Careers and Jobs

“Fail to prepare, Prepare to fail”. This statement is so true for interviews. There are five key points that must be part of any interview preparation.

Does the job meet your requirements?
Attending interviews can take much time, effort and cost so ensure that the job and the company meet your requirements. I guess you should have established this before you even sent your CV BUT unfortunately much job hunting is the scattergun approach.

Information is power
Leading on from point one. If there is key information that you need to help make your decision to attend the interview then – ask ask ask!! More importantly you must try to find out about what is involved in the interview and selection process. What type of interview? How many interviewers? What type of psychometric tests are involved? The more information you get the more focused your interview preparation can be.

Know the employer and what they want
This is the critical part of any interview preparation. You can clarify key points if you get the opportunity to speak with the employer. If this is not possible then job specifications, websites, recruitment agents, company employees and friends can prove valuable resources.

How do you meet the job requirements?
This is about matching your skills and experience to the requirements of the employer. It is important to list achievements and successes that will add meat to your statements. This can make you stand out at interview.

Know your CV
I am amazed how many interviewees trip up when asked basic interview questions like “why are you leaving your current role?” You need to know dates of employment and explanations to why you joined and departed previous employment. You must also be able to provide details on your duties and responsibilities focusing your message to the needs of the employer.

Career experts can help your interview preparation.

Recruiters are making much noise about the fact that the internet is now a key tool they use to check out potential hires. I take this with a pinch of salt as I know many agencies and companies recruit staff. Most don’t even check qualifications or references so why the sudden uptake in candidate checking online.

Having said all this it might be worthwhile to Google your name a see what search information actually appears. Research has indicated that 62% of British executives were signed up to Facebook so Ireland must have a similar percentage. This would mean that there is a lot of personal stuff up on the net. This would also mean that many of those actually hiring would have a profile so jobseekers can actually check out a potential boss.

Will networking sites impact your career prospects? – the jury is still out. Anyway I don’t use them so I am alright Jack.

Rather than focusing on how internet usage might affect future jobs I think employees should focus on how internet misuse can cost immediate jobs. FACT: Internet misuse during work hours can cost you your job. There are many high profile examples such as the senior executive in a leading Irish bank who lost his job as a result of researching night time activities for a trip to Vegas on a work pc.

The moral of the story is keep social networking but not during work hours.

Interview Skills Training