Mark Andrew

So you’ve had that call offering you an interview for your dream job. Great! Want to make sure your interview is a success? Now you need to revisit the initial research you completed for the covering letter and complete a more in-depth study.

The research objectives

Remember, the objectives of the research; you need to demonstrate you are enthusiastic about the role and company, knowledgeable about both the company and industry and resourceful by finding all this out on your own steam. You’ll get your opportunity to shine when you ask your prepared questions.

You need to know the role in detail – what it entails, where it fits in and interacts with other roles within the company. You need to know the industry in detail. You need to know the company in detail – their products, services, who the directors are, where their offices are, their operations, their growth and the challenges they face in the marketplace and you need to know who the competitors are and have an idea how they operate.

The sheer scale of the research you need to do to make your interview a success may sound quite a task, it really isn’t – a few hours reading and noting down valuable information is all that’s needed, on the lowest level. Knowing the facts, figures and how the company fits into the industry will help you impress the interviewer and get you one step closer to your dream job in London.

The companies website

Look at the company website – what are their aims, mission statement, who are the directors (this information can be found online at companies house, if you can’t find it elsewhere), what are their products/services, where are they based and where do they operate? Be mindful, as you research, that in your covering letter, you are looking for ways to demonstrate you understand the industry and to link your own experience . Chances are, there will be other information available online – check out any social networking profiles – this will give you an idea of their digital marketing and tone of communication – particularly useful for marketing, digital or communication roles but recommended for other job types too. Are there any journal or newspaper articles concerning the company? Dig around and collate any information which would be useful in the covering letter.

The top websites for company research

Go to Google News and enter the company name into search.  This should return results of articles from well established websites. Use glassdoor.co.uk to find the inside track on the organisation.

A great tip for finding out the company’s leading competitors is to go to Hoovers (you can sign up for a free trial), type in your search, go to company profile. There are 3 options bars, choose ‘competition.’ Here you will find details of the leading competition. You can also search for competitors on LexisNexis, if you have access (your company or university may be connected to the research database) you could also use LexisNexis to find out other vital information – such as annual reports. If both of those methods prove unfruitful, try goggling leading “competitors” for {company}. You can use this technique to find out other information too for example “annual report”, “directors”. Another great way to find great information is by going to Onesource (for a free trial).

To find more out about the industry visit trade websites. For example for advertising go to adweek.com Another great source of information on your industry is by joining the corresponding groups on LinkedIn. Furthermore, there are many blogs pertaining to the industry which you can refer to.

Understand your industry in depth

Read newspapers and industry journals to find out the key issues which the company and industry face. The best way to find out the challenges the industry face is by asking people who work in the industry – twitter and LinkedIn are great for gaining ‘inside information’ within your desired industry. In the case of Twitter, it’s as simple as finding out who the key players are in your industry and following them. Their tweets may reveal fantastic insights into the industry. When using linked in, when you register, you can choose certain industries to be linked to. Then, simply join the myriad of groups pertaining to the industry and you’ll find out the ins and outs in a flash. You could also ask the members specific questions but be careful, chances are your prospective boss will be on there too.

 

Well done! You’ve been invited for an interview for you dream job. Now, here comes the hard work, combining your research and all the work you’ve done decoding the job requirements. Here’s how to prepare for your interview including how to write and answer interview questions.

Create a portfolio

Before the interview, compile all of your certificates, awards etc (most recent/relevant items first) in a clean tidy folder or portfolio – this will keep your certificates clean, tidy and organised. This folder or portfolio, known as a ‘brag-book’, should contain any letters of recommendation – including print-outs from LinkedIn – written references and details of all awards, achievements and accomplishments. It is worth leaving a duplicate with the employer after the interviewer as, due to some employers strict interview scheduling, you may not be able to use it during the interview.

If you have a linked in account, it would be useful to add the url to your profile. Overall, this, along with the rest of the interview will help provide the all important proof – employers need to know you can do it, not just hear you saying you can do it. It is also useful to take a couple of copies of your CV, your covering letter and a photo –which you could offer to the interviewer afterwards to help them remember you.

How to answer questions

During an interview situation, of course, you are going have to answer questions. It may feel a bit like an interrogation but if you remember four things, you’ll smash it:

• When you answer questions, lean forward slightly in your seat, showing you are enthusiastic, open and helps you seem less stressed, see below for more about body language.
• Answer passionately – this shows you are passionate, obviously.
  
• Remember your research, link it to your answers – this is your opportunity to impress the interviewer with your knowledge.
• Remember the work you did writing your experience and achievements into CV style statements. The STAR system.

