Congratulations you’ve got your first interview confirmed! Katharine Landale from Bold New World shares with us her useful tips on how to tackle this next step with ease and confidence

Remember the following tips:

• Take the first interview date you can. Interviewers stop seeing people when they have found the right candidate.
• Practice the questions you think you will be asked with a friend. Mortifying as this is it is great for your confidence. If you can’t face this, record yourself. There is an app on your telephone cunningly called Tape Recorder and pleasingly it looks like the ones we used back in the 80s. I use it all the time for for practicing speeches. You are your own worst critic and it is useful to hear the tone, speed and language one uses and then moderate it, or not.
• Research everything you can about the company. This will boost your confidence. However one caveat with all this new found knowledge: resist the temptation to tell your employer all you know about where they work thinking you are showing yourself in a good light. They already know all this; they want to know about you.
• Be early.
• Look the interviewer in the eye, smile. Put your hands in your lap and lean forward when talking without looking desperate.
• If you are prone to fidgeting please take off rings or necklaces that you may fiddle with before you leave home.
• Remember to listen, take your time with your answers, be upbeat and honest and don’t rush.
• Ask questions that are relevant and avoid talking money or time constraints at this stage.
• Finally thank them for seeing you.
• Do write to the interviewer afterwards thanking them for seeing you. Here you can ask any questions you may have forgotten.

Avoid:

• Negativity: Saying that you can’t do anything. Sadly this often applies to ladies and not men. You are able to learn most skills easily so take all negativities out of your thinking. Men would never do this, indeed my husband’s favourite phrase is ‘how hard can it be?’.
• Don’t loose your confidence over any new words. Note them down whilst pretending you know exactly what they are talking about. It is merely a quick Google when you get home.
• Trashing your most recent employer.
• Showing off. Give a considered and balanced sense of yourself. This way you sound much more attractive and trustworthy. Give praise to others too, this creates the sense of being a team player.
• Outstaying your welcome.

However, if you find yourself stuck there are lots of wonderful and experienced CV and career coaches offering solid advice. Further details on this can be found at the end but please use someone that brings out all your positives as a candidate.

Finally…

We give advice to candidates and employers all the time and actually at the end of the day it is very simple:  Employers love experienced candidates and ultimately after they have ascertained that you have the essential skills needed to do the job then they just want someone friendly that fits in. Be yourself and if something goes wrong don’t panic. In each set-back you have a choice how to travel away from it, so take the glass half full route every time please. There was a brilliant candidate who when asked what her faults were replied, ‘Oh wow, how long have you got?’, Needless to say she was offered the job.

To misquote Walt Disney ‘The way to get started is to quit listening to me and begin doing’.  Be your brilliant self.

Bold New World CV and Career Coaching:

Ben Strickland: With over 20 years senior Executive Search consulting experience within the financial services sector and board-level industry across the EMEA region, Ben has developed a keen eye for a successful CV and cover letter. Using this experience Ben offers advice and guidance for clients of BNW as they navigate the recruitment process; from drafting a CV and counselling on interview technique to advice on negotiating compensation. Contact Ben via contact@boldnewworld.co.o.uk.

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Bold New World is a bespoke on-line recruitment platform listing wonderful jobs and charitable opportunities. Promoting and providing an umbrella for Returners, Rethinkers, Rebalancers and Retirers, we only list jobs we would take on ourselves. Visit their website to set up alerts and apply for some great new roles.

 

For a great range of brilliant available jobs the School Notices Jobs Board also has some wonderful opportunities to browse through