Everything to prepare for a job interview.
18 February 2013
Read by 3075 persons
To succeed in a job interview, you must prepare. The goal, through hard work, will be to be natural. To listen to the recruiter. To convince them that you are the right candidate.
"I resigned in June 2011. Since then, I have put myself 200% into my job search." Ismaël, a former factory director, specifies himself: "I had two handicaps: my atypical background and my age." At 52, he could have added a third with his Maghreb origins. He always refused to think about it. "In all, I went through about fifty interviews. In April 2012, I found a management position. My advice on interviewing? Prepare carefully but remain spontaneous, concise and synthetic. Not easy when you have thirty years of experience."
Jacques's problem, at 27, is quite different. The young engineer, graduated in computer science from the University of Technology of Troyes in 2008, regularly tests recruiters. "I regularly refresh my online CV," he specifies. "Following this, in January 2012, I received about twenty offers for about twenty interviews. My goal is to keep up with the market to "rechallenge" internal proposals and always be one step ahead of the employer. My advice on recruitment interviews? Define very precisely what you are looking for and highlight your personality."
As these two examples show, there are many reasons for having a job interview. But you must always respect the same rules. The interview is, at heart, an exercise in set pieces. The first recommendation is to understand the stakes of recruitment for an employer. "For the recruiter," specifies Tania Gibot, mobility consultant at Apec Paris République, "the major challenge is not to make a mistake in their choice. They are responsible for the success of this recruitment in the long term. So the candidate must understand that they are not the only one to be worried." The interview is then a time when you have to exchange as much as possible. Everyone must ask questions and everyone must answer them. This makes it possible to put things in their proper place and to place the candidate as an interlocutor of the same level as the recruiter.
"Mastering your CV"
This being specified, the candidate must meticulously prepare for this interview. First of all, they must know what the quality of their interlocutor will be. If it's an operational person, the discussion will focus on the job, the immediacy, the ability to integrate into the team. If it's a consultant or a member of human resources, the questions will revolve around the candidate's potential and long-term professional expectations. "Then, the candidate must master their CV without having to read it," recalls Marie-Claire Lemaitre, CEO of the recruitment firm Mercuri Urval, one of the largest in France. "They must know their background. Seeing a candidate reading their resume is destabilizing for the recruiter. It suggests that the CV is rigged."
The candidate must then be able to answer the basic and usual questions: why the position interests them, their assets for the position, their last experience, the reasons for leaving. The candidate will also have analyzed the strengths and weaknesses of the targeted company, its context, its activities.
Preparing an argument
The interview is prepared in terms of form and substance. In terms of form, posture must accompany the verb. The candidate is smiling and shows interest in being there. They are attentive and listening. Certain signs show, for example, that the interlocutor is losing patience. These must be picked up and the speech shortened. In terms of substance, it is imperative to illustrate and demonstrate with precise facts everything that is put forward. In this way, the recruiter understands and validates that the candidate possesses such and such competence. It is also interesting to make projections into the position. And to specify that you will make such and such a decision upon hiring. The candidate must also prepare an argument to explain how these shortcomings can be overcome or surpassed. This presupposes, beforehand, having analyzed them...
Sometimes, the conversation can become aggressive during the interview. It is then necessary to defuse these tensions as early as possible. By detecting them immediately thanks to listening and by regularly asking the recruiter if the questions asked are being answered correctly. If the recruiter's questions go beyond the scope of a job interview, it will then be possible to point out that this can be discussed elsewhere but not during a recruitment interview.
A thank-you email
At the end of the interview, the questions prepared in advance must be asked if the answers have not been given before. This shows that the candidate is interested in the position offered. Finally, it is essential to ask what the next step in the process will be and what the deadline for the response will be. After 48 hours, a 5-line thank-you email is welcome. The candidate will thus stand out from the crowd. It will be specified that the interview has strengthened the interest in the position and the company. The applicant will review the conditions for the success of the collaboration by summarizing their strengths for the position.
A follow-up will be made at the end of the response period. Always without aggressiveness and without reproach, indicating all the pleasure taken during the interview and specifying that you are available to provide additional information.
At the end of this process, systematically, the good candidate makes a report/assessment of each interview, highlighting the relevant answers and reworking the points that posed problems. This is how a candidate improves and eventually finds work.
