5 interview tips for landing the job!

cranberry panda are proud to present our guest blog from Alice Greedus at CV Library. Each quarter CV library will be talking on one of our blogs regarding a particular subject within the recruiting stages.

Interviews can feel daunting. After all, you’re walking into a room unsure of what questions you’ll be asked, while also trying to prove to a stranger that you deserve the job.

But no matter how nerve-wracking it feels, it’s important to work on your interview skills if you want to impress the employer and land the job. To help you out, CV-Library has put together its top five tips for interview success.

1. Be prepared

It can feel hard to prepare effectively when every interview is different and you don’t know what to expect. However, not preparing is what lets many candidates down and it will be obvious to the interviewer that you haven’t put the time and effort in.

First of all, ensure you know what you’re going to wear to your interview. Unfortunately, that smart suit from two years ago may no longer fit – so it’s best to try on your attire before the day. Get out the iron and make sure it all looks smart. A last minute rush to iron out those creases could end in a disaster.

Now look up the location you’re going to. Plan out your route carefully, considering train times, traffic, parking or anything else that could delay your journey. If you can make the journey to the venue the day before as a trial run, this is recommended.

Ideally, you should plan to arrive early (but not too early), to be on the safe side. It’s best to arrive roughly 10 minutes before the interview is due to start.

Finally, don’t forget any important documents. You’ll look disorganised if you fail to bring something you were asked to. Also it’s worth printing out your CV, as this may be helpful to refer back to throughout the interview.

2. Do your research

Start by researching the company. Employers will be looking for someone who is genuinely interested in their brand or organisation, not just the job title or salary. A good place to begin is the company website, many will have an ‘about us’ or ‘meet the team’ page but also expand your search beyond this Googling for any news articles. Try to remember any facts or key information about the business as you may be asked about it later.

What’s more, you need to know the role you’re interviewing for inside out. So re-read the job description and familiarise yourself with it. Then take this further by finding out any recent industry news. See what’s occurring and relevant at the moment – you might be able to use this to impress the interviewer.

3. Practice makes perfect

While every employer will have their own interview style, there are a few common interview questions that you may be asked. Therefore, it’s worth looking at some of these and practicing your answers beforehand.

Write down the key points you want to talk about and use the internet to find out the types of answers that are favourable with employers. Then, you might want to rehearse these in the mirror to perfect your body language, tone of voice and talking speed. Even if the actual questions differ from the ones you found, you can adapt your responses to answer the questions as effectively as possible.

4. Stay positive

It can be easy to let nerves or pre-interview stress get the better of you. However, you should try to remain positive about the experience. Whatever happens, it’s a great learning curve and a chance to show off your skills to an employer.

And remember, you were asked to come to the interview for a reason – they liked your application! You have as good a chance as any of the other candidates. Having the right positive attitude can help to keep your head clear, enabling you to perform well and feel confident on the day.

5. Follow up afterwards

The interview is complete…but it’s not time to relax just yet. After an interview, you should send a thank you email or phone call to the person you met with.

Not only will it help them to remember you, which is important when they’re interviewing a number of candidates, it also shows that you’re polite and valued their time. Something as simple as the below would work:

Hello (Interviewer’s name),

Thank you very much for your time today, it was nice to meet you in person.

I wanted to reiterate that I’m really interested in the position on offer and feel my skills, knowledge and experience would make me a great match for this position.

Thank you again for your time and I look forward to hearing from you in due course.

Kind regards, (Your name)

In summary While interviews can be a scary experience, these tips can help you to perform at your best on the day. Don’t forget to remain positive and breathe. Whatever the outcome, you’ll learn and develop your interview skills from the experience.