Interview Questions:

Welcome to our Interview Questions section. Hopefully the information that we have laid out for you will give you a little insight into how to deal with the many different angles of an interview comprising its structure, questions to ask, how to behave, different ideas on questions to ask your interviewer and how to deal with your nerves. We will also offer our thoughts on what types of questions you may be asked at an interview along with some answers you may wish to consider. We cover the tough interview questions, popular interview questions and general interview techniques and give our thoughts on how to deal with hard interview questions. We have spent many hours researching this subject with the help of some specialist recruitment advisors and hope that you will find this information useful. Most of it is fairly common sense but some of the tips may give you an edge on your competitors should you be lucky enough to be invited to attend an interview. The information we provide covers the following areas:- General Preparation; The Interview Thank You; Answers To Interview Questions That Could Possibly Be Asked; Researching The Company; Creating A Good First Impression; Interview Dress Code; Attending The Interview; Travelling To The Interview; Arriving At The Workplace; Basic Interview Structure; Greeting An Interviewer; Dealing With Interview Nerves; Promoting Yourself; What You Should And Shouldn’t Say And Do; Interview Questions; Hard Or Tough Interview Questions; Questions To Ask An Interviewer; and Closing The Interview.

Interview Preparation:

Its Friday morning and the post has arrived, you rush to the letter box to find that there is a letter from the company you sent off your job application to last week inviting you for an interview…. excellent so what’s your next step? Well the good news is that whatever you said in your covering letter, or something in the CV you have sent has certainly made an impression with someone on the Hiring squad! Your application has stood out from perhaps several hundred others so there must be something rather special that has attracted your potential new employer’s eye making him feel that you perhaps have the qualities needed to fill his job vacancy. Obviously there will be others that have also been short-listed for the position and many factors will have been taken into account when the selection process began. Your employer will have had a checklist of critical qualities he is looking for in his potential new employee, which you will have already met. These will vary from one employer to the next and may well be dependent on the position that you are applying for and could include things like qualifications, timekeeping, interpersonal skills and so on. One thing’s for sure though, you have already made a first impression on your potential new employer so you are already in the game. Now all you have to do is prove to your interviewer, in a relatively small timescale, that you really are the man (or woman) he has been searching for and in order to do this and make sure that you don’t blow this real opportunity a little bit of preparation is going to be needed! So you may wish to familiarise yourself with the following areas and address them before you attend the interview – remember “Preparation Is The Key To Success”

The Interview Thank You:

You have to bear in mind that someone has taken time out to read through your letter, look at your CV and write to you to offer you an interview. Many people in life show little courtesy; expect things to fall in their lap and are then disappointed when they don’t get the end result they expected. If you are going to get this job you want to stand out from the crowd, show initiative and professionalism. You have been given an opportunity so you want to make the very most of it. So when you receive your invitation to attend the interview wouldn’t it be a really good opportunity to show your interviewer that you possess not only initiative but professionalism and courtesy all in one. So how do you do it? Write back to your interviewer thanking him for inviting you for an interview, confirming the time and destination of the meeting. The letter only has to be brief but you can guarantee that you will be one of the few that bother to do this and it will make you stand out from the crowd at the start and create a good first impression.

Prepare Your Answers To Questions That May Be Asked:

It doesn’t matter what type of job your are applying for, where it’s located or what amount of salary it commands if you are going to get the job you need to be prepared for all the likely questions your interviewer may have in mind. There is only one person who knows the exact list of questions that are going to be asked at the interview and that’s the interviewer himself! You can however take a good guess at some of the more likely questions that may arise. You can pretty much guarantee that questions will arise regarding your ability to do the job and whether or not you possess the necessary desired skills, dedication and enthusiasm that is required by your employer. Therefore, the most comprehensive way to prepare for likely questions relating to the position is to analyse and familiarise the job role itself as best as you can. You also know that questions relating to your application form or CV are likely to arise so again try and think of any questions that may be posed relating to this area, whether they be regarding your experience, employment history, qualifications or health. Preparation is and always has been “King” and if you can offer your interviewer a smooth running, well constructed response to the questions posed to you then you will not only impress him but retain a calm, composed, professional manner which will make you stand out of the crowd.

Researching The Company:

“Wow, you’re the only candidate that has mentioned that about our company I am very impressed”. Wouldn’t that be nice to hear however it’s fairly unlikely that an interviewer is going to say that to you at an interview – however he may think it! If you are serious enough about the job you have applied for you are going to want to give this interview your best shot. Anyway, who would want a job with a company they no little or nothing about. Well, that’s what your interviewer is going to think if it comes out that you know nothing about their organisation. Researching a potential employer couldn’t be easier and will take up very little time if you look in the right places. The first place to start has to be the Internet, Google your employers name in speech marks. Most large employers have corporate web sites, which have a “latest news section” or an “information for shareholders” area. You can get a good feel from their website about what’s going on in their organisation, things like their latest big client win or strategic partnerships they have formed etc. Alternatively, pick up the phone and give the firm a ring and ask for a copy of their latest corporate brochure. Obviously if you work within a specific trade industry there are probably trade magazines or journals you can pick up at any newsagents. If you are short on cash and can’t afford to buy these go down to the library and ask them if they have any copies. Most reasonable sized libraries hold old newspapers on their electronic systems so you could try searching on these to see if there have been any recent news releases on the company. Research applies as much to internal interview as external ones. The chances are that if you are applying for an internal position many of these resources will be at your disposal, if they aren’t ask a colleague or senior manager if they can find out how you can access it.

Create A Good First Impression:

Ever been on a date and blown out on the first night to spend days and weeks afterwards wondering if your breath smelt, was your aftershave too strong, did your clothes suck? Well a job interview is certainly no different! First impressions in life count for a great deal. It’s fairly unlikely that you are going to be turned down for a position purely on the basis of wearing the wrong aftershave or perfume any more than its likely that you are going to get a job just because your interviewer shares the same taste in clothes! However as you will be aware there will be many influencing factors when the interviewer makes his final choice of candidate for the job and it is just possible that how you are perceived in the initial few moments of the interview makes a big difference in the final few steps of the race.

So keep it simple:

Don’t go overboard with Aftershave or perfume;

Don’t smoke just before you go into the interview;

Don’t chew chewing gum;

Don’t wear outrageously loud clothes (such as ties);

Try and remain as Neutral as possible.