There are a plethora of approaches to interview questions, you could answer the question directly, as below, or you could create a STAR answer, more on that later. Either way, do not leave it to chance as, whatever the industry, many of the questions will be the same or similar and good preparation helps boost you confidence.

Common interview questions

Below are a number of common questions and examples of how to answer them. Why not draft up and practice some of the answers to these questions, it’ll put you one step ahead of the other candidates. This list is by no means exhaustive and some of the questions may differ depending upon the industry or role –use your knowledge to adapt them to your industry or role.

If you can think of any more probable questions, jot them down and prepare the answer. Of course, you will get asked about your previous employment – one great way to write down all of your achievements and write into covering letter type statements which you can refer to easily.

Q: Why do you want the job?

Obvious, but highly important, the answer to this question should demonstrate your research, knowledge and link to the specific strengths and interests which encouraged you to apply for the job. This is your chance to demonstrate your specific knowledge on the company –during your research; did you discover a specific feature which makes the company stand out as an attractive prospect for employment?  Be specific to the individual company, rather than the industry. For example, pick out features such as training schemes, their prestigious clients or even the companies individuality.

A: I enjoy taking responsibility in my job, as {insert company name} is a small sized company; I feel there is more scope to build closer relationships with colleagues and clients. I feel, with your market share (or similar detail) there is scope for me to expand upon this – in competition with {competitor company}.  Furthermore, with your training scheme, I feel there would be a great opportunity to build upon my skills, allowing me to help {improve the business in some way}.

Q: Give an example of a situation where you were responsible for leading a team.

This question is to ascertain your leadership and planning competence – especially if you are interviewing for a managerial role. To answer this question, you should outline a situation where you took control of a project, task or group, the problems, how you overcame them and the result and what you learned from the project – is there anything you would do differently next time?

Your example could be anything from event management from a previous position, whilst volunteering or even organising a gig – to university projects. Leadership requires a number of skills and virtues such as persuasion, project management, listening and motivation. So, to answer this question successfully you should aim to give examples where you used each one. If your dream job  requires leadership, planning, project management, people or budget management, be prepared for this question.

Q: Describe a situation where you were involved in teamwork.

A: Pretty much every job requires teamwork, so chances are you this question will come up. The best way to approach it is as per the above question – outline the task, your role etc.

Q: Where do you see yourself in X number of years?
This question lets the employer know if you have researched the company and the industry, so be specific rather than answering, ‘in a managerial position’ etc.  Your answer should demonstrate you know what opportunities are open to you in the role and in the industry on the whole.

A:‘ hopefully having entered {company training scheme} and {professional body postgraduate award} I will have obtained the knowledge and skills to specialise in either  {role} or {role}.’
This answer shows the employer you know your industry and the company, your destination or desired further role, but show you know which industry bodies/ or qualifications you need to obtain a certain position or role. Try not to pin yourself to one role, keep your options open as this shows flexibility.

Q: How would X describe you?

This question is really asking two separate questions in one:  what, would you say are your weaknesses and what are your strengths?  The best approach is to break you answer down into the two separate aspects. Firstly, let’s focus on weaknesses. Don’t say:’ I don’t have any’-  you’ll risk coming across as arrogant, and it may  cause the interviewer to assume you lack self awareness. The best way to answer this question is pick a real weakness which you have taken steps to improve. Such as:

‘I tend to lack confidence when making decisions however, in my last role, I ensured to take on more responsibility to help make confident, assured decisions.’ 

Then give an example.  Many, crafty interviewees try disguising strength as weakness such as, ‘I am a perfectionist’ but beware, employers know this tactic all too well and it may not work to your advantage.

For the strengths aspect, you need to give 3 or 4 of your specific skills or unique selling points (USP’s), skills and other attributes which will help you stand out from the other applicants, and give examples.  You need to remember the job description {link} – the skills required for the specific role – and link them with your personal attributes and skills – these are the major strengths the employer will consider, rather than ‘I’m a grade 8 pianist’ when interviewing for an accountancy position. Of course, the interviewer may ask you if you have any hobbies and interests, and, if you do have any skills such as above, do mention them as they show dedication and a well rounded personality.

Examples of great USP’s include, great communication, project management, the ability to get on with anybody, any technical skills – such as C++, Sage, HTML etc, which are relevant to the role.  Remember to back up these skills with examples of where you have applied them.

A: What’s your greatest achievement?

