If you’re looking for a new job this year, you’re far from alone.
Almost a third of workers are planning to look for a pastures new in the early part of this year, whether that’s because they’re in search of better challenges and opportunities, a change of career direction or simply a change of geographical location.
The key to fulfilling your career aims is cultivating your skills in interview. Unfortunately you don’t get a chance to practice those skills very much in a low pressure situation, so when the time comes to impress for real, you may find you’re overwhelmed by nerves.
That’s why today we’ve got a few helpful hints to help you ace job interviews this year.
Get the Right Recruiter
The first step begins long before the interview: you need to make sure you have a good recruiter who understands your needs, the sort of job you want and the places you are prepared to compromise.
If you’re looking for a high-level job, you should put the time into researching and approaching an executive search agency who will have access to the roles that will challenge and reward you. If you eschew the necessary research and go to a generic recruiter you’ll both be frustrated, and waste each other’s time.
Specifics
Once you’re in the interview, the most important thing you can do is be specific, about the company you’re interviewing with, about your own career and about experience you can bring to bear. Candidates who offer generalities and banalities are making poor use of their interview time: they’re not giving the interviewer useful information about their skills, and they don’t appear invested or even interested in the company they’re applying for.
Make sure you take the time prior to the interview to prepare and research. Look into the company: it’s history, values and future direction, and think about what about it excites you so you can speak authentically about how you can see yourself contributing and fitting in during the interview.
You should also review the job specification prior to going into to the interview. Look at the skills and qualities the job calls for, and prepare a few examples from your own career that show off how you’ve developed and demonstrated those skills. It’s far more important for you to fluently describe the specific situations that show you’re a good fit for the job than it is to drown your interviewer in extraneous detail. Decide on a few important projects and career milestones and familiarize yourself with them so you can have a productive conversation with your interviewer, rather than a stilted interrogation!
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