My top tips are: send your CV as a pdf, you don't know how it's going to appear at the
other end. They might be on Word, they might be using Open Office or a Mac, or any sort
of different software. If you send it as a pdf the way it looks for you at home is the
way it's going to land in their inbox at work.
Top tip for going for an interview is preparation. Preparation is key for an interview situation.
Reading the job description, understanding the job description.
The top tip is preparation and you only get one chance in an interview, generally in half
an hour or maybe a maximum of an hour. You've got plenty of time beforehand to prepare and
you can't prepare enough.
My top tip for anyone coming for an interview it so be prepared, do some background research
into the company you've applied for the position with. It gives you an air of confidence before
you've even attended the interview.
Use the resources that are out there, use the firms website, talk to the candidates
that already work there at that business.
You don't start to feel relaxed at the moment you walk in, you start several days earlier.
So you start by preparing, you start by making sure you're fully briefed on the company,
the role and your own CV.
But also it's worth looking at some of the social networking sites, so Facebook, Twitter,
and LinkedIn is very popular in the professional services community as well.
Be ready, get your clothes ready the night before, find out where the company is in advance.
If you're taking the bus make sure you know the timetable and allow for the fact it could
be late. If you're taking the car allow for traffic and finding a car parking space. I
think it's better to get somewhere a bit early and have a coffee in a coffee shop nearby
and collect your thoughts and go in cool, calm, and collected, than scrambling at the
last minute and being really flustered.
Never turn up late, but don't turn up too early either. So you don't arrive all flustered
because you're late, and don't arrive too early because you may well bump into the previous
candidate.
Punctuality is key, appearance obviously, dress for the part.
It's essential that you're suited and booted, that you're well groomed. We hire people who
portray the type of organisation that we are and we want them to be as polished as we would
see ourselves.
Ultimately don't look out of place. If you're going to a business that wears suits, you
need to wear a suit. If you're going to a business that doesn't have lots of excessive
jewellery, then you won't wear excessive jewellery. Look like one of the members of the team already.
If you're nervous it's probably a good tip to go and ask a parent or a friend to do a
mock interview for you.
I think everybody has nerves and anybody who's interviewing a candidate will be aware that
it's not a usual situation for somebody to be in. But I think the most important thing
to do is just to breath, in through the nose and out through the mouth. You know, try and
focus, try and stay focused.
Even if you are a little bit nervous, that's absolutely fine. We like to see a little bit
of nervousness because it shows that you want the job as well, it shows that you really
care.
If you're the sort of person that clicks a pen, drums on the table, hold your hands together
during the interview and keep them on the table.
Have good eye contact and remember to smile.
Body language in an interview can show a degree of focus and positivity. Even if you're nervous
try and put your hands together, but if you focus and give plenty of eye contact and you
have done your research it will give you that degree of confidence.
Body language is always an important part of the interview process and smiling will
help build rapport with the interviewers.
Well there's a saying that people will make a decision within the first 7 seconds, so
definitely when you first meet the person who's interviewing you it's essential to smile
and during the interview at the relevant times I think it's worth smiling. But definitely
maintaining that kind of warm, open demeanor throughout an interview is essential.
I've seen some people who've turned up for an interview and they give us very bland,
very textbook answers. Actually that's not what we're interested in, we're interested
in getting a flavour for them as people, we are a people business, our clients expect
to work with the best people.
"Do you think NHS doctors and staff should be looking after private patients?"
"I'm not really sure actually, umm dunno. Maybe.."
Expand your answers as much as you can, don't give yes/no answers, and try not to say 'I
don't know' because that really isn't going to show you in the most positive light and
they want to find out more about you.
Vague answers are the same as no answer really. You're not giving anything. The interviewer
is spending time to understand you, your motivations, they want to get to know you better and therefore
see what you're potential is. If you just give a vague answer it's very difficult for
them to make that judgement.
Employers say they don't check Facebook but they do. Research has shown that most people
before an interview will be checking up candidates. It gives you a different insight that you
would normally see in an interview.
The pitfalls for a candidate who has widely exposed themselves through social media sites
could be that their reputation goes before them.
A no-no at an interview is being overfamiliar. So I think you have to be really careful to
tailor your answers and how you are in a professional way. So no matter how relaxed an interviewer
gets, make sure you maintain your level of professionalism, and absolutely no swearing
ever.