Ideally, you need to give another example demonstrating some of the key skills from the job description. Otherwise, your greatest achievement should have implemented some of the general transferable skills and attributes most jobs require such as, determinism, leadership, organising, great communication, initiative etc.  However, your greatest achievement doesn’t’ necessarily need to be a work achievement it – you could have for trained and completed the London Marathon etc another example.

Q: Which other companies/employers have you applied for?

This question tests your commitment to the job and the consistency of your career. It is reasonable to assume you will have applied for all the similar roles vacant in London at that time. The game you need to play here is to make the interviewer believe that their company is your first choice, so go ahead and say just that. Then maybe list a few of the other, more prestigious, companies you have applied for. Another great trick is to tell them some other positions available, that you could apply for, but explain that you are yet to make any move because you are waiting to see what happens with this, your preferred, application.

The firms and roles who you name should be with prestigious/well known within that sector companies. Also, do not give any companies or jobs which are not relevant i.e. dissimilar to the one you are interviewing with.

• Remember, answering an interview question is your chance to show the interviewer what you are made of. The above approach is basically a freehand way of answering questions. If you feel you need more structure and guidance a great approach is by building STAR answers. 
• When preparing your answers to the obvious questions you will get asked, as above, remember thesefour points: Situation, Task, Action and Result.  For example,

Q:  Name a situation where you led a team

Situation:  Yes, during my last role as XXXXX when in a team working on XXXXX

Task: The project was critical due to XXXXX. One major problem occurred when the team leader became ill and had to leave the team.

Action: Having had a little experience leading university projects (etc) I nominated myself as the new team leader. Straight away I noticed some problems that needed ironing out (state problems and your solution).

Result: Even though the project ended up slightly over budget it was on time and resulted in X amount of sales X above expectation.

At every opportunity, you should use the STAR system to link the job description with your skills whilst answering the question.

You will need to practice these stories until you know them without the use of your notes – this looks more impressive. Also, to ensure you don’t go over three minutes – much longer and you will take time away from your other answers – three minutes is just right amount of time to get the message across.

Whether it’s using the STAR system or a less structured technique, you need to link your answers with the key skills in the job specification – this is the main objective.

What questions you should ask

For sure, the interviewer will ask you if you have any questions so you will need to prepare some questions of your own.  Not having any prepared questions is a pet hate of interviewers – it shows lack of knowledge and intelligence. Don’t ask about salary and travel card loans, this is completely off subject for a first interview, it’s all about the job not the money at this stage – salary negotiations may come in the second interview or after a job offer. Ask questions which you can show  off your research and your genuine interest in the company:

• Ask about what the job entails
• Ask about any training you could receive
  
• Ask about whether there are opportunities to move up the ladder
  
• Ask what it’s like to work at the company

Before the interview, prepare some questions which you would like to ask the interviewer – you can write these down and take them inter the interview with you.  Chances are, before your opportunity to ask questions arises, many of the questions will have already been addressed by the interviewer. In this case, and if you haven’t thought of any other questions, you should tell the interviewer what the questions were. For example:

‘Thank you.  I made a note to ask you about the training scheme (etc) but you did explain about this earlier and I really feel you covered everything I needed to know at this point.’

Think on your feet – make a mental note of any details which the interviewer mentions that you can expand upon and turn into a question – especially if, when it comes to the point, and all your prepared questions have been answered. For example:

‘I’d made a note about XXX which you have already explained but I wanted to know about {specific}.’

Questions are a great way to demonstrate your knowledge of the industry, demonstrating to the employer your intelligence. I once got a job offer from my questions alone – the interviewer had made her ten second first impression decision, she told me later,  and it wasn’t good, but on the back of the questions she changed her mind. The questions you ask really set you apart from the other hopefuls.

Below is a list of some great questions to ask. These are in no way specific to any particular industry so you will need to tailor them or add a few industry specific questions. If you are applying for a management or a senior level position, employers will be looking for you to ask complex questions which will show your problem solving and leadership skills.  And you don’t need to ask them all, only ask the moist relevant.

Can you give me more details about training progression/programmes within the company?
What would be a typical career progression for this role in this company?
How do you see the company developing over the next 5 Years?
Describe the atmosphere of the company?
What is your personal experience of working in the company?
What would the most important thing I could do in the first few months of my employment?
What does the company value most and how do you think I, and the work I would do, could add value to it?
Do you have any questions about my ability to perform the job?
What potential do you see in me?
What do you see are my strongest assets and possible weaknesses?
What concerns do you need me to clear up before I can be the leading candidate for this position?
What do you think I can bring to the company to add value?

