As part of your job interview preparation takes some time to think about what you may be asked and, more importantly, how you will respond.

Here are 5 common themes that may come up in your next job interview:

1.  Provide an overview of your career:

• Describe the highlights and achievements of your career.  Talk about similar roles or tasks to the role you are being interviewed for. Think about what you have done that is relevant to the role. This is your chance to sell yourself.

2. Technical skills:

• Be able to describe your technical abilities relevant to the role.  This may include talking through a process from start to finish.

3. Software packages:

• Know the names of the actual software packages that you are competent in using, how you used them and when.

4. Your career goals:

• Describe where this job fits in your overall career plan and the reason you applied.

5. Why would you be appointed to this role:

• Talk about the fit with your current experience, your passion for the industry sector, the company values aligning with your own values, career progression and challenge.

 

This article is one of a series on job interview techniques.

You’ve just been offered a job interview and during the conversation you were told that it will be a ‘behavioural interview’. 

In this article we discuss what a behavioural interview is and provide some insights into how to respond to the interview questions.

Behavioural interviews are based on discovering how a candidate has acted in previous specific employment-related situations.  The logic behind these interviews is that how a candidate has ‘behaved or acted’ in the past will predict how they will ‘behave or act’ in the future.  In a nutshell, past performance predicts future performance.

Behavioural interview questions usually start with something like, ‘tell us about a time when…’; ‘ explain to us what you did…’.    

When you are asked questions that start this way, the expectation is that you will talk through a situation and explain what you did.  It is really important to listen to the question, think about what the hiring manager is asking, and provide a suitable response.

Hiring managers make their decision on a candidate’s suitability to a role based on what they are being told by the candidate.  If a candidate doesn’t provide an answer to their question then it makes it very difficult.

Remember, that a behavioural interview is not an interrogation, it is merely a tool that hiring managers use to find out whether a candidate has the required skills and experience for the role they are recruiting for.

This article is one of a series on job interview techniques.

A job interview could be one of the most important and profitable conversations that you ever have. Spending time preparing for your interview can also be the best investment you can make in your career.

This post provides guidance on how long you should spend answering each interview question.

Interview questions are designed to find out more about your job skills and experience and, most importantly, how competent you are in completing certain tasks or duties.  In order to do this, you need to provide examples and give enough detail to demonstrate your ability.

The optimal amount of time for responding to an interview question is approximately two minutes.  For some that may sound like a very long time and for others it may seem to be nowhere near enough time.  However, to be able to fully describe the situation, the actions you took and the outcome in enough detail, you do need that two-minute timeframe.  Should the interviewer/s want more information they will ask.

Two minutes is enough time to provide enough detail without loosing track of the question.  When you use a structured approach to answering interview questions you should find it much easier to stay on track.

This article is one of a series on job interview techniques.

This post is one in a series which provide tips and techniques on how to prepare for a successful interview.   

Awesome, you have got a job interview! 

Taking the time to prepare for a job interview may result in one of the best paybacks you ever receive.

Here are 5 Tips to start your job interview preparation:

1. Do some ground work - read the company’s website.  Organisations expect that you will know about their products and services.
2. Google the company.  Look for recent news or things that you should be knowledgeable about.  You can also use this knowledge to ask questions at the end of the interview.
3. Re-read all of the information that you have been provided with about the job i.e. position description, job advert and any other company information that you have been given.
4. Research the people you will be interviewed by.  Check out LinkedIn – the majority of profiles have a head shot which can be very helpful.
5. Find out what is happening within the industry sector.  What are the trends, challenges and predictions for that industry?

In upcoming posts, we will cover topics a range of interview topics to help you to be successful at your next job interview.

For most people job interviews are stressful. However, there are a few techniques that you can use to make your interview easier and more successful.

When the interviewer asks a question pause for a moment or two.  You don’t have to answer immediately.  Think about the question and what you are being asked, and then which example you will use as your response.

Interviewers are looking for examples of how you have ‘behaved’ in certain situations and they are looking for your response to clearly outline what you did or the actions that you took.  It is really important to listen to the question so that you can relate your answer back to it.

Think of your answer as telling a story.  In a story there are three parts.  The introduction or outline, what happened in the middle and then the end.

This is the same for interview questions.  Your answer to each question should have three parts:

1.    A brief description of the situation

2.   The part you played – what exactly you did

3.   The outcome

When you use a structured approach to answering interview questions you should find it much easier to stay on track.

Completing a video interview provides you with a great opportunity to sell yourself to the people involved in a recruitment process.  What sets you apart from other candidates in any recruitment process is YOU! Video interviewing is your chance to do just that by bringing your application to life and allowing you to show your personality.

Here are some insights into what to expect should you be invited to submit a video interview and to help you to be successful.

When hiring managers’ shortlist candidates they assess the skills, knowledge and experience of each candidate in line with the requirements of the job vacancy. Each role will have a selection criteria set by the hiring manager. The selection criteria may include items like resume, cover letter, reference checks, skills testing and other relevant information for the role. 

A video interview forms part of the selection criteria and provides an opportunity for a candidate to add another dimension to their job application – bringing their application to life.

With some video interviewing software you will be able to view the questions prior to recording your responses.  If this is the case, think about how you will respond to each question and how you will introduce yourself. Make some notes, be brief in your responses and answer the question. You may wish to practice before recording.

5 Tips to make the whole process easy:

• Look into the camera - not at yourself in the screen and make sure that your face is in the middle of the screen.
• Be aware of your background.  It is best to record your interview in front of a plain wall if possible.
• Depending on the time of day or the brightness of the room, you may need to turn a light on.
• Don’t forget about your body language.  Remember to smile and just be yourself.
• Most of all – enjoy the process!

Take a look at our Video Interviewing software.. IntroInsight is a simple-to-use online platform that allows hiring managers to obtain candidate videos as an integral part of their shortlisting and hiring process.

If you haven’t tried video interviewing as part of your recruitment process here are 5 great reasons why you should!

1. Used as part of the selection criteria, video interviewing allows you to screen candidates prior to committing your time to a full formal interview.  You get an insight into a candidate’s suitability for a role in a shorter amount of time than conventional interviewing.
2. Video interviewing allows you to dig deeper, gain more information and insights than that contained within a resume without committing to a full interview.  You can ask specific questions relating to your job vacancy to enable you to ascertain the level of skill and experience of the candidate and then progress only those candidates that meet the selection criteria for your role.
3. There is less chance of disadvantaging candidates because they are all asked the same questions and in the same format.  When you set up a job you choose your questions for that particular role and then forward an email link to each candidate.
4. Question response times are timed.  Ideally, candidates should spend 1 – 2 minutes answering an interview question.  Since you choose the length of time a candidate has to respond there is no risk of having to listen to long-winded and irrelevant answers.
5. Your recruitment process will be more efficient as candidates will be ‘pre-qualified’ and therefore you will only progress to final interview those candidates that most closely fit your selection criteria.

Video interviewing is a Recruiter and Hiring Manager's best friend.  We are all busy and this tool enables you to speed up your recruitment process and shortlist high calibre candidates more effectively.

Honestly, why wouldn’t you use it?

IntroInsight.com is a simple-to-use online platform that allows you to obtain candidate videos as an integral part of your shortlisting and hiring process.

Candidates record responses using their own device, in their own time.  Review all candidate videos when it suits you and then add all relevant information in one handy spot to securely share your shortlist with your team.

IntroInsight is pay as you go and there are no hidden or ongoing costs.

For your free trial click here.