Help with your Interview/CV

Help with your Interview

Below are some notes that you should find useful, when preparing for an interview.

Research the company, its group, and subsidiaries. Make full use of the web, financial rating companies, and retail news.

Always be positive regarding your current employer and prior companies and the people to whom you reported. These are positive building blocks that helped to prepare you for the current opportunity.

Get the interviewer to describe the position and responsibilities early in the conversation so you can relate your skills and background to the position throughout the interview.

Prepare a list of probing questions pertaining to the job responsibilities of the position, division and company goals, company culture, etc.

Energy, Drive, Initiative. The key to personal success is to do more than you have to. Give the interviewer several examples of your initiative and personal successes and extra efforts.

Management and Organisation. Let the interviewer know that you have the ability to persuade and motivate others. Team leadership is a component of both management and personality. Share management ability and style, and organisational skills.

Character: Values, Commitment and Goals - Summarise your integrity, honesty, responsibility, openness and fairness in dealing with others.

Watch your body language. Maintain good posture, leaning slightly forward indicates interest. Maintain eye contact.

Prepare a list of your strengths and why you are perfect for the position. One of the toughest interview questions that you can be asked is "Tell me about yourself". Rather than guess where the interviewer wants you to begin, use this very simple response: "I'd be happy to. Where would you like me to begin?"

Do you bring value beyond the technical job description? Demonstrate your ownership of the company's strategic goals. Provide everyday examples of your commitment to delivering peak performance and team building. Communicate your success in solving problems, seeking out new products and services that will benefit clients. Demonstrate your abilities to help foster collaborative decision-making.

Make sure you answer the following two questions: "Why are you interested in the company?" and "What can you offer?".

If you are interested in the position - tell the client! At the conclusion of the interview, state that you are very interested in pursuing this position, and then ask, "Where do we go from here?" or "What is the next step?"

Do not discuss salary on the first interview. Complete the application and answer all of the questions, including current base salary and OTE, if applicable. If the application or interviewer asks you for salary expectations, leave the application blank. Responding to a direct question, tell the interviewer that you are relatively open and negotiable. Explain that money is not driving your decision to interview for a new job. The reason for interviewing is to explore the company's culture, career path, training, opportunities to advance, exposure to decision.

Help with your C.V.

Make sure you set the CV out in a easy to read format, clearly indicating the dates of your employment, the name of the employer, and the position you held
You should make it clear the actual full dates (month and year) that you worked in a job, rather than simply writing the years.

Examples
2003 –2007 : (incorrect)
July 2003 – October 2007 : (correct)
You should separate your duties and responsibilities in each of your roles, and aim to have a comprehensive list of these in each of your most recent roles
The further back your CV goes, the less information you need. Try to have fairly comprehensive details in your two most recent roles, then gradually make the information shorter and more concise as you go back

A CV should be typed on more than two pages, and in an easy to read font and size
You don’t need to include personal details like your date of birth on a CV. Try to keep the information as based around skills and experience as you possibly can
Don’t assume anything on your CV! Assume the person reading it knows nothing about the job you’ve done before, making sure you include all the key details
Try to avoid writing in long sentences. Use short, concise sentences in bullet point form .

A word about Equal Opportunities

Discrimination on the basis of race, marital status, colour, sex, religion, national origin or disability is not legal. Although very rare, it is possible that you may be faced with a question which is discriminatory particularly from inexperienced interviewers. In these situations the best thing to do is to address the bias behind the question without confronting the interviewer, for example:

Are you planning to start a family?

Are you asking if I am able to work overtime? Are you asking if I would have commitment to this position?

How old are you?

Are you asking how many years of experience I have?

Are you married?

Are you asking if I am able to work overtime?
If you are concerned that the interview you attended was discriminatory, please do not hesitate to contact your consultant and be prepared to discuss your thoughts and experiences.