You’ve seen ‘the’ job with a company you’ve long admired, you’ve sent in your CV and filled in the application form, you’re shortlisted for interview, you’ve done your research and brushed up your interview skills. You’re ready to give it your all, and you walk confidently into the interview…
One hour later, you walk out again feeling dazed and demoralised.
What happened in that one hour?
The senior manager interviewing you, took two phone calls and even got up and left the office at one point because someone he needed to speak to had walked past his door. It was clear he hadn’t read your CV and his attitude was one of complete disinterest.
You couldn’t make it up, could you? Well, we didn’t; the above shocker is a true story told to us by one of our former candidates. There are, sadly, many more examples we could share but frankly, it’s not good for our blood pressure.
It's important to shape up interview skills
In today’s candidate-short market, it’s imperative that employers wake up and shape up on their interviewing skills front in order to secure the best talent for their business. In addition, every candidate that attends an interview will go away with an impression of your company, your brand, your ethics and values and the experience they have will set their opinion of you. Good or bad, you can be sure that they’ll share it with their professional and social network and on it goes…
So clearly, it’s a two-way street where you’re not just interviewing, you’re being interviewed - so whoever’s hiring in your business needs to be good at it. For example, someone who is very technically intelligent might not possess the right insight to ask the right questions when interviewing someone for a sales role – even if he is the MD of the company.
But we do realise that it doesn’t come easily to everyone, and if you don’t have an in-house HR department or consultant to give guidance, it’s easy to get in a pickle so here are a few tips to help you.
This article was originally posted on the Kirsty Craig Associates website.
A true HR professional with over 28 years' industry experience, and a refreshing attitude to my industry that might surprise you!
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