Candidates - Interview Techniques

• Company statistics; established, employees, office locations etc
• Company type; software, hardware, exhibitions etc
• Company presence in market
• Products, range, USPs’
• Market, competitors and companies place within these

Visit the company website, if time permitting, phone for company brochure / literature and competitors brochures, visit library, use business directories etc.

If necessary, write a presentation, format as follows;

• Page 1: Title Page, with client name
• Page 2: Info page, applicants name, address, dob, qualifications, status and driving licence etc
• Page 3: Last job, detailing products, clients, turnover etc
• Page 4: Previous jobs, as above
• Page 5: Profile of client, statistics, type, market, market share, product, USPs’, etc
• Page 6: Profile of competition, who they are, size, market share, products
• Page 7: List of questions

In the interview, ask if you can deliver presentation, show client through process in a relaxed and informative way. This is an ideal tool to tell the client straightaway who you are, who they are, who their competitors are, and why you are in the interview.

Your E.N.F.S consultant will already have told you the interviewers name(s), time and date and address. Get phone number, so if you are delayed you can call ahead.

Remember, in an interview, the more information you are armed with, the better your chances are of getting the result you want.

Questions you may be asked in interview

In an interview situation, dependant on the interviewer, there are whole myriad questions you possibly could be asked. Before your interview, and possibly whilst preparing your presentation, consider answers to the examples below;

• What do you know about our company?
• Why do you want to join our company?
• Why did you leave your last company?
• What qualities do you have to offer this company?
• What do you know about the role?
• How successful were you in your previous position(s)?
• ... Then why do you want to leave / have you left?
• What were your targets?
• ... Can you prove these?
• Who did you sell to?
• How did you generate new business?
• What were / are your average order values?
• What are your main strengths / weaknesses?
• What motivates you?
  

Interview Do’s and Don'ts

Do's

• Arrive early
• Wear dark suit, look the part!
• Firm handshake, act the part!
• Confidence, eye contact
• Presentation
• Research co’s + competition + market + USP’s
• Listen
• Treat all intv stages as 1st stage
• Do not ask about package
• Close for job / 2nd stage!
  

Don'ts

• Arrive late
• Scruffy / untidy appearance
• Too laid back
• Over-familiar, or flippant
• Talk down previous employers
• Cover up inconsistencies, you will be caught out!
• Waffle and talk at a tangent

Interview Process

Your contact at E.N.F.S will have strived to know as much about you, your needs, aspirations, hates, etc as possible, these as well as your cv will have been passed onto the client.

Therefore your 1st stage has been completed; it is up to you to prove what you have told us to the client.

The interview process can be prolonged, be prepared for this and follow the steps to success!!

1st Interview, first impressions count! Follow the interview do's and don'ts on this website as well as interview preparation section. Close your client down at the end, ask if they have any reservations, can you close for a second.

Feedback, phone your E.N.F.S consultant straightaway. What are the pros and cons? What do you think the interviewer saw as your strengths and weaknesses? Were there any issues you struggled on or anything you were surprised not to be asked? Give honest feedback, thereby your consultant is prepared for questions the client may ask.

2nd interview, GOLDEN RULE, treat your second interview as your first! There will probably be a different person present, maybe the decision maker. Whatever formula got you though the 1st interview needs to be used at this interview also. Too many people relax at this stage, and act as though they already have the job, this is often miss-read as arrogance. If all has gone well, close for the job!

Phone your E.N.F.S consultant and debrief. Remember, the process can take a few weeks, so keep your consultant up to date with progress and above all DO NOT GET IMPATIENT!!