Top tips for a successful interview

​Have you landed an interview and are not sure how best to prepare? We have put together our top tips to help you put your best foot forward:

Research

• Visit your prospective employer's website and browse through the 'About Us,' 'Employment,' 'Careers,' 'Our People,' and 'Media' or 'News' sections (or the like). Also visit the company's LinkedIn page.
• Quite often company websites have media releases in their news section - make sure you view these as they are also a great source of information relating to the organisation.
• Your Paxus Account Manager will be able to give you background information on your prospective employer. Take note of their advice, they deal with their clients on a regular basis and have established a great relationship with them.
• Before the interview, find out the name and title of each and every person you will be meeting with, and memorise their names. Your Paxus Account Manager will be able to provide you with this information. Also take a look at the interviewer/s' LinkedIn profile/s, so you have a good idea as to who you will be meeting with.

Behavioural Interviewing

• Behavioural interviewing is a very common interview technique used to assess the suitability of a jobseeker and their skills.
• Questions are based on the principle that your previous behaviour is the best indication of how you will perform in the future.
• These questions require the interviewee to provide an actual example from their work or life experience. Questions will start with words such as 'Tell me about a time when...' or 'Give me an example of...' Make sure you have some good examples prepared in case these types of questions come up.

• Take extra care with your appearance. Ensure your clothes are clean and well ironed, and you present professionally.
• Avoid visual distractions, for example loud ties, chipped nail polish, heavy makeup, sheer fabrics, heavy jewellery etc as these can be distracting to the interviewer.
• It is better to be over-dressed rather than underdressed for an interview so always err on the side of caution.

Feel good

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During the interview

• Don't interrupt anyone, and make sure you listen.
• Keep your answers relatively short and to the point. If the interviewer wants more information, he or she will ask you for it. By the same token, try to avoid single word answers like 'yes' or 'no.'
• Maintain good eye contact. If there is more than one person in the interview, talk to both or all of them no matter how junior they seem – looks can sometimes be deceiving.
• Prepare something for when you are invited to ask questions. Two to three questions are enough. These could be questions around who you will be reporting to, the team you would be joining, career path options or projects you could be working on etc.
• Most important of all - smile, everyone likes a friendly face!



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