If you've just received a letter inviting you for an interview, your reactions were probably one of joy followed swiftly by one of panic. What should you wear? What will you say? Can you do the job? Can you convince them that you can do the job? doctorjob.com's guide to first interviews will help you understand the interview process so you can tell your interviewers what they want to hear.

What is an interview?

Most organizations regard the first interview as the beginning of the real business of selection. Your written application gets you an interview and now it's up to you to confirm the favorable impression you have already made. If you are successful at first interview, you will pass on to the second, and usually final, stage which might involve taking part in an assessment center.

Getting an interview means that you are more than half way to getting a job.
Interviewers want you to succeed. They really would like to fill their vacancies.
Interviews are not interrogations. Act like an adult, not a victim.
Interviews are never perfect. If you make mistakes, forget them instantly and move on.
To succeed at an interview, you must understand their emotional and subjective nature. How you come across is as important as what you say.
Preparation

Preparation is the key to success.
Even if you pride yourself on living off your wits, you can come seriously unstuck at interview if you fail to prepare adequately. Make sure you know what you have to offer this potential employer and that you understand fully what the employer is looking for. This should help you anticipate the questions you may be asked and know how to emphasizes the bits of your skills and experience that they will find valuable.

Preparation is the key to success.
Know what you are offering.
Find out their selection criteria.
Find out some original information about the organisation.
Identify likely question areas and likely questions.
Practise and get feedback.
Prepare your attitude. Be positive, enthusiastic, natural and honest.
The different types of interview

The standard chronological interview:
This is how all interviews used to be - a steady ramble through your life from school days, via the present day to the misty future.
The structured, criteria-based interview:
In structured interviews, all candidates are asked more or less similar questions and their answers are judged against the employer's criteria for the job. The organisation thinks up the selection criteria and uses the interview to examine whether or not you have the evidence, from your life so far, that you possess them to some degree or other. Try to work out the selection criteria before the interview and be prepared for detailed and persistent questioning.

The panel interview:
Occasionally you will push open the door to discover two or more people waiting to interview you. It can be a bit of a shock but, as long as you remain calm, panel interviews are often easier and sometimes fairer than the normal one-to-one. If a solitary interviewer doesn't take a shine to you, you're sunk but in a panel the same person could be overruled by others.

The technical interview:
If you are applying for a technical position, you may well get a first interview that contains a high proportion of technical questions. It's not unusual for interviewers to reach under the table, bring out a device and ask you to explain how it works. They could show you a wiring diagram or a line of computer code and expect instant analysis. Even if they don't resort to visual aids, they will quiz you in depth about your course. Make sure you remember details about what you have studied in previous years!

Telephone interviews:
Interviews over the phone can be disorientating because neither party can see the other and so the vital visual clues are absent. Because so much of the impact you are making comes through your voice, it is even more important that you are animated and enthusiastic.

Things to look out for at the interview
First impressions are critical. Give the interviewer a smile, look them in the eye and shake their hand with confidence.
Help the interviewer by guiding them towards your strengths.
If you are asked difficult questions, don't try to answer them immediately. Think before you open your mouth.
Everyone is nervous before and during interviews. The only real cure is decent preparation. The end of the interview is important too. Ask some sensible questions or take the opportunity to mention something that has been overlooked.
It's difficult to predict the outcome of interviews, so behave throughout with confidence.

 

What is an Assessment Centre?

Typically you will join a small group of six to eight other candidates, probably applying for similar jobs, and undertake a series of assessments designed to show the watching selectors that you possess most of the personal and technical skills necessary to do the work. This can take anything from a few hours to a few days. Contrary to popular belief, most assessment centres don't require you to camp out in snake-infested woods for a weekend armed only with a map and a packet of dried space food.

Although they may seem like a way for assessors to get cheap laughs at your expense by putting you in embarrassing situations, assessment centres are actually used for several very valid reasons. Because they aren't purely interview based, they are less subjective, and don't just cover the same ground in the same way as the first interview. They also allow the employer to find out about your ability to work with others.

Assessment centres are a fairer way to recruit.
You are very close to a job offer.
You are competing against the organisation's standards.
Be natural and get stuck in.

Group exercises
Group exercises may involve anything from solving a murder mystery to discussing a given topic or even acting out a job-related scenario. Here are some guidelines for tackling group exercises:

Find a balance between pushing your case and helping the group to complete the task.
It's the quality of your contributions that's important, not the quantity.
Never try to win by putting other people down.
If you're feeling nervous, think about all the times in your life that you have been in groups.
Alternatively, imagine all the other group members and assessors with no clothes on.

Presentations
Presentations, normally to a mixed group of other candidates and assessors, make most candidates turn to jelly. If you're nervous, you can rest assured that this is all the other candidates' idea of hell too. If you have to make a presentation, here are a few ground rules to calm your nerves:

The best presentations have a solid structure. This is helpful both as a 'safety net' to the presenter if they get lost or their mind goes blank, and also to the audience, who like to know where they are and what is to come.
Don't try to include too much. Remember what it feels like to listen to a speaker - too much information and you begin to switch off.
Get both the verbal and non-verbal messages across. Avoid mumbling or talking too fast, look at the audience, don't pace up and down, and use your hands naturally.
Practise giving presentations before the real thing, in front of other people or a mirror.
Prepare for questions at the end. Try to anticipate what they will ask you and prepare some answers. If you make a mistake, forget it instantly. As long as you don't dwell on it, your audience probably won't even notice.

Aptitude tests
More and more organisations are using aptitude tests (also known as psychometric tests) to provide them with the sort of information about you that they can't easily get from the rest of the assessment centre. The two types of aptitude tests used are ability tests and personality inventories. Ability tests are used to test your knowledge in key areas, and the three most common areas tested are verbal reasoning, numerical reasoning and logical reasoning. Personality inventories tell an organisation about the type of person you are and what you want out of life. They are impossible to prepare for and impossible to rig.

Practise ability tests before the assessment centre.
Answer personality inventories honestly.
For all tests, arrive refreshed and awake.
Panel interviews

Most assessment centres feature one or more interviews, which are usually more stringent than your first interview and will often focus on those areas of your life that the previous interviewer had indicated needed more probing. For example, they may have been really happy with you except for a lingering doubt about your motivation for the job or your technical competence.

Panel interviews
If you don't panic, are a fair test of your suitability.
Expect a more testing interview and prepare accordingly.
Be aware of any current news stories about the organisation or the industry it's in.
Look over your application form or CV and covering letter again.
Have a high level of enthusiasm for the job and know exactly why you should be offered it.
Case studies, in-tray exercises and role plays

Case studies and in-tray exercises are used to test your ability to assimilate written material and draw out the important points. Case studies require you to sift through large amounts of data (written reports, memos, phone messages, statistics etc), understand the issues and come up with proposals or recommendations. In-tray exercises simulate a manager's in-tray and require you to order documents and decide what to do first, second, third and so on.

Role play exercises are like group exercises, except it's just you and the assessor. You'll be asked to simulate a real-life working incident. The main thing is to be aware of the 'background' to the role play, but never make up your mind in advance about what's going to happen.

Keep cool!
Get an overview of the issues first.