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Changing Careers: The Interview Survival Guide

by Brian Moore, 10 August 2011

topics:
Professional Development

tags:
classic questions interviewer job interview listening skills presentation skills remuneration résumé

Congratulations, the company of your dreams wants to interview you. You’ve impressed them enough with your résumé, and now comes the important event – the meeting that could end up changing your life.

I have spoken to many people around the world who openly admitted going to job interviews without doing any formal preparation, even though they considered the opportunity so important to their future.

As with any goal requiring exceptional performance, you have to practice the function to become excellent at that function. Whether you are being interviewed or the person doing the interviewing, this Survival Guide is meant to help you improve the chances of success.

Preparing for the Interview

Good preparation enhances exceptional performance. Here is a check-list of things you should know before showing up at the job interview:

Do you know the details of the interview? What is the name of the company? How many people are you seeing and what are their names and titles? How many will you see at one time – one, two, is it a panel interview? How will the interview be conducted – face-to-face, telephone, videoconference? Where will it be held, what time and how long will it take?

What do you know about the company? Find out what you can about their global, regional and local operations. What goods and services do they provide? Where are they ranked in their industry and markets, and who are their competitors?

These days you can find an incredible amount of information through the Internet, but don’t just look at the company’s own websites, which may be subjective. There are general websites that provide information about companies as well as financial sites, including stock market portals, that contain useful data about listed firms.

What about your current and previous employers? Not only should you be an expert on your present company, including its share price history if it is publicly traded; you should also be up-to-date about each of your previous employers.

What about yourself? What have you done that has taken you to where you are today? The world’s best companies like to know what their people are made of, so be ready to talk about not only your résumé but also your life achievements and disappointments. When reviewing your résumé, make sure you are able to verbalise your career history concisely and persuasively. Take a spare copy of your résumé to the interview.

Are you aware of the classic interview questions? Be ready to answer the following questions:

Why are you interested in this opportunity and our company?
What difference will you make to our organisation?
Why do you want to leave your current position and what are you looking for in the new one?
What are your weaknesses and how are you overcoming them?
What lessons have you learned from each position you have had?
What would you do differently if you have your time over again?
What management style gets the best out of you?
How would your staff describe you as a manager?
What were the two biggest risks that you took in the last three years?
Why will you accept our offer if we make you one?

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