An absolute no-no is dishonesty. I've experienced interviews where somebody has blatantly lied
about their CV, about their experience. Generally that will be exposed at an interview if the
interviewer is probing with the right questions. There's no need to lie, if there is a gap
is your knowledge or experience or something you haven't done, then understand that as
being a development need and work on that rather than to try and fudge your way through
it.
The interview needs to be founded on the basis of truth, so we need people who are not going
to exaggerate, who are not going to say things that happened to somebody else and not them,
they're going to be completely honest through the whole of their answers.
I always know when someone is telling the truth if they're looking straight at you
in the eye.
Integrity is something that is really important to organisation, so try to be as honest as
possible.
Because if you've spotted one lie in the process you don't really know what to believe out
of the whole of the rest of the CV or the answers given at the interview.
Even if it's just a Saturday job, it means that they have to be punctual, they have to
be on time and they have to quite often deal with the public. So it gives them a good background
into what an everyday working life would be.
I think work experience is definitely important, and it doesn't always have to be relevant
work experience, but it shows that you've been proactive.
When we see a CV, if somebody has work experience, even if it's volunteering or is free, then
it certainly goes a long way for us to look at the CV a little bit harder.
We most certainly will ask at the interview about current affairs and topical matters.
I'd expect somebody to be aware of their environment, to understand and know what's
going on. I wouldn't necessarily ask for a political persuasion or anything like that,
but a general understanding of what's going on within the community within their environment.
I think that's important.
Anybody that's up to date with current affairs we'll take a bit more notice of. I think it's
very important that you're keeping up to date whether it be watching the news on television,
listening to the radio, or reading the national and local newspapers.
It's really important to understand what's going on in the world, because it impacts
how every organisation is doing. It's actually a question that I specifically ask at the
end of every interview is about what a candidate has recently read that's interested them about
financial services. So it's really important, even if it's from something that you've read
in a fashion magazine or that you've seen on a website, it's really important to know
what's going on out there.
It's always better to ask the interviewer to repeat or rephrase the question rather
than second guessing what they might have asked you.
Similarly if someone asks you a really tricky question they might not be expecting an immediate
answer, so do take a moment to think about it and construct your answer. It will make
you a much more confident and strong candidate.
"Do you have any questions for us Harry?"
"Yes, I was just wondering do you encourage students to take rotations abroad?"
I always say it's always very important to ask questions at the end of an interview.
It shows you've engaged fully with the company, you've probably researched it well already
and you may even know the answer to your question already but that's not the point, it's actually
knowing a question, having something up your sleeve to ask, because if you don't we'll
believe that you haven't actually researched the business very well.
It's important I think for those not just to be factual questions.
It shows that they've thought about the interview, where it's going, that they're motivated.
Somebody who doesn't ask a question shows a lack of interest I think.
You can't know everything about the company and the role you're applying for, so naturally
there's going to be some questions that you want to know. You might want to know about
the culture of the organisation, you might want to know about some specific detail about
the role. It's as much a two way process of understanding in more detail about the role
you're applying for and the company you intend to work for.
It shows that you're really interested in the role. Good questions to ask are around
the team and the culture of the organisation.
The worst thing that we've seen at an interview is negative language. We have had situations
where people have bad mouthed previous employers and that's an absolute no-no in any interview
situation.
"Would you like to tell me why you left your last job?"
"Umm to be honest I didn't really rate my boss."
We've had some people who act through the interview like they're a robot, and other
people who act like their a chatterbox, and the best way is not either of those, there
is somewhere in the middle.
Smelling of the night before, so if you go out on a big night, choose it not to be the
night before an important interview.
One word answers. It's really important to expand on your answers, the interview is the
time to sell yourself really.
Chewing gum in an interview and also having your mobile phone switched on.
The one thing that stands out was actually not a face to face interview, it was a telephone
interview, where halfway through I heard the toilet flushing.
The biggest thing to stand out from the crowd is to be yourself, because everybody is different
so if you go in and show your own personality and just relax into an interview then that's
how you'll stand out.
Always be punctual, well presented, and have done your research.
Just remember that you've been shortlisted, you've got to the interview stage,
and this is your chance to shine. So go in there, enjoy it,
sell yourself, and you'll do great.