{"id":4499,"date":"2024-02-21T10:34:15","date_gmt":"2024-02-21T08:34:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.topskills-bg.com\/?p=4499"},"modified":"2024-02-21T10:34:15","modified_gmt":"2024-02-21T08:34:15","slug":"the-ultimate-guide-to-a-successful-interview","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.topskills-bg.com\/en\/the-ultimate-guide-to-a-successful-interview\/","title":{"rendered":"The Ultimate Guide to a Successful Interview"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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If you haven\u2019t attended an interview for a little while, things have changed while you were away. It\u2019s now the equivalent of going out on a blind date and expecting that gorgeous person from the ad, but finding a multi-headed hydra answering the door to you. As you\u2019re lured into the room, you have no idea what will attempt to savage you. Today, you need to raise your whole game by going in equipped with a strategy and tooled up tactically.<\/p>

\u00a0<\/p>

What can bite you?<\/h2>

Things used to be so easy. \u201cTell me about yourself\u201d was the work-horse question from the traditional \u2018standard\u2019 interview stable. This allowed everyone to settle down and, for the interviewee, things were very easy to handle in advance \u2013 imagine questions, practice answers, and calm the nerves. Unfortunately, only about four in ten hires proved fully successful.<\/p>

Competency-based interviews were born when employers began to match a candidate\u2019s experience to the capabilities required for the role. \u00a0\u201cTell me about a situation\/time when you \u2026\u201d is a characteristic question, and thankfully recognizable in an interview.<\/p>

Whereas competency-based questions look back, scenario questions were then designed to get candidates to project forward into situations they\u2019ve not yet encountered but might do. \u201cWhat would you do in a situation where \u2026\u201d is typical.<\/p>

It was harder for candidates to rehearse for interviews, but by no means impossible so, to up the game further, strengths-based interviews were born. Questions are often shorter, sharper, and can be more random. They\u2019re designed to gain insight into a candidate\u2019s genuine likes and dislikes because they\u2019ll perform and deliver at their strongest if they work on things they enjoy.<\/p>

Next up were values-based interviews. Employers realized that candidates who care at a deep level about the ethics and morals surrounding their job, and see the worth, will be far more effective.<\/p>

Assessment days raise the game further. A whole range of tasks, interviews, and tests are used whilst candidates are pitched head to head en masse, to identify the stand-out ones. Sub-optimal candidates are quietly bayoneted during the day and buried at the end.<\/p>

Sprinkle in \u2018creativity\u2019 questions, presentations, testing, off-the-cuff summaries, profiling, round-the-table intros, and the best question category of all \u2013 the unanswerable question \u2013 \u201cPink is bigger than dark blue?\u201d \u2013 and you\u2019ve got a monster even Baron von Frankenstein couldn\u2019t stitch together.<\/p>

The armoury of the average interviewer is now well stocked but the\u00a0latest research<\/a>\u00a0from Robert Half UK confirms that hiring times have become longer, to the detriment of everyone. Faced with such complexity, how can you be sure of doing well on the day?<\/p>

\u00a0<\/p>

Plan a strategy, execute your tactics<\/h2>

It\u2019s obvious that to be selected for the role, you need to be the stand-out candidate. Nothing new there, but just that\u2019s an aspiration. Strategically, you need to show that whilst every interviewee is in the frame, you deliver in spades on three separate fronts: you tick all of the boxes; you\u2019re the one bringing more to the party by way of added value and you\u2019re demonstrably the lowest risk. Your tactics then become the specific actions you can prepare and take.<\/p>

\u00a0<\/p>

Get hard information<\/h3>

Ring up and ask who\u2019ll be present and the style of interview that will be used. Knowing will strongly increase your chances of hitting the mark on the day. If other candidates aren\u2019t as well-informed, you\u2019re set to shine.<\/p>

\u00a0<\/p>

Use all your experience<\/h3>

Dig deep through your wider experience to cover any odd weakness. The fact you have an interview booked means that this isn\u2019t yet a show-stopper, but if you\u2019re pressed on a weakness at the interview and you can plug the hole, you take away an easy cause for rejection.<\/p>

\u00a0<\/p>

Re-research\u2026<\/h3>

\u2026 to a much deeper level. Take in the people you\u2019ll meet, new developments, the economic climate, competitors, and the prospects for the whole sector. Develop an insight into the challenges the department or organization faces and use that to inform your preparation.<\/p>

\u00a0<\/p>

Prepare for the style of interview<\/h3>

Draw up and rehearse a range of questions that link to the competencies, strengths, and values required for the role. Whilst those exact questions won\u2019t arise, recognizing the style of a question, knowing a technique to deal with it, and being familiar with relevant areas of your own experience will enable you to perform at the very highest level.<\/p>

\u00a0<\/p>

Determine your added-value<\/h3>

This is very hard to do, but that\u2019s the point, and therein lies the value. The deeper the insight you gain about the organization, the more opportunity you\u2019ll have to show something about your background, qualifications, or personality that offers a valuable bonus. Remember, better meeting the listed role or person specification is not added value, look beyond.<\/p>

\u00a0<\/p>

Demonstrate capability<\/h3>

Aim at being the no-risk candidate. In your preparation, don\u2019t just find one example of a competency, strength, or value, dredge up every example you can. Distil down for the best and, on the day, keep the backups in reserve so that you can seamlessly show depth if probed.<\/p>

\u00a0<\/p>

Win before you arrive<\/h2>

Look at that hydra, smile confidently, and know that you have the weapons to deal with it. You can\u2019t control what comes at you, but you can control how you react to it. No one expects you to know everything, be everything, and deliver utter perfection, (if they do, I suggest you don\u2019t want to work for them), but if you\u2019ve planned and prepared to the point where you can deal with the unexpected in the right way, you will get the recognition you deserve and that job offer you want.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

If you haven\u2019t attended an interview for a little while, things have changed while you were away. It\u2019s now the equivalent of going out on a blind date and expecting that gorgeous person from the ad, but finding a multi-headed hydra answering the door to you. As you\u2019re lured into the room, you have no […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":17,"featured_media":4503,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[426],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4499","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.topskills-bg.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4499","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.topskills-bg.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.topskills-bg.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.topskills-bg.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/17"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.topskills-bg.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4499"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.topskills-bg.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4499\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4505,"href":"https:\/\/www.topskills-bg.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4499\/revisions\/4505"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.topskills-bg.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4503"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.topskills-bg.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4499"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.topskills-bg.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4499"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.topskills-bg.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4499"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}