New Year, New You – Is part of your New Year resolution to find a new job or advance into a more managerial role in your career? Then you are going to need to prepare for interviews.
Interviews can be daunting, we always want to put our best foot forward, but sometimes our nerves can get the better of us. Interviews can prove even more difficult for those who have only recently graduated and have never interviewed before, or those who have been in their current job a long period of time and haven’t had an interview for several years.
We can’t control our emotions or nerves but what we can do is prepare, after all, knowledge is power!
As someone who has personally struggled trying to control my nerves and anxiety before an interview, I have found some tips which have helped me in the past:
- Know the company/ organisation you are interviewing for – A common question employers ask is “Why do you want to work here?”, so ensure you know plenty about your possible future employer.
- Fully understand the job description – Outline your own experience and skills which match that of the job description, you can use this to show you are a perfect match for the role.
- Prepare and rehearse common questions and answers – You can easily look online for a list of popular question which are asked at interview. As a recruiter I always provide my candidates with a list of questions & topics to research and do interview preparation where we go over these mock style questions.
- Prepare questions for the interviewer – Employers will always ask if you have any questions at the end of an interview, this is your opportunity to show that you have thought in depth about the role and company and genuinely want to work there.
- Plan your travel – Ensure you arrive to interview early and aren’t rushing; I always advise to be at least 15 minutes early to interview. This gives you time to sit down, compose your thoughts, and even go over some interview prep.
- Remember to breathe! – This may seem like such a simple and obvious thing, but as someone who has almost found myself hyperventilating before an interview, I find it helps to sit and take some deep breaths before interview to bring your heart rate down and calm those nerves.
- Speak confidently and clearly –I have found that I can speak a million miles an hour which can make it hard for the employer to fully grasp everything you are saying. I make sure to take a few seconds before answering a question and speak clearly and confidently.
- Use the S.T.A.R (Situation, Task, Action & Result) approach when answering questions – This will help give your answers structure and ensure you don’t end up rambling so that your answers are relevant to the question.
- Remember to ask questions at the end of interview – Even if for some reason the employer does not ask you if you have any questions, remember to ask those all-important questions you prepared earlier.
- Leave a good impression – At the end of an interview, always make sure to smile and thank the employer for the opportunity & tell them how interested you are in the role and how you look forward to hearing any updates about the outcome of the interview.
If you are looking for a new Nursing, Healthcare or Hospitality job and would like some help finding that prefect job or to spruce up your CV & arrange some interview preparation, then you can call me on 01-878-3335 or visit our website for a full list of current jobs –
Charissa Mulholland
Nursing & Healthcare recruitment professional
Three Q Perms & Temps
