Interview Tips

Understanding What Employers Want

Employers list a number of skills and qualities required from a candidate but what an employer is really looking for is a candidate that satisfies three fundamental capabilities:

• Competence - candidates who have the skills and personal qualities to do the job with minimal supervision.
• Commitment - candidates who want to work for the employer and have the ability to tackle problems that arise and stick with it.
• Chemistry - candidates they can get on with.

In your interview you need to demonstrate these capabilities through the answers you give to the questions posed. To help you prepare winning answers think of relevant examples where you have demonstrated the above skills or qualities and write them down on a piece of paper. To help develop this use the below stimulus:

Thinks of times when you

Listened to the needs of other people Conveyed information to others Handled difficult situations on the phone, such as customer complaints. Had a conversation with someone and helped them see your point of view Changed someone's mind Persuaded someone to pursue a course of action that you advocated Gathered information about a topic or issue Broke down a complex problem Weighed up the pros and cons of different options Made suggestion about tackling a problem Initiated or participated in brainstorming sessions Took action to solve a problem Suffered a setback at work but continued with your task Had an original idea and used it to be more effective or productive at work Overcame an obstacle to achieving a task Helped someone else in the team with their work or duties

Resolved conflict or disagreement between other team members Acted as a sounding board to a team member Became proficient in a task or duty more quickly than expected Gained knowledge about a topic because of your hard work and dedication Picked up a new skill with minimal supervision Offered to do overtime to a get a project completed on time Helped others in the workplace when it was not part of the job description Changed your mind after listening to someone else's point of view Prioritised tasks to meet a deadline Planned out and completed a project Organised other people to ensure that a piece of work got done Had to liaise with colleagues outside of your department Found out some interesting information about a customer, supplier or competitor and shared it with your colleagues Thought about the impact of your work on people outside your team

All of the examples that you develop can be assigned to one or more of the ten common skills or qualities that employers look for. Think carefully about what your examples demonstrate and say about you, and look for examples in your personal life if there are none to be found in your professional career to date.

Find out

All of this information can be found on the internet or within corporate literature a company provides/offers. However you should make an effort to explore the physical world as well. So for example if an organisation have a shop go there as a customer and make notes on your experience, keep these positive and focus primarily on what you liked. Alternatively if they make a variety of products make an effort to familiarise yourself with these and note down what you like about them. These will provide you with good stories to help develop great rapport and demonstrate enthusiasm to work for the company.