How to prepare for and stand out in an interview

You just found out that you’ve got an interview for your dream job, but how and when do you prepare?

The first thing to do is relax. The manager and recruiter saw something in your CV that they thought could work well for the role, