Interviews: a success story

This week I received some wonderful news from one of my clients who had gone for an interview within an industry heavily hit by the credit crunch. It was a high powered: prestigious post, and he'd been offered it.

Before he went for the interview, I worked with him on the interview, to ensure he presented himself in the best possible light.

The interview was approached as a performance; with my client preparing himself prior to the interview to ensure he presented himself in the best possible light. Here are some of the activities we planned together and he did ensuring he was rewarded with the job.

• He visited the company beforehand, checking his journey to ensure he was early for the interview; planning for the eventuality of any journey problems.
• He did a lot of research on the company prior to the interview
• He collected examples of his work to take in a well presented portfolio, to illustrate his experience. He chose projects that were related to the position he was being interviewed for and also projects that were similar to work the company did.
• He researched the people he was going to be interviewed by and anticipated questions they might ask based on their experiences.
• Through his network, he was able to speak to 2 ex-employees of the company who were in similar departments. From this he was able to understand the structure and culture of the company.
• He also checked on their dress code and dressed to 'suit' the culture of the company.
• He set off early; drinking water 2 hours before, to ensure he wasn't dehydrated.
• He arrived early at the location of the interview; giving him time to relax, warm up and focus.
• Whilst preparing, he kept focusing on what he had done; what he could do, NOT what he didn't have experience in.

Executive Voice are involved in a one day Interview Skills workshop on 24th September in Central London called "Beat the Job Crunch". More details from http://www.corpalc.com/beatthecrunch/

More details or discuss your interview skills and performance http://www.executivevoice.co.uk