You’ve smartened up your CV, submitted it to the recruitment experts and you’ve now secured your first job interview - congratulations! But where do you start preparing? What interview questions should you ask? What if the interview is being held virtually?
We take a look what your first steps should be, and what you can do to make sure you’re ready to impress. As well as providing you with a handy interview hints and tips guide for you to download.
Think positive
The hiring manager has reviewed your CV and is interested in finding out more about you. That shows that perhaps you have the experience they’re looking for, or your previous roles have captured their interest.
Now it’s your opportunity to show them why you’d be a great addition to their team – and a positive mindset and confident interview will go a big way. So make sure you have everything you need, have familiarised yourself with the technology if you’re attending a virtual interview, and are suitable attired.
Know your CV inside out
Make sure you can confidently talk through your qualification and previous experience – making sure you draw parallels to the main responsibilities for the role you’re interviewing for. This will help demonstrate that you have the knowledge to undertake the new role.
If there are any gaps in your CV you may need to provide explanations and they may ask you the reason for leaving previous roles. Most important though, don’t forget to prepare your reasons as to why you think you’d enjoy working in the new role – they’ll be looking for someone who is ambitious to succeed.
Draw up your own questions
Make sure you take the time to write down all the questions you may have before the interview starts. Many may be answered for you during the interview, but it’s always good to have some to ask at the end of the interview to help show that you’re really interested in the role.
Do your research on the company and then reference this in your questions. You could ask them about the structure of the team you’d be working in, what other departments your role would interact with, what training and development opportunities are available. If you’re passionate about something (such as supporting a local charity) you could ask what initiatives they have– many organisations provide paid charity leave.
Download our handy interview hints and tips
To help ensure you’re ready for your next job interview we’ve created a handy interview hints and tips guide.