If you are serious about finding a job or giving your career a boost, then you almost certainly want to register with a recruitment consultancy. As you start applying for positions, the consultant can also provide you with background information about the client company. In fact, on this website you can find all the information you need on all of our clients, and your consultant can provide you with any other information you may need.
Building a relationship with your Consultant.
The relationship with your consultant starts from the first phone call and develops from there. At the first conversation a number of impressions are formed and that could determine how positive you are promoted to one of their clients.
The consultant is, after all, making initial selections on the employer’s behalf, therefore you do have to impress your consultant. You can always be 100% honest with your consultant and any doubts or concerns you may have, at any point in your search for a new position, you must voice to your consultant, who will offer you support and guidance.
If the consultant likes you and believes you have an impressive personality, then you are even further ahead in the job hunting game. The fact is that you may not have the greatest CV on earth. Maybe you feel you have been stagnating in your current role and haven’t developed new skills recently. The consultant will be aware of this possibility, however, if you express yourself well, and have a positive attitude and a willingness to put in 100% effort to develop new skills required in a new job, this will be in your favour.
Tackling frequently asked interview questions.
You are more likely to perform well at interview if you have prepared answers to the most common questions. In fact, preparing answers to interview questions is essential if you are to maximise your impact.
Competency-based interviewing is based on the premise that the past is a good predictor of the future or, in other words, leopards don’t change their spots. The technique aims to give the interviewer an idea of how the candidate has performed in real life. It looks for evidence of skills, experience and behaviour that can be seen as indicative of future job performance, development potential and fit with organisational culture. The key to impressing an experienced interviewer is to have a wealth of examples at your fingertips. You want a range of past challenges, problems , successes and learning experiences that you can recount concisely, which show you in a positive light. Providing answers that draw on your experiences is still the best method of stressing your suitability for the role in question.
Interview.
Preparation is the key to job hunting success. This is nowhere more true than in the context of an interview. If an interview is an exam, then it’s an exam where you are pretty much given the exam questions the night before. Most interviewers ask fairly typical questions. They want to know about your past work experience and your personal qualities.
Allow enough preparation time for identifying likely questions you might be asked and then for going through suitable answers. You might want to do this in several stages, first jotting down notes of key points you want to get across, including examples illustrate your answers. You could then practise turning those notes into spoken language and finally, practise with the help of someone you know. Ask them to play interviewer and have a dummy run, checking you don’t chatter on and that your replies are sufficiently innovative.
Bear in mind the following guidelines…
Use real, working life examples wherever possible.
You don’t want to make statements such as ‘I’m good at managing staff’. You need to use examples that demonstrate how you are good at managing staff. The interviewer is far more likely to believe you and to remember your qualities.
Draw on job appraisals and reviews for blowing your trumpet.
One technique that can soften the style of delivery, but provide persuasive evidence of your abilities, is to refer to situations where other people have praised your abilities or actions, such as formal appraisals and job reviews.
Try to demonstrate softer management skills.
Communication ability, team working and other soft skills are increasingly important in the world of open-plan offices and flattened hierarchies. Where possible combine hard evidence of your success (improved revenues, reduced costs) with softer issues (improved staff morale).
Be concise.
Practise delivering answers that last no more than two or three minutes. You don’t want to dominate the interview or bore the interviewer.
To become a master of interviews, you need to master the 4 Ps:
- Preparation
- Presentation
- Personality
- Positive Attitude
For further detailed careers advice, click here.
Elements of this careers advice have been kindly provided by Jeff Grout. Further information can be found in the book ‘Kickstart your Career’, Jeff Grout and Sarah Perrin © 2002.
