Given the current market conditions right now, it is more important than ever to do everything you can to nail that interview! Here is some advice to help out…
Before the interview
Do the research
Researching a company enables you to talk in a compellingly manner about the business and how you can have an impact.
Places to look:
- The company website
- News websites
- Websites focused on your industry as well as others focused on your specific profession
- Online forums and social media (Insta, Facebook, youtube etc)
- Information from the recruiter
What you need to know:
- Key products and services
- Amount of employees in the office or country you are applying
- Team size and details on the hiring manager background as well as key stakeholders
- Unique selling points of this job and company form their perspective
- Channels or routes to market (Ecommerce, stand alone stores, department stores, supermarkets, convenience stores etc)
- Key Accounts – Who are the biggest customers, what % of sales go to them. What is the strategy moving forwards? Stay the same or build out the SME customer base?
- Competitors – What are their strengths and weaknesses? What can we learn from them?
- If this is a role in a subsidiary or anywhere outside of head office, what is happening in the home country or across the region? How can you leverage what is happening globally to quickly achieves the targets in this role?
- In great detail, what is the job right now from day one? What are the key challenges and or growth plans? What will the job look like 6 – 12 months later after some initial fires have been put out and/or the systems have been initially set up and problems solved?
- What does the current customer base look like? What does the company want it to look like? What is their view on how to get there? What steps have been taken to get there already?
- Business plan over the next 1-3 years
- Current financial information (Bloomberg, financial times, CNN etc) , how well funded is the company, how much cash on hand, who has invested and who are the owners?
On the Day
- Make sure you have a clear idea of how long it takes to get to the office
- Arrive at least 10 minutes early and report to reception
- Ensure you are appropriately dressed in business attire
- Try to stay relaxed and calm before the meeting. Remember it’s just a conversation! No need to worry.
Questions that may be asked
1. Tell me about yourself
The interviewer doesn’t want to know about your personal life. Talk briefly about your achievements to date. What you have done in your career. The achievements you have recorded and how you got to your current position. Also a little about what you want to do in future.
2. Why do you want to work for us?
A little research and you’ll be able to talk compellingly about the business and how you can impact on it. If you can speak a little about their business and why it interests you it will help!
3. Give an example of where you’ve been able to use your leadership skills
Even if you’re not in a management role, you must cite an example where you took on a leadership role.
4. What are your strengths and weaknesses?
Talk about strengths that satisfy the selection criteria and allude to weaknesses irrelevant to the role.
5. Where do you see yourself in the next three to five years?
Research the company structure to pitch your aspirations.
6. What are your biggest achievements over the last few years?
Use the selection criteria to identify which of your achievements called for skills the interviewer is interested in.
7. Why should we hire you?
Describe the skills and experience you’ve gained that qualify you to fulfil the duties listed on the job description. Also talk through the company, highlighting what you know about the company and how you can help them reach their goals.
8. Are you a team player?
You need to provide examples to back up your emphatic ‘yes’.
9. What are your salary expectations?
Either leave this to your recruiter or if applying directly, I shall write another post about how to deal with this as it can be complicated
10. When can you start?
The standard answer for this question is – “after receiving an offer letter I can start within 30 days”.
11. Do you have any questions for us?
Use this opportunity to build rapport, referring back to a key point in the interview and developing it.
Questions to ask the interviewer
1. How is business going right now and what changes do you anticipate over the next year?
2. What are the future growth plans for your business unit or this particular office/country?
3. What progression is available in this position?
4. How long have you been with the company?
5. Why did you decide to join this company?
6. What challenges do you anticipate in this role and how would you recommend I resolve them?
7. How would you describe the culture here?
8. What are your expectations for this position?
9. How many people are in the team and how does this vacancy fit into this structure?
