WHAT CAN I DO IN 24 HOURS?

Actually, 24 hours is just about enough time to prepare for an interview. If you’ve turned to this chapter it’s probably because you are preparing the night before the interview in just a couple of hours, and feeling rather stressed about it. It’s time to review the essentials.

The biggest antidote to interview stress is the right kind of preparation. This does not mean researching or worrying all night and not getting any sleep, going over your answers again and again, or anticipating worst-case scenarios. It means doing enough preparation, and then trusting in what you know. Your brain has far more capacity for recall under pressure than you imagine – do your preparation, rehearse your key answers two or three times, and then leave it alone. If all you do is follow this chapter, you may well have done more preparation than the average candidate, and good enough is a reasonable point to stop.

You might want to put all your energy into what you will say; save some attention for how your message will come across. Don’t just lay out your interview clothes for the morning, put them on, and make sure they are well-pressed and comfortable. Stand in front of a mirror, and close your eyes. Remember a time you did really well at work, and felt on top of the world. Stand square with your shoulders back, and revel in that moment. Now open your eyes and see the person you hope an interviewer will see as you walk in through the door.

CRASH PREPARATION

You might be tempted to rely on luck. Think again – that’s another excuse for not doing what you can do in the time available; lucky candidates are the ones who bring the right message into the room. Do what research you can. If time is really tight, look at the employer’s website and find one interesting thing you can say about the organisation when you are greeted, and two pieces of information that you might introduce during the interview as comments or questions. Get your documents straight, and put them into a folder which should be the only thing you take into the interview room.

Next, spend some time reviewing the employer’s shopping list. Use the ‘One-sheet matching’ exercise in Chapter 7 (on page 60) to predict questions, and start to line up your corresponding evidence.

Have a look at Chapter 13 on stories – you’ll see how storytelling is a powerful way to get your best material across in a punchy, memorable package. The night before an interview you may not be able to rehearse a fund of stories, so go for half a dozen good ones – look at the things you believe to be the big ticket items and play the ‘six for six’ game (page 32 in Chapter 4).

Sharpen up your key messages. What are your top skills? What gives you energy in a job? Plan in advance to be explicit about how you can add to the job. ‘Armed with this information you can make positive suggestions about the future of the role in discussion’, writes career coach Jim Currie. ‘In the final analysis the interviewer is going to be more convinced by someone who understands his problems and how they can be solved than having to deduce it from what that interviewee has done in different jobs.’

One way or another you will be asked why you fit the job. Even if you get a broad opener like ‘tell me about yourself’, use this as an opportunity to sell yourself against four or five top skill areas. Be ready to wrap the interview up with some clear reasons about why you should be hired. This is not the kind of self-aggrandising statement you hear on The Apprentice – that empty language doesn’t work here. A simple conversation where you match yourself point-for-point against the employer’s checklist will instantly lift your interview. An employer who hears that you understand the job – and you are enthusiastic to solve its problems – will pay you close attention.

Don’t think of an interview as a one-way conversation. Sophie Rowan of Pinpoint in Dublin says: ‘Do what you can to equalise the balance of power in an interview by seeing yourself on equal terms – you’re there to solve problems and contribute to needs.’

Finally, don’t neglect to prepare yourself personally (Chapter 6 will help), and focus on approaching the interview not only with a positive attitude but also with the right energy – pay particular attention to your communication style whether you are naturally quiet and under-sell yourself or more gregarious and loud. Make sure your style is tempered to match that of the interviewer.

CHANGE A LITTLE, CHANGE A LOT

Perhaps your last interview didn’t go as well as it could have? Most times, particularly after just one or two interviews, small changes make a big difference. Just slowing down and learning to be very still (see Chapter 5) helps with pre-match nerves. Learning and practising some robust ‘lifeboat answers’ (Chapter 12) can make an overnight difference to the way you handle difficult questions.

However, if you keep putting in the same interview performance and get repeated knock-backs, something about you is getting in the way. If it’s a question of verbal tics, self-criticism or projected attitude problems – what can you actually do the night before the interview? Three things: slow down, say less, and say mainly the things you have prepared to say. Know what you are going to say before your brain puts your tongue in gear.

BEGINNINGS AND ENDINGS

Since the opening and close of the interview are remembered most clearly, work hard on both, including your final questions and your final thank you.

