The ad for your ideal job appears in the newspaper. You brush the dust off your CV and write your letter of application with high hopes. Perhaps you do a little bit of homework on the organisation you're applying to and start rehearsing potential answers in your head. You get called for an interview and it seems to go very well. You're in there for ages and you have a great chat with the interviewer. But you don't get the job and you can't understand why.
"One of the main reasons why a person doesn't get a particular job is because he or she didn't prove to the interviewer that he or she could do it," says Donal Cronin, a senior consultant with Carr Communications in Dublin, which specialises in preparing people for all sorts and levels of job interview.
"A second reason is because they go in with the wrong attitude, seeing an interview as some sort of exam where you have to best the interviewer. In fact both of you have the same agenda. An interviewer need a position filled and you want to fill it. They are looking for the best person for the job. Your task is to prove that's you. Yet most people sell themselves short. They give minimal answers and are so worried about what's the `right' answer that they don't turn the interviewer's questions to their own advantage.
"We prepare people for interview by conducting a `live' interview with them on video and then reviewing it afterwards. Most are not impressed by their performance. They feel they didn't reach their full potential and that they could have done a lot better," Cronin says.
Cronin begins the post-interview analysis by getting the small things out of the way first. Poor body language, inappropriate dress or distracting physical mannerisms are corrected and then it's down to the real business of the job itself. Most job descriptions give a pretty accurate fix on the skills, capacities or criteria that the organisation deems important and Cronin will assess how well a candidate's answers address these needs.
"Having identified what the criteria are a candidate has to show through his or her answers how to meet them," Cronin says. "At the end of the interview the interviewer should feel assured that a candidate can deliver on all of these fronts. This is not achieved by giving `yes' or `no' answers to questions.
"Questions should be used as a means to an end. In other words, answer the question as asked but then move on to add value by giving examples of why you're a good problem-solver, or a good timemanager, or a cool head under stress. Provide the evidence to back things up; it will be this evidence that will make the interviewer feel comfortable about your ability to do the job. Even negatives can be turned into something positive in this situation. For example, you can admit that you made a mistake if you go on to show how you learned from it."
Cronin believes that most interviewers are benign and not there to trip people up. "Few interviewers set out to deliberately stress interviewees," he says. "Certain jobs may require a more pressurised interview because it goes with the territory, but by-and-large few interviewers relish spending 20 minutes with a nervous wreck.
"Interviewers have also become far more professional about their job and they will often have quite a precise shopping list of qualities they're looking for. Before you go for the interview try and work out what these qualities are and touch on each at some point in the interview. For example, is a company putting the main emphasis on a candidate's ability to be creative or to develop relationships with clients or on their academic track record ? The emphasis will vary.
`You can illustrate how you meet the criteria by drawing on all aspects of your life. For example, the ability to work as part of a team can be demonstrated through participation in sport or perhaps you have experience in a certain area through working with a voluntary organisation. In the case of younger people, use work experience or holiday jobs to illustrate the points. Indeed some young people deliberately choose holiday jobs which will be relevant to their future career plans."
According to Cronin, a good interview should have four different levels. It starts with the generalities where a candidate has the opportunity to confirm his or her qualifications and experience. Then the candidate should start going into things in more depth pointing out details of that experience which begin to demonstrate why they are right for the job. At level-three a candidate should be showing how he or she have grown and developed as a result of their experience and at level-four should be making connections between experience and the job applied for.
However, Cronin admits that it is rare enough to see candidates operating at all four levels. "When you point it out to them they see it, but they don't do it off their own bat. Think of it as a means of rounding out the picture of yourself for the interviewer," he says.
On the issue of what to wear, Cronin suggests "choosing clothes that fit in with the culture of the organisation". A casual shirt and chinos may be appropriate in a company with an informal environment whereas a more conservative organisation would expect to see candidates in a suit. The same applies to jewellery and accessories. A pierced nose and heavy make up may be okay in some companies but not in others. So if you want the job, dress to fit in, not stick out.
`A good CV only gets a candidate to the first base and all those on the starting line will be more or less equal on paper. You must then use the interview to get ahead. If you turn up in the `wrong' clothes you'll set yourself back with the interviewer," says Cronin. "At best you should aim for a look that's neutral and keeps you at zero in the interviewer's eyes. If a jacket is too tight or a skirt too short then people feel uncomfortable and they fidget and they're distracted. There are no hard and fast rules about dress codes, but my advice is to wear something comfortable and appropriate."
An interview training session at Carr Communications costs £150 and takes roughly two hours. Candidates send in their CV and the job specification in advance and the training takes the form of an interview followed by a review and feedback session. The company is based in Booterstown, Co Dublin, and can be contacted at (01) 278 5000 or e-mail info@carrcomm.ie
