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Top Interview Tips from The Maine Group!

Posted on 17th March 2017
Making Your Own Saint Patrick’s Day Luck – The Maine Group's Top Interview Tips!

It’s Saint Patrick’s Day today! Whether you're Irish or not, it’s time to give those charms a boost and help make your own luck! When you’re job hunting we all know how intimidating interviews can be. There’s the pressure to impress, the desire to land this perfect role, and the need to show how amazing you can be! In order to achieve this, you must be prepared!

Turn up to your interview fully prepared

Being fully prepared for your interview will give you the weapons to face any of those difficult questions! Here at The Maine Group we work closely with our candidates to ensure that you’re fully aware of the interview process and know what to expect from time with the interviewer. Explore the company’s goals and future plans, where have they been, where they are headed, have they been in the news lately? If so, why? What is their social media presence like? What is the company renowned for? All of these things will help you understand not only the company, but also the culture and the people that work there too. It’s important to take the time to research your interviewer as well, take a look at their LinkedIn profile and see what information you can glean about them. By doing this, you may find you have some questions you’d like to ask at interview. This also shows the interviewer that you’ve done your research and are genuinely interested in the company and the role.

Most importantly, don’t forget to make notes! Write this information down to help commit it to memory, and take these with you! You’ve done all this research, now use it to your full advantage. Don’t be afraid to prove how prepared you are. This shows real commitment.

Ask the right questions…

You should have at least six questions prepared for your interviewer, these should be focused and tailored to the company you’re interviewing with. Not sure what to ask? Speak to your consultant, they will be able to help you. (Your recruitment consultant should always prep you before your interview anyway!) A good example of an insightful and useful question would be “what are the personalities of the people I would be working for and with?” or “how would you describe a typical day for the person doing this job?”. Again, take notes! When you’re asking questions, take a minute to make a note of the answer; it will make more difference than you realise. Making a note of the answers to your questions highlights to the interviewer how interested you are in the answer!

Body language is key

It’s great when you can relax in an interview and build a rapport with your interviewer however, make sure you maintain your professionalism. A lot of your formality can come through your body language – shake hands firmly with the interviewer at the beginning and end of the interview, keep your posture, your eye contact, and maintain your space. We know it sounds cliché, but smile! It will help you relax a little, but not too much! Nervousness can often be misconstrued as aloofness, disinterest or a range of other negative emotions.  If you remember to smile no matter how nervous you feel this will help you come across as confident.

What happens if they don’t ask you if YOU have any questions?

This doesn’t happen often, but it does happen! It is a benefit to both you and the company if you come out of the interview with all your questions answered. You both need these answers to be able to make a clear and informed decision. If you haven’t been invited to ask questions, it’s time to put yourself out there and politely ask if you can address a few questions you have before the interview comes to a close; it’ll be worth it.

Take these tips on board and you will turn your luck around! Don’t forget that The Maine Group can always help if you feel you need more prep before your interview, just give us a call!