Interviews are a two way process - a chance for the prospective employer to assess you and an opportunity for you to assess the prospective employer. Although there are no hard and fast rules for success in the selection process, the following guidelines may help.

Prepare
By the time you reach the interview your skills have already been assessed on paper and now the prospective employer will want to find out in more detail your experience, background and how you can fit into their team and add benefit.

The interview process is not prescriptive, each employer has different requirements and criteria to meet. What can help you in this process is finding out as much as possible about the job, the company, it’s background and its current operation before you attend the interview. Read the job specification, look at its website, read marketing brochures, contact it’s HR department and of course ask your Capital International Account Manager. This research may give you the edge over other candidates with similar skills.

Perform
On the day ensure you know who to report to and arrive early. You can learn a lot about a company from literature in reception, mission statements on the walls, the way employees interact with each other and the general ambience. It also gives you time to compose yourself.

Dress smartly but comfortably and have copies of your CV and other literature that may help promote your skills available should they be needed.

Relax and enjoy the interview. Be confident that your skills are relevant and take the opportunity to have an interesting discussion on the requirements of the role and how you can provide solutions and benefits. Display positive body language. Listen carefully, take time to answer if you need to, be interested, ask questions and try and connect. The interviewer’s aim is to find someone who they can trust to get on with the job quickly. This is your chance to let them know you can do that.

Stay positive and avoid falling into the trap of being negative about other employers. Also be friendly and natural. It’s hard for an interviewer to reject a candidate who is both technically good and good with people.

Assess
Remember this is your opportunity to assess your prospective employer. If your questions aren’t answered during the interview process ask them at the end. You will probably have your own but these may prompt some ideas:

• Why has the position become available?
• Who will you report to?
• What deadlines will you be working to?
• What are the key success indicators of the role?
• If you are joining a team, how is this made up?
• What are the most critical aspects of the role?
• Are there any planned changes in the near future which are relevant to the role?
• Are there any planned organisational changes which may affect the role?
• When will a decision be made regarding the appointment?

If the answers raise doubts in your mind regarding the position ensure they are clarified before you leave the interview. Time taken at this stage can avoid costly mistakes later on.

Finally, remember that all selection processes have their own criteria to meet. The above pointers may help you gain success at interview. However if you are not successful take the objective view that you simply have not met that criteria in some way or another on this occasion. If valid feedback is available listen to it and use it to your advantage next time. Remember you have marketable skills and experience and the right fit is out there