This point in the interview is a great time to also tell the interviewer anything about yourself which has not already come up. Note, if there is a point in the interview where it seems natural to ask a question, do not feel you have to wait until this point.

As the interview progresses, there may be a natural opportunity to ask questions – wait until the interviewer has stopped speaking, or for you to answer their question then ask away. The interviewer may mention something specific which you could link to your research, you could then add, for example:

‘You mentioned your market share is XXX and XXXX, one of your competitors market share is XXXX, what measures are in place for the further to increase your own market share?’

This type of question shows you’ve done your research and won’t fail to impress. If you’ve really done your homework and researched the activity of the company’s competitors, you could then make suggestions based on what the competitors are doing.

So, you need a job fast. Without a specific strategy for job searching it could end up as a full time role. But with no pay. Here’s how to cut your job search from months to a couple of weeks max (as long as you take all the steps in this series). Don’t your waste time, here’s where and how to look for jobs in London.

1) Get online

Regardless of what sector your ideal job is actually in, it is most likely to be listed online. So, get on the web and start uploading your CV to as many online job sites as you can. One huge advantage is recruiters can search through the database and view your CV, without you having to send to the employers directly. Theoretically, using this tool, you may not have to do any searching yourself. However, do not rely on this method alone, if you want to find a job in London, fast. An important factor to remember is, with thousands of online CV’s uploaded every day, your CV will eventually sink to the bottom of the pile, as it were. Therefore, in order to stay at the top of recruiters search lists, essentially, you’ll have to make a fresh application every day. That sounds a little daunting, doesn’t it? Especially, if you’ve already signed up to jobsites, you’ll know the online form filling can take hours, initially. That alone could steal precious hours away from your daily job hunt. Well, here’s a crafty trick to make sure your CV stays on top, without wasting time: all you need to do every day, is click edit CV, then click ok. Some sites have a privacy option, in that case, click private then click back to public. Either way, your CV will go back to the top of the pile.

Most jobsites will send you job searches and updates, based on the options you pick when you register. Remember to choose as many options or career types as you can – some site will limit the amount of categories you can select. So, if just want a job, any job, fast, and there is a limit on how many job types or specific industries you can pick, why not create multiple accounts using different emails. Remember, tailor each CV and account specifically. For example, one account is dedicated to bar and service industry work, while another is set aside for admin and PA roles.

2) Network

If you know the specific career or industry you wish to work in, it is definitely useful to check out any trade shows, job fairs, networking functions and social events. Remember, take some business cards. If you don’t have any business cards, there are many free or super-cheap offers online. Once at the function, you’ll need to play the room – confidence is key. Don’t be afraid to ask if there are any positions available. It would also be advisable to take a few copies of your CV, just in case someone asks to see it. The aim is to network, and make friends with, as many managers as you can. These are the power players who hire and fire. If you make an impact, if a position becomes available, you will be the first person they contact. Remember, you are special and you could make a huge impact to any role or company. Why not give your previous employer a call? They may have contacts in London they can recommend you to. It’s worth a go, surely.

Ask everyone, everywhere – where do you work? Are there any positions available? Could I have the email/number of the recruiter? Potentially, every new person you meet, there could also be a job opportunity.

3) Recruitment agencies/consultants

Employment agencies tend to specialise in particular areas. If you have specific career in mind or are looking for a professional role, it is worth researching agencies and consultants who specialise in your field. If you have no Idea, it is worth researching agencies in general. Here’s Directory of London agencies.

Often, employment agencies are the quickest way to find work, especially if you are willing to do anything. The amount of time from contact to contract can be a matter of days – it is the agency that employs you rather than the company.

4) Go out looking

Granted, during your job search, you’ll spend quite a lot of time online and on the phone but, depending on the type of job you are looking for, nothing beats actually getting out there. It makes sense – especially if you looking for retail or bar jobs. Similarly, there’s nothing stopping you from picking up the phone and calling employers directly either.

5) Use LinkedIn

Everything can be done online now, even networking. Yeah, we all know social networking can be a great way to stay in contact with friends and share photos. But did you know you can use them as job hunting tools too? Here are a few tricks to help you use social networking to find a job in London, fast:

Sign up for and create yourself a profile on LinkedIn This, potentially, works in the same way as conventional, face-to-face networking – all of the key recruiters and managers you need to impress, within your industry, will be there. You can also use your existing contacts – any employers, clients or colleagues, to recommend you, which is, basically, a reference. They can also link you to other key individuals. Furthermore, by joining relevant groups and discussions, you will further your chances of finding a job fast. Your linkedin profile is, in all intents and purposes, a CV so treat it as such. Use your Objective Statement and remember the STAR system. In 2010, Linkedin analysed American profiles and found the top ten overused words:

• extensive experience
• innovative
• motivated
• results-oriented
• dynamic
• proven track record
• team-player
• fast-paced
• problem-solver
• entrepreneurial

Avoid overused statements just as you would in your CV.

6) Use Twitter

Twitter is such a great way to find your dream job. Here’s what to do:

1. Make sure your avatar pic is professional – a nice clear image of you wearing a suit would be perfect.
2. Next, paste your Objective Statement in your bio.
3. Then make sure you tweet about your job search making sure to use the hashtag for key words.
4. Finally, add a link to your CV – either by tweeting it or by adding a link to your bio. Many recruiters, managers and key industry players will also have twitter accounts – follow as many as you can. You’ll find out about vacant positions and gain industry specific information that will help you with your job search or interviews. Also, you can use twitter as a job search engine. For example, type ‘London Bar Jobs’ and it will list relevant positions.

7) Get your online presence sorted

With social networking, everyone has a traceable online presence. After receiving your CV, employers may Google an applicant’s name to see what pops up. Why wouldn’t they? It’s so easy, it’s free and a great way to pre-screen potential employees. If you have Facebook, Twitter, Myspace, LinkedIn or any other social networking accounts you need to be very careful how you conduct yourself online. With Facebook, it is advisable to set your profile to private. Otherwise, ensure your profile picture is professional. Of course, in some cases, a quirky social networking profile will help you – especially if the position is creative. Either way, you need to make sure your online present is relevant to the type of work you are looking for.

 

Stuck in a dead-end job? Just arrived in London – new city – is it time to find your dream job? Whatever your situation you need to take action to avoid getting behind on your career goals. In todays economy there are plenty of companies struggling. There are also companies growing exponentially. Is your company growing or shrinking? If you havent seen sight of a promotion in the last 2 years in you current role its time to move on.

1) Self Assessment

You’ve heard of the term ‘play to your strengths’, right? It’s true, you really have to – this ensures you are using all your positive skills and attributes. When deciding upon a career, you need to consider your interests, your skills, your personality and your values.

Are you on the right path? To find out, take this Test which will highlight your strengths and weaknesses. It doesn’t take long, you will get asked a number of questions then you will be sent a report, based on your test.You may, of course, be already on the right career path and are pretty comfortable with your job and acquainted and with the skills needed – but are you fully aware of the extent of your skills?

Next, you should take a People Maps test to help you determine which careers would be most suitable for you.

If you have decided you need to change careers, it is worth taking a detailed test or working with a career planer.

2) Salary Survey

For many career swappers, salary is important. It could be the final decision. Salary surveys are extremely useful when choosing a new career. Simply, fill out a survey and you will be shown the salaries of compatible careers – showing you how much you could expect to earn.
Salary Survey.

3) Go Freelance

Just arrived in London, job hunting a nightmare? Can’t decide on a career just yet? Why not use your existing skills to allow you to work for yourself? Becoming freelance/self employed allows you total flexibility and the freedom to fit the work around looking for something more permanent or even a part-time job. Do you have any skills which can make you money? It could be anything from writing, web design, computer assistance or repairs, graphic design, film making/editing, translating, babysitting, ironing, cleaning and so on.

First, you need to register yourself self employed for tax purposes. All the information is here: Tax Office (HMRC)
The next step is to advertise your services – creating websites, placing adverts in relevant newspapers/magazines or posts on sites such as Gumtree are great ways to gain expose for your services.There are also a number of specific sites for freelancers, such as People Per Hour.

4) List Your Skills

After you’ve completed the salary survey and psychometric tests you should have pretty extensive list of your skills. Create a table in word document and list your skills. Separate transferable skills, specific skills and any personality traits. Once you have an accurate list of your skills you can use them to help you identify hidden skills in job descriptions get better jobs. But at this stage, you need to work out which of these skills you are better at and what careers would implement them.

5) Career Planning

Now you need to make a list of all the careers which are compatible with you. You’ll need to narrow them down, you can’t do them all, by crossing out listings which you would not consider and circling those which you have previously considered. Now your list should be a lot smaller and you need to start researching the careers. Check out job descriptions and employment details – look to match your skills, look for salary, education/training requirements and outlook. After this initial research into these careers you may decide that some may be inappropriate – you don’t fancy retraining, don’t want to take a pay cut or the prospects are not that good – cross out any which you feel are unsuitable.

