Winning Interview Preparation

You might be a little anxious before your interview, and that’s understandable. So it’s not a bad idea to think about some of the topics that might come up around your skills and experience and consider how you could answer them.

We’re not saying you should prepare a speech, you certainly don’t want to come across as rigid and rehearsed. But have a think about some of the points you want to make and how you can get from A to B in your answers without stumbling.

Don’t try and shoe-horn in rehearsed statements to questions that don’t fit though! Make sure it’s relevant and feels natural. You’ve got this; trust your gut!

It can sometimes be hard to find the balance between being personal and professional, but the best piece of advice we can offer is just to relax!

Don’t feel like you need to be stilted and overly corporate. Smile, engage in small talk, and if you’re brave enough you could even crack a joke! It’s equally as important to show how you can fit in as part of a team as it is to show off your impressive skills. The more relaxed you feel, the stronger your answers are likely to be.

Knowing your stuff about the company you’re hoping to get a job with is a pretty obvious tip for your interview, but it's important none-the-less.

Try and learn the most relevant information possible. Have they been in the news recently? What are the most recent projects they’re working on? (tip: check out their social media channels or annual report!) If you can clearly weave information about their current projects into the conversation, as opposed to just shoe-horning in facts and figures from five years ago, this is much more impressive.

Don’t fall into the trap of embellishing your skills! It might be tempting to exaggerate some of your achievements, but it’s usually incredibly obvious to an interviewer, and if it's not then you will no doubt be found out later down the line.

And there’s nothing worse than coming across as misleading in an interview – that’s a sure-fire way not to get the job. Instead, just be honest; talk about genuine successes. You’ll find it much easier to speak fluidly and get wrapped up in conversations about your experience.

We get it, in an interview you want to seem like an expert, so vocalising a lack of understanding about a topic might seem like a bad idea. But this isn’t necessarily true. Asking for clarity shows you’re not afraid to take stock and make sure you’re 100% clear before you proceed.

In a real life work situation, it’s better to make sure you have a thorough understanding before you proceed with a task, and how you deal with this in an interview is a reflection of your approach to work.

You should have been given a comprehensive job description that outlines what your duties will be if you’re successful.

A good way to prepare for your interview is to go through this spec and outline clear opportunities where you can link your CV to the job responsibilities. Demonstrating clear evidence of how your skills match with the duties you’ll be carrying out is a great way to show that you’re the ideal candidate.

We don’t need to tell you that it’s not a good idea to ask about salary, benefits, or holidays in your first interview, unless it is already asked or mentioned in the job description. However, it’s probably good to be prepared in case your interviewer questions you on the topic.

You don’t need to have a concrete figure in mind, but if you know you’re not going to accept an offer lower than a certain amount – be honest! If you’re being asked outright, there’s no point in being shy here. You’ll only be doing yourself a disservice.

This one’s so obvious that it’s easy to neglect. We all know that when you’re asked if you have any questions, you’re expected to have something prepared.

A lot of the time however, things you were going to ask may have been covered in the interview. So try preparing a few different questions so you definitely have something to ask at the end of your conversation. Good questions show that you’re keen, eager, and insightful.