Interview Questions

Your interview preparation should give you a good idea of what to expect from both the organization and the role on offer. The fact that you have been invited to the interview is a sign that they believe you are a suitable candidate for the post. The interview is really to find out whether you are the 'best' candidate.

One thing to remember is that the interview is a two-way process and it gives you the opportunity to see at first hand what the organization is like and to get a feel for the role beyond what you already know from the job specification.

Your success in an interview relies on your ability to demonstrate that you have the Capability, Commitment, and Compatibility to perform the role effectively. These are often referred to as the '3Cs'.

If you have not prepared properly you can find yourself on the defensive, trying to justify yourself in the face of tough questions rather than having the chance to 'sell' your benefits. A well-trained interviewer will throw all sorts of odd and challenging questions at you in an attempt to assess your true suitability for the job.

There are several different styles of questions you can be asked in an interview. These can be categorized as:
• Capability
• Commitment
• Compatibility
• Competency based
• Related to your self-image
• Related to your application

Answering them in a way that will impress the interviewer depends on how effectively you have prepared, and the outcome of interviews is usually decided well in advance of the interview itself. Many strong candidates who prepare poorly for interviews struggle to get job offers and are surprised to see less obviously qualified candidates being offered the job. This is because the employers attach more significance to the interview than to the applicant's resume.

Preparing properly for an interview takes a significant amount of time and effort, although it gets easier with practice. Our free eBook 'Interview Preparation' explains:

• What research you need to do before applying for a job and where to find the information.
• How building up a rapport with a respected employment agency can get you into interviews .
• What competency-based questions are and why they are such an essential part of the management interview process.
• How to use the job ad, role description, and employee specification to identify and rank the required job competencies.
• How to match your existing competencies to those essential for the role and identify any weaknesses.

Competency-based interview questions require their own structured approach and this is explained in our free eBook 'Competency-Based Questions'.

Key Points

Success relies on demonstrating that you have the Capability, Commitment, and Compatibility to perform the role effectively.
The outcome of an interview is usually determined by how well you have prepared.