An interview should always be carefully prepared. Make sure you know your CV inside out and always take 2 or 3 copies of your CV with you to the interview. Most of the recruiters will be prepared and have a copy in front of them, but you may also find an interviewer who has run out of time and forgotten your CV in the office. He/she will definitely appreciate you being ready and handing over a clean copy of your CV. Keep a copy for yourself as well, it may be helpful if the interviewer refers to a particular point in your CV, you may also want to glance at it as well to refresh your memory.
Make sure that you have researched the company before your interview and have a good understanding of the role you are applying for. Prepare a list of questions for your interview related to the role, the organisation and the company culture. An interview is an exchange of information for both you and the employer and both parties need to get enough data to identify if the partnership will work out or not.
Make sure you’re prepared for a few standard questions that the recruiter will be most likely to ask you (examples are: your strengths and weaknesses, what can you bring to us, why should we offer you the role, etc.). Browsing through the internet will also help you find a list of behaviour or competencies based questions. Use your experience of interviews to prepare for the most recurrent questions.
Be clear, precise and concise during the interview, but avoid talking too much about yourself as the recruiter may feel that you are trying to “lead” the interview. Let him/her guide you and listen carefully to each question before answering. If you are not too sure about the question, don’t be embarrassed to ask the recruiter to repeat the question.
Jump on the opportunity to ask different questions, this will demonstrate your interest in the company and in the role, will give you an opportunity to gather the information to take the right decision about changing job and, last but not least, will give less time to the recruiter to ask you potentially tricky or difficult questions to answer.
On the interview day, take a notepad with you and take notes while the recruiter explains the role. Again this will show your interest in the role and will make a good impression. Make sure that you dress properly, smart dress code should be the rule, along with a good haircut. You should keep in mind that the first impression counts a lot and most of the recruiters get the “feel” for the candidate in the first 10 minutes. Under those condition, the way you dress, the way you behave, sit and speak will have a big impact on the outcome of the interview.
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