Gwenole Guiomard.
Emploi-pro.fr
Posted online February 18, 2013.
"I resigned in June 2011. Since then, I have put myself 200% into my job search." Ismaël, a former factory director, specifies himself: "I had two handicaps: my atypical background and my age." At 52, he could have added a third with his Maghreb origins. He always refused to think about it. "In all, I went through about fifty interviews. In April 2012, I found a management position. My advice on interviewing? Prepare carefully but remain spontaneous, concise and synthetic. Not easy when you have thirty years of experience."
Jacques's problem, at 27, is quite different. The young engineer, graduated in computer science from the University of Technology of Troyes in 2008, regularly tests recruiters. "I regularly refresh my online CV," he specifies. "Following this, in January 2012, I received about twenty offers for about twenty interviews. My goal is to keep up with the market to "rechallenge" internal proposals and always be one step ahead of the employer. My advice on recruitment interviews? Define very precisely what you are looking for and highlight your personality."
As these two examples show, there are many reasons for having a job interview. But you must always respect the same rules. The interview is, at heart, an exercise in set pieces. The first recommendation is to understand the stakes of recruitment for an employer. "For the recruiter," specifies Tania Gibot, mobility consultant at Apec Paris République, "the major challenge is not to make a mistake in their choice. They are responsible for the success of this recruitment in the long term. So the candidate must understand that they are not the only one to be worried." The interview is then a time when you have to exchange as much as possible. Everyone must ask questions and everyone must answer them. This makes it possible to put things in their proper place and to place the candidate as an interlocutor of the same level as the recruiter.
"Mastering your CV"
This being specified, the candidate must meticulously prepare for this interview. First of all, they must know what the quality of their interlocutor will be. If it's an operational person, the discussion will focus on the job, the immediacy, the ability to integrate into the team. If it's a consultant or a member of human resources, the questions will revolve around the candidate's potential and long-term professional expectations. "Then, the candidate must master their CV without having to read it," recalls Marie-Claire Lemaitre, CEO of the recruitment firm Mercuri Urval, one of the largest in France. "They must know their background. Seeing a candidate reading their resume is destabilizing for the recruiter. It suggests that the CV is rigged."
The candidate must then be able to answer the basic and usual questions: why the position interests them, their assets for the position, their last experience, the reasons for leaving. The candidate will also have analyzed the strengths and weaknesses of the targeted company, its context, its activities.
Preparing an argument
The interview is prepared in terms of form and substance. In terms of form, posture must accompany the verb. The candidate is smiling and shows interest in being there. They are attentive and listening. Certain signs show, for example, that the interlocutor is losing patience. These must be picked up and the speech shortened. In terms of substance, it is imperative to illustrate and demonstrate with precise facts everything that is put forward. In this way, the recruiter understands and validates that the candidate possesses such and such competence. It is also interesting to make projections into the position. And to specify that you will make such and such a decision upon hiring. The candidate must also prepare an argument to explain how these shortcomings can be overcome or surpassed. This presupposes, beforehand, having analyzed them...
Sometimes, the conversation can become aggressive during the interview. It is then necessary to defuse these tensions as early as possible. By detecting them immediately thanks to listening and by regularly asking the recruiter if the questions asked are being answered correctly. If the recruiter's questions go beyond the scope of a job interview, it will then be possible to point out that this can be discussed elsewhere but not during a recruitment interview.
A thank-you email
At the end of the interview, the questions prepared in advance must be asked if the answers have not been given before. This shows that the candidate is interested in the position offered. Finally, it is essential to ask what the next step in the process will be and what the deadline for the response will be. After 48 hours, a 5-line thank-you email is welcome. The candidate will thus stand out from the crowd. It will be specified that the interview has strengthened the interest in the position and the company. The applicant will review the conditions for the success of the collaboration by summarizing their strengths for the position.
A follow-up will be made at the end of the response period. Always without aggressiveness and without reproach, indicating all the pleasure taken during the interview and specifying that you are available to provide additional information.
At the end of this process, systematically, the good candidate makes a report/assessment of each interview, highlighting the relevant answers and reworking the points that posed problems. This is how a candidate improves and eventually finds work.
Gwenole Guiomard.
Emploi-pro.fr
Posted online February 18, 2013.
