Job interviews can be a challenging time with worries about how to prepare and what things a person should be doing. An important thing to remember by making a careful plan it is possible to greatly improve the chances of being successful and getting the job. It is not to leave things to chance, not to hope, but to plan carefully how you will go about doing well at the interview. It is essential to know about the potential employer. Understand their business and work out what challenges they face. Employers essentially face problems which is why they are advertising the position. It is important to work out what problems the employer is facing and how your skills will be a solution for those problems. Plans are important when someone is building a house they start with a plan. When running a business, a business that is able to keep on track will normally have a business plan. So we see it is essential to have a plan when you desire to achieve an effective objective. So we will be looking at developing a plan to ensure you stand a good chance of getting the job you desire. Planning for a Job interview Planning is so important in doing a good job interview, making plans is one of the key things that you will find in successful people. There are a number of things that need to be planned in advance before the day of the interview to ensure that you are the best candidate for the job. So what things should you do,
1. First carefully study your CV and your application form, as these will be two of the things that the employer will ask you questions on.
2. You should get literature about the potential employer. Leaflets, brochures flyers etc. It is important to understand the company and their needs. By understanding these areas you will be able to work out how your skills can best meet the needs of the employer.
3. Do a search of the internet for information about the employer, it is useful to do a search of their web site if they have one. It is also useful to do company searches on sites like the “Fame” directory. This gives quite a lot of useful information about the company. You can find out how long the company has been trading, how many employees are working for the company. You can also find out how financially stable the company is, it would not be useful getting a job with a company that is about to become bankrupt. Also by finding out what problems the company faces you can work out how you can be the solutions to those problems. The fame database can give details like who is the company director, company secretary, how long have they been working for the company, do they run other companies. This kind of information can give you a good idea about the company. By having a good idea about the company you can see what value you can bring to them. You should find out about the products of the company and the type of clients that they have as this will enable you to answer questions that will indicate that you have done your company research. If an employer can see that you know nothing about the company this could indicate that you do not really care much. There is a saying that you only get out what you put in.
4. If it is possible visit the premises and see what you can learn about them. You could observe signs and notices, which can give an indication how they expect their clients to be treated. It is useful if you can learn things about the companies’ culture. It is useful to take notice of things that the company does well as well as areas that you will be able to add value. Do not make criticism about the company as this may not give a good impression.
5. Offer to do job shadowing prior to interviews if possible this shows that you are keen to learn more about the job. And if the staff think that you are a person that could add value to their team, they may put in a good word on your behalf.
6. Print the information that you have researched about the company, and prepare any questions that you have about the company in advance. Also you can print additional copies of your CV, this can be useful if you are interviewed by a panel. It will show that you are well organised and forward thinking. On the day of the interview you may forget the questions that you intended to ask, hence why it is good you have them written down before hand. Also by having the questions written down in advance can show that you are interested in the job.
7. By doing your company research you may get a good idea of what the job involves, the people you will be working with and the clients who they serve. By doing the back ground research it can allow you to be a bit more confident, as you could have a better idea of what to expect.
8. On the day of the interview you can also make observations of the type of business, the types of notices on the wall. You could gain an idea of the companies’ culture and what they expect. This information could be useful at the interview, as it can help you when answering questions like why do you want to work for the company. You would be able to point out some of the good things that you have noticed.
MGA Brown (c) 2011
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