Whatever your level of experience take nothing for granted. To help here's some tips to ensure you do yourself justice.
You know that you should dress formally for a job interview, whatever the environment as it shows that you are making an effort. If you don't have a smart outfit there is still no excuse given the amount of retail bargains for all manner of business clothing.
If you are working through a good recruitment consultancy like ours, then you will expect to be fully prepared for the day on every aspect of the interview. If not, you must find out as much about the company as possible and also their industry in general.
Although every interview is unique, there is a standard format that most interviews follow:
Interviews generally start in a relaxed manner. Your interviewer will introduce themselves and then usually break the ice by asking about something trivial such as the weather or your journey. During this part of the interview, it is important to make a good general impression - remember that first impressions count! Try to come across as alert, interested and friendly.
The interviewer will need to review information on your CV, or ask you to expand upon it. A typical question in this section of the interview is 'You say that you worked for X for 3 years - could you tell me a little more about that?' Avoid giving short, factual answers to these questions - elaborate on your responses, so that you talk about your strengths and what you have learned through your previous experience.
This is probably the most important part of the interview. The interviewer will ask open-ended or probing questions in order to find out your strengths and weaknesses. Likewise, any decent candidate will have already prepared questions ahead on the ins & outs of the job being interviewed form the operation, what needs to be achieved etc.
