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PREPARING FOR AN INTERVIEW

Three Practical Approaches:

1) Know Yourself

• What school did you go to?
• What work experience do you have?
• What hobbies or interests have you?
• What are your achievements?
• Where do you see yourself in 5 years time?
• What is your favourite colour?
• What are your greatest weaknesses/strengths?
• What motivates you?
• These questions are very easy for someone who knows themselves. Review your life and be able to talk easily about yourself without hesitation.

2) Know the Job

Start by reading the original advertisement and job description. Underline anything related to the responsibilities of the job, the qualification, training, previous experience, personal characteristics required of the job holder.

Go and talk to someone who does this type of work or call into Youth Information Centre or Career Office and learn more about the job.

3) Matching the job to you

List the attributes of the job in bullet points on one side of the page. Write down what work experience you have or what personal characteristics you have on the other side of the page.

The Job / Me

Try and match your strengths with the type of person the job requires.

This can often be very difficult and on first look it may appear that you have no illustrations to demonstrate a particular requirement:

e.g. 'Ability to work in a pressurized environment'.

Think hard and remember that the examples do not have to be world beating examples. All you are trying to do is to show simple examples

e.g. You won a pool competition in school. This involves a high level of concentration and the ability to perform under pressure while other people are looking at you.

e.g. Your friend was injured on the Wicklow Mountains. You had to react extremely quickly to call the Mountain Rescue. This shows the ability to make quick decision.

e.g. You were a lounge boy in an extremely busy pub. This job involves dealing with the public, good communication, good memory skills and the ability to work quickly and efficiently.

Nasty/Difficult Questions

There are different types of difficult questions

A) Questions about the 'black spots' in your C.V.

Go through your C.V. and pick out the negative areas that may give rise to awkward questions. e.g. You dropped out of a Graphic Design course half way through it. You will be asked why you dropped out of the course. What you need to do is work out how you will handle it as best you can. Deal with the negatives as best you can and move on to your positive points.

B) Questions which are difficult

e.g. What can you offer us that none of the others can? It is very difficult to prepare for these questions and can often take you unawares. But once you recognize them, you can handle them much better.

Firstly, DON'T PANIC. Secondly, QUESTION THE QUESTION: What are they getting at? Thirdly, ANSWER THE QUESTION HONESTLY & POSITIVELY

C) Questions which are nasty

e.g. What do you think of the economic state of the country and how would you change it?
Often in an interview you will be asked a question that seems to have no relation to the job or is very difficult to understand.
Remember, the interviewer may be testing you on your ability to cope with a difficult situation. He may not be interested in the answer but in the way you cope with the question. That said however, it is important to answer the question.
With difficult questions where you are not sure how to answer the question asked, it may be useful to use the Editorial Control. It involves turning the conversation to what you want to talk about.

EDITORIAL CONTROL

This is a difficult technique and should be practiced before you rely on using it in the Interview. But it is very useful as it gives you control over the interview and allows you to tell the interviewer what you want him to know.

TASK

Divide in to groups of two.

Interviewee: Regardless of the question you want to end up telling the interviewer how good you are at computer skills

Interviewer: The school subject you hated most
Interviewer: Are you involved in any sports

The trick is to answer the question as best you can, then continue and develop the answer to incorporate what you really want to talk about

Rehearsing the Interview

Practice, practice, practice

It is essential that you feel comfortable with what you are saying and answering questions that the interviews ask you. Try not to memorize answers but instead have a general idea of what you want to say and how you want to say it.

The ease in which you answer comes with practice.

You can practice on your own, gathering questions that might be asked and deciding how you might answer them.

You can also have a 'mock' interview with a friend or career guidance teacher.

BEFORE THE INTERVIEW

Check the appointment, the exact location and time: It may be useful to do a 'dry run' to see how long it will take, check timetables if necessary, have a back-up plan e.g. money to take a taxi etc.

Dress Sense: wear something that is neat, clean and conservative but reflects the job you are going for e.g. suit for a bank, chino's & neat shirt for freelance journalist. Most important is that what you wear is comfortable.

Bring necessary documents: C.V., driver's license, letter calling you for interview

Be Punctual: try and be 10 - 15 minutes early. This allows for any delay in traffic, finding the personnel department, time to sit and gather your thoughts and become used to your surroundings.
Never be Late !

If you are going to be late, ring, apologise, say your predicament and rearrange the interview if you can.

During the Interview

You have done your preparation at this stage but there are a few tips that you may need

• Sit with your legs together and your hands on your lap,
• you can move them animatedly if necessary.
• Do not eat, or smoke even if offered
• Listen carefully to the questions
• Tell the truth
• Never complain, be positive
• Try and expand your answers
• Show you are interested in the job
• Don't answer a question you don't understand
• Leaving the Interview
• Smile at all the interviewers
• Thank them for seeing you and shake hands if appropriate
• Gather your bits and pieces tidily top of page

AFTER THE INTERVIEW

You have done your best. Now, you must wait to see if you have been successful.

If you have not been successful, try not to be upset. Learn from your mistakes and use it as a worthwhile experience for your next interview.

If you have been successful, well done! Your hard work has paid off!