We all know that preparation is key to interview success, but we at Kudos Coaching understand what real preparation means. We have created this plan, a virtual circle, which, if followed will ensure that you improve each time you interview.
1. What do we mean by preparation?
Of course, you will research the company, role etcetera, but most of the preparation will begin by looking at yourself from the perspective of the interviewer. They want to know if you can do the job, if you are motivated and if you will fit with their culture. That means you need to know your own strengths, skills, competencies and motivations and you need evidence, in the form of achievements, to demonstrate you really are what you say you are. This all takes time, but once you have done it, you will be ready for whenever you have another interview.
2. How do you start to review your strengths and key selling points (KSPs)?
You may already have data to hand – now’s the time to dig it out! Have you done personality questionnaires in the past that you agreed with? Print them out and highlight those positive phrases that describe you accurately. Do the same with any appraisals/work reviews.
Write down what you want to say about yourself – this helps you memorise and identify positive vocabulary to use – consider it like preparation for a presentation – bullets about you on every slide, with your examples.
3. Your examples have to be punchy!
You will probably have lots of examples of your achievements on your CV, but even so, it is worth following a specific format to make them sound succinct, whilst capturing the difficulty of what you achieved. We recommend each achievement should answer: nWhat was the opportunity or problem? (O); What action did I take? (A); What was the Result? (R). You create a database of OARs, from which you can select for the interview, depending on what the role requires. Again, you will practise saying these, so that they are not too long, you can always expand if asked!
Once you have all your material in place, you can begin to select which KSPs (strengths, skills, etc) and which OARs (achievements) you want to use. This is all part of your positioning for the interview.
4. What do we mean by positioning?
We always say that you want to be ‘your best you’ in an interview. But which one? For example, if you were applying for a consultant role, as opposed to a line manager role, you would be selecting quite different strengths and examples. This is where you need to start doing your research.
Read the information on the job (advert, job specification, etc) carefully and highlight what their criteria for selection are. Then identify your FIVE key strengths (USPs) and then identify TWO strong examples based on your achievements for each of the five to prove you have those strengths.
The final part of your positioning is preparing the answer for what could be the first question at the interview: Why don’t you start by telling me about yourself? This is a killer question if you haven’t prepared – you will either give too short an answer or too long an answer and very probably completely undersell yourself and underwhelm the interviewer!
5. So how do you create a great ‘Tell Me About Yourself (TMAY)’?
This is where you have to start blowing your own trumpet! A very un-British thing to do, but an interview is no place for ‘British reserve’.
In your answer, you start by explaining what you do now, in one sentence, but then go back to the beginning – including education potentially - and then give a precis of the key stages of your career. However, this is not just a recital of the facts, you need to bring out some of your KSPs and make it your story of how your whole life to date has been preparing you for this job!
In the end, this answer should be no longer than three to four minutes maximum and shorter for a telephone interview. This means you need to write down what you think you are going to say and then practise it. You don’t learn it off by heart, but you do know the key stages and vocabulary you want to get across! Look at the difference between the two sentences below:
“I started working with Unilever as a graduate trainee in the sales department and then I moved into marketing.”
“I was lucky enough to be recruited by Unilever to their graduate trainee scheme, where I had fantastic development and exposure to what makes a good sales team. My first project was analysing Sales Effectiveness on x brand and I was then promoted to Marketing Analyst on the y brand.”
6. What about the other questions?
Here, again, your preparation and research will pay off. You can buy books on Tough Questions at Interview (and we have our own, available if you register), but they all break down to a few questions: What are your strengths, what are your skills, what are your motivations, what are your weaknesses FOR THIS JOB!
This is like preparing for an Oral Exam – spot the questions and get your tailored answers with KSPs written down, to help you remember what you want to say when put on the spot.
7. How will the interviewer assess you?
Interviewers are looking for Energy, Enthusiasm and Gravitas (if you are an Executive!) as well as the right answers to the questions! The better you know your ‘script’ and what you want to tell them about yourself, the easier it then is to present yourself.
You may be familiar with the research by Albert Mehrabian which showed that the message we get across in any encounter is only 7% down to the words we use! The other 93% is down to how we say it and our body language!
Also remember that First Impressions Count, so you need to think carefully about what you wear and, of course, by positive body language. Interviewers often decide about applicants within the first two minutes!
8. How should you be in the interview?
Of course, take your lead from the interviewer, but get your body language right by sitting up straight, with an open stance and Smiling! Use your hands when speaking, if you do normally – otherwise you will lose some energy.
If you can, try to work out what makes them tick – are they asking short, sharp questions which demand short, sharp replies or do they seem to be more focused on detail, thus wanting longer answers. Are they more focused on the people aspects or more on ideas? Don’t worry if this is not obvious, it is only a problem if the interviewer has a really strong bias towards one of these aspects.
Be ready with your own questions, but remember these should be designed to show you have done the research/looked at the website and can ask insightful and sensible questions!
9. How can you get practice?
See yourself on video if possible or maybe use Zoom and record it, but practise answering the questions several times. If you cannot use video, then looking in the mirror to check your body language is a good idea. It is also worth roping in a trusted supporter to ask you the questions and give you feedback, but they need to be someone who understands the process of interviewing and can give you useful feedback!
Body Language is also something you can practise – looking at how other people come across and monitoring your own body language.
10. And finally……
After every interview, review how it went as soon as possible afterwards, or you will forget! Try to get feedback, though this is not always possible, and act on anything constructive to improve your Preparation, Positioning, Presentation or Practice.
Keep building your Virtuous Circle and you will achieve Interview Success.