parking is available nearby. Even better, drive to the place of interview the day before.

Personal Impression

Smile at the interview and look pleased to be there. Make small talk before the interview starts, ask about the interviewer’s day, ask about posters on the wall, etc. Remember, this processes is not an easy one for the interviewer either, they may be nervous as well. The candidate should do their best to make the experience as enjoyable as possible for all parties.

Sit comfortably at the interview but do not slouch. The candidate should feel free to move their chair forward or back until they feel comfortable.

At the end of the interview, the candidate should thank the interviewer for their time and for the opportunity to meet them and learn more about the company.

In the Job Interview

As discussed in the interview preparation stages, a key tip to presenting a professional and well organised interview is for the candidate to have a some well rehearsed answers and a few specific points that they aim to get across to the interviewer. Throughout the interview the candidate should incorporate these points into their answers provided. At a minimum, these include:

• An answer to the inevitable “tell me about yourself” question.

• Three positives attributes (and a couple of challenges or opportunities for improvement - in case these tricker questions come up).

• What success looks like for the candidate once they are in the role.

Having a small number of key, relevant points allows the candidate to stay focused, and not deviate. If the candidate has the key points locked down, then they won’t feel rushed to think on their feet and they can confidently answer each question and even elaborate by providing work based examples (where appropriate) which relate to the questions.

When providing work based examples, the candidate should always ensure all answers are specific to their role and their contribution to a project or work deliverable. Don’t say “the team did this” or “we were successful when”…. the interviewer doesn’t care what the team achieved, they care how you contributed to the success and what specific attributes you brought to the team to enable it to thrive.

At the end of the interview, the candidate should always have questions prepared for the interviewer. These can be identified and noted down when researching the company in the interview preparation stage. The candidate can also ask questions about the position to clarify key points. For example:

• What are the key deliverables you want out of this position?

• How would you see the role changing or growing in the next 2-3 years?

• How do you measure success?

• Is there much interaction / knowledge sharing between offices (if there are many offices in different cities)?

Assessment and Psychometric Testing

Depending on the company and position, interview styles will vary. They can be very casual (coffee and a chat) or more formal with set questions possibly including some behavioral based situations. A further method to assess capability is that of Psychometric Testing.

According to the Institute of Psychometric Coaching in Australia, “Psychometric tests are a standard and scientific method used to measure individuals' mental capabilities and behavioural style. Psychometric tests are designed to measure candidates' suitability for a role based on the required personality characteristics and aptitude (or cognitive abilities). They identify the extent to which candidates' personality and cognitive abilities match those required to perform the role. Employers use the information collected from the psychometric test to identify the hidden aspects of candidates that are difficult to extract from a face-to-face interview.”

Refer to the following links for further information and example tests.

http://www.psychometricinstitute.com.au

http://www.psychometric-success.com

https://www.auckland.ac.nz/en/for/current-students/cs-career-planning/applying-jobs-starting-work/psychometric-and-selection-tests.html

• Generally speaking, the candidate should not bring up salary in the interview; this should only be raised by the interviewer. If it is not discussed in the interview, the candidate should wait until a later date to broach the subject (i.e. at a second interview or if further interest is shown by the company following the initial interview) – raising salary discussions too early could result in the interviewer questioning the candidate’s commitment to the job and their priorities for career growth (i.e. are they just after a quick buck?).

• If salary expectations are asked by the interviewer, the candidate can take either of two approaches:

  • Put it back on the interviewer and ask what has been budgeted for the role? Or simply state that they are looking for something that is fair and reasonable for the position and are happy for the company to propose a suitable figure.

  • If the candidate is clear on their salary expectations and is happy to discuss / negotiate, they should be open and honest about it and propose their amount. There are many ways to negotiate a salary figure (e.g. through suggested performance components, review periods, etc) so again, research and preparation is the key here.

• Following the interview, all things going well, the candidate may get a phone call with news they are being offered the job. Obviously at this stage there are still many factors that will need to be reviewed / agreed (within the employment contract) before a final decision is made; the candidate may also be waiting on other job offers and not want to commit just yet. Therefore, an enthusiastic but non binding answer is required – a great example is “that’s great thank you, I am really interested; what are the next steps required to move this forward?” The candidate may ask if the employment contract or offer letter can be sent through for review before meeting again with the required people.

That little bit extra

The following provides further tips and suggestions developed through trial and error from countless interviews:

• Employers are looking for the candidate’s presentation, attitude, preparation, knowledge of the company and questions.

• The candidate should review the company’s website and search through “Google News” for any relevant news articles.

• To assist with any awkward behavioral based questions, it is recommended that the candidate prepares a situation where a project hasn’t worked out, a client has been difficult or where they were in a challenging situation. These are hard topics to discuss on the spot if no prior thought has been applied. Rehearsed answers for these types of questions are great to have up the sleeve. Remember to put a positive spin on any negative situation.