Now you need to make a more detailed study into the remaining careers. One of the best ways to do this is by asking those who work in those industry or jobs – you can use LinkedIn for this. Another way is attend networking events for this industry and career fairs. Of course, once you’ve decided upon your new career you’ll need experience and you may have to do an internship – real hands on experience is a great way to gauge whether the career is really for you.

6) Set your goals

Setting yourself goals allows you to focus your search somewhat. Make long and short term goals.

Short Term Goals – where do you see yourself in 1-3 years?
Long Term Goals – where do you see yourself in 3-5 years?

Your goals need to be clearly defined – you need to know exactly what they are and how to get there and flexible – you should be willing to bend them a little.

Once you have chosen your dream career, that’s the easy part done. Now it’s time to get your dream job.

1) Too little or too much confidence

This is a bit of a no brainer. Confidence is highly important.  Interviewers can sense nervousness, as a shark smells blood, and can leave them with a false impression of you.

Some people believe you are either born with confidence or not. Wrong! Confidence is just another skill which can be honed just like the others.

One great confidence boosting way to think of an interview is to see as conversation with a friend who wants to know more about your career. Obviously, you can’t be as informal (although, many employers in creative and digital companies prefer informal ‘meetings’, perhaps in a coffee shop, to formal interviews).

Another approach is to walk into the room as if you have already been offered the job and the interview is a mere formality. This can be problematic though, as you could appear arrogant. But this technique does improve confidence.

Quite simply, you need to believe in yourself. Another confidence building technique is affirmation. Confidence stems from belief in yourself. To build up self belief in the run up to the interview, affirm your successes privately by saying short buzzy sentences to yourself. For example, ‘I am a great salesperson’ and ‘I achieved salesperson of the month 4 times.’ For a great way to practice your interview content, as well as the presentation, why not repeat one of your STAR answers.

Confidence can also stem from knowledge so really doing your research helps, so does great preparation such as all of the points this article makes.

For more great advice on confidence read 8 Self Confidence Secrets

2) Bad body language

You need to be careful with your eye contact – avoiding or breaking eye contact could give your interviewer the false impression that you are a shady, untrustworthy character. However intense staring at the interview is also no good.

When you speak you should make eye contact. When you are listening you can break eye contact a little more often. This will make you appear confident, likeable and appear to be a good listener – demonstrating great transferable skills for most jobs. Yes, at first, this might seem unnatural to you – why not practice with your friends.

Most people touch their lips or nose when they are lying. Keep your body movements in check. Avoid touching your face when you speak otherwise you’ll appear nervous and the interviewer may get a false impression of you that you are lying or exaggerating.

According to a recent study on sales professionals, those who mirrored the body language of their customers made significantly more sales than their colleagues. Analyse the speed at which the interviewer is speaking. If they speak fast you should try and match their speed as they are likely to get bored if you speak slow. The reverse is also true. If your interviewer speaks slowly and you speak fast – they will likely struggle to absorb what you have to say. Remember, your interview, and indeed the whole recruitment process, is a sales and marketing pitch.

3) Speaking negatively

Avoid negativity at all costs – regardless of the subject. You have never had a bad boss. A bad colleague. Bad software. Only focus on the negatives. Never use the word ‘problem’ – use the word ‘challenge’ instead. For example there were challenges dealing with our team based in another country but we overcame these challenges with strategy a, b, and c.

If you badmouth previous employers, what do you think this is going to tell the interviewer about you? You have a negative mindset.

Furthermore, do not tell your prospective employer any confidential information about your past employers, or about yourself – interviewers will not appreciate this and cause them to have negative opinions about you. It is surprising the amount of people who have missed out on the job of their dreams by making this mistake.

4) Not doing research

If you do not know about the company then the interviewer will assume you dont want the job. Spend at least an hour before any job looking through the companies website. Also search for articles and news about the company. Analyse recent press releases, big projects the company has completed. Also looking at the companies competition. What are they doing well?

There are questions coming such as ‘why our company’, ‘why this position?’ Have your answer ready. It doesn’t look good if you cannot explain the attraction of the company and role.

5) Not having the knowledge you claim

Careful what you put on your CV. If you have skills and experience on there that you are unsure of you could get caught out in the interview. If you have weaknesses make sure you spend time brushing up on those skills. Take online courses, watch videos. Match the items on the job spec to your CV. Whats missing? what areas do you need to improve your understanding of before the interview?