Good Preparation is the key to have a successful, productive interview is. It is vital in turning a one-sided interview into an opportunity for you to show yourself.
The following checklist is not meant as the definitive guide but hopefully will help you think of ways to differentiate yourself, show your fit with the role, company, culture and ethos and hopefully make you ask more questions of your executive consultant so that all your questions can be pre-resolved leaving the interview itself free of discovery and more about your suitability for the role and client:
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You should ask for confirmation including, date, time, address, and initial details the people that you will be meeting.
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Is the interview formal, informal, onsite, offsite?
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Ask the executive search consultant what they think the client might ask, and what kind of person they are looking for?
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Visit the corporate website to know the company's history, product, competitors etc.
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Explore beforehand how your skills, experiences, training and education can be employed and add value to the position and company.
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Practice key interview questions and answers with another person: prepare the answers according to STAR (S= Situation, T= Task, A = the Action you took, R = the Results). Simply is the detail that you solve the problem.
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Always plan travel arrangements a few days in advance and allow plenty of extra time for potential delays. Enter the employer's offices about 10 - 15 minutes ahead of the scheduled will be consider very polite and punctual.
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Take extra copies of your resume, certificates, references (just in case) etc.
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Write down your executive search consultant's number and the company's number in case you have to ask for a delay.
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Dress smart and professionally, make sure your appearance is clean, professional and neat.
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Take a pen and paper with your pre-written questions from your research and make notes. Give firm handshakes, maintain eye contact, be interested, and show enthusiasm.
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Smile, smile, smile, in the right time.
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Be truthful. Don't rush to simply say the right thing, be honest.
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Listen, take notes and don't be afraid to ask reasonable questions.
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It is important to thanks and follow-up with the people you met. A quick email for the interviewer is sufficient.
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Post interview, call your executive search consultant for discussing the process and follow up, let them know your honest opinion of the interview, the people and your intentions and your motivation to continue in the process. |
