If hunting for vacancies is the most time-consuming aspect of getting a job, and creating a great CV and cover letter the most mentally draining, then attending an interview or group assessment–basically anything where you meet the employer face to face–is the most nerve wracking.
There’s something about job interviews or group assessments that brings out the fear in people. Maybe it’s because you never know exactly what’s going to happen, or maybe it’s because none of us ever likes the pressure of being scrutinised in real life. Or maybe we’re just terrified of making some terrible gaff, whether that be a belch, an unzipped fly or forgetting the name of the interviewer.
However, interviews and group assessments are, sadly, an unavoidable fact of life. You don’t get many jobs nowadays–well, not good ones, anyway–where they’ll take people on without an interview. So while they’re often a daunting experience, you just need to come to terms with them and give each one your best shot.
But just because something is unavoidable doesn’t mean it’s outcome has to be negative, nor that you’ve got no control over the process. In fact, in the majority of cases preparation is the difference between successful and unsuccessful ones.
An employer can easily tell if the person sitting in front of them has done their homework, and the nine out of ten of them will take a good and well-prepared candidate over an exceptionally talented but unprepared one. Apart from anything else, the act of preparing shows that person’s commitment. And if there’s one thing that employers value, it’s commitment.
Taking steps to prepare for an interview or group assessment will also make you feel less nervous about the experience, which in turn is likely to help your performance. So that alone should be enough to get you to follow some of our tips for preparing for interviews and group assessments
Paying attention to the small details
We’ll start with just emphasising, something that you’ll almost certainly know already: all those little things like being well presented and arriving on time are essential. If you can’t be bothered to dress correctly and show up at the right time when it comes to the interview, why should the employer think you’ll be any more professional when doing the job?
Researching the company and the vacancy
It’s astonishing how few people think of doing their homework on the company they’ve got their interview with. If it’s a small company and information on them is difficult to come by then this is excusable. But if you’re applying for a job with any company that has a website with an About Us section on it, there’s absolutely no excuse not to know key details about them.
And doing this research isn’t just a question of showing you’ve taken the interview seriously. You can also use the information to your advantage. If your answers to the interview questions are informed by what you know about the company then you’ll demonstrate how well you’d fit in there.
Second guessing the interview questions and/or group tasks
One fact about group assessments or interviews that should make you feel a bit more relaxed about the prospect of being invited to one is that there is only a finite number of questions or tasks you could be given to do.
And, even better, the web has a wealth of resources on it to help you second guess what you’ll be asked to do. There are countless websites with example interview questions. The more possible questions you’ve seen in advance, the more eventualities you’ll be prepared for in the interview. Looking into possible questions or tasks gives you the chance to prepare how to tackle them. Rather than being the person who can’t think of a previous time where they’ve used their leadership skills at work, you’ll have an anecdote for every occasion.
Understanding what employers are looking for with group assessments
With group assessments there’s an extra dimension to the scrutiny you’re under. It’s not just that they’re going to be observing how well you perform at giving the presentation, solving the puzzle or whatever else they’ll have you doing; they’re also going to be watching how you work with others.
In some ways, there’s a clear upside to this. If you’re stuck with a group of duds, you won’t be judged negatively if they can see that you pulled your weight in the tasks and any failings were other people’s faults. At the same time, though, you definitely need to be aware of the fact that you need to behave in a way that they’d want you to perform in their workplace, rather than trying to grab all the glory for yourself or trying to sabotage the efforts of other team members.
Look into confidence-building and stress-reduction techniques
Some people poo-poo stress-reduction techniques on the grounds that they are either new-ageish mumbo-jumbo. Don’t knock something until you’ve tried it, however. There’s no denying that nerves and stress aren’t going to help you perform to your potential, so anything that helps minimise these–barring a trip to the pub before the interview–is something worth trying. Very often these techniques are very simple, and also very effective. Breathing techniques, for example, are a fantastic way to cut off panic pangs.
Preparing questions for the interviewer
Having some insightful questions ready for the interviewers after they have finished grilling you is a very wise idea, and something that you can easily take care of while doing your research into the company. Try to avoid questions along the lines of ‘how many days of holiday will I get?’ the more the question is related to the duties of the role or an aspect of the company’s operations the better. You can get answers to these other–admittedly very important–questions later on, during the phone conversation you have in which they offer you the job!