Practise opening lines – if you fluff them, it will feed the part of your brain trying to persuade you that you don’t interview well. Boost your confidence by arming yourself with small talk about the locality, organisation, or big news events that are affecting this employer. As Chapter 10 on first impressions reveals, interviewers make swift judgements in the opening moments, so be as easy to get on with as you can, rather than sitting there looking defensive or passively waiting for the first question. Tick the first box on the interviewer’s checklist by saying something relaxed and interesting. Do the same with reception staff – they are often asked what they think of candidates.

Career coach Kathryn Jackson advises: ‘Treat each interview as though it has three parts – and you have to make a great impression at each stage; the introduction (have a great handshake, big smile, excellent eye contact), the middle (prepare your answers to questions that will come up), the end (finish on a really strong note, check that you’ve asked when you can expect to hear an outcome from the interview, ask for the job, thank your interviewer for their time). Asking for the job is something that I would always recommend at the end of an interview – not down on one knee grovelling, but ensuring that you make it clear the interview has impressed you, helped you to realise that you’d really like a role in the company and ask what the next steps are.’

MANAGING YOUR AIRTIME

On the morning news every day you will hear key figures from public life being interviewed. Some of them are easily thrown off track by the questions; the ones with media training stick solidly to what they have to say. They have been advised that the busy morning public will probably absorb little more than two or three pieces of information. No matter what questions are asked, a savvy interviewee will get two, three or four strong points across. The questions just provide an opportunity: the airtime is being used to convey a few, predetermined messages.

You can use the same technique. What three things would you like the interviewer to remember about you? These points might be issues that won’t naturally come up (for example, you might want to draw out your valuable cross-sector experience). If you haven’t found the opportunity during the interview, make your points at the end. Write these points down in advance, and practise short, clear summaries.

I have seen this technique applied many times in practice. Candidates go into interviews armed with three well-rehearsed positive messages, and afterwards if interviewers are asked to summarise what they have heard, the three messages are nearly always repeated, and remembered. Rather than random information, you can attempt to plant the ideas and phrases you would like to travel without you. What kind of things need to be in these summary messages? Examples will include:

• Something that makes sense of an unusual background (your qualifications, background, career path).
• A strap-line statement which sums you up (‘I like pushing people hard to help them get results they are proud of’).
• Something which links two or more pieces of information in your CV (‘My media studies background has given me a creative edge in the world of retail’).
• Something which gets you past a difficult issue (‘I decided to stop studying my A levels for a reason – to take up a dream job offer’).
• A unique selling point (‘You’ll get plenty of people with my experience, but I believe my insights into the world of fashion give me a different perspective’).
• (Particularly if you are not asked) one thing you will add to the job within the first 90 days (see Chapter 9).
• At least one thing about why you match the role (‘The reason I’d be really excited to do this job ...’).

FINAL OVERVIEW

Jo Bond, who is CEO & Group Chair of Vistage International, and a leadership and development coach, has developed a great overview that I think you’ll find a useful pre-interview checklist:

FOLLOW-UP

At interview try to get clear answers about what happens next, but don’t panic if you don’t hear anything. There are still one or two things you can do.

‘Is the interview over when it’s finished?’ asks career coach Malcolm Watt. ‘No. As soon as possible send a thank-you and follow-up letter, expressing your keen interest in the company and the job and asking when you might hear the result of the interview if you haven’t been told when to expect it during your conversation.’ Recruiter Graeme Dixon has a similar view: ‘At the end of the interview it is essential to thank them for their time and ask if they have any concerns why they would not progress their application. After the interview send a letter of thanks with a couple of lines why you are suitable. Virtually 100 per cent of candidates do not do this and it differentiates them from the competition.’

STEPPING FORWARD

Doing well at interviews isn’t just about getting a job, it’s about doing better at work and getting more out of your career. The skills you are learning while you prepare for the interview will also make a big difference to so many other things you do in work – communicating, influencing, building relationships quickly, getting your point across in a memorable and engaging manner, persuading others to make a decision in your favour. These are the building blocks of a well-managed career.

So, even if you have just dipped into the chapters that addressed your immediate problems, you’ve taken some important steps forward. Keep learning, experimenting and improving – then when you walk into your next interview you’ll find that luck walks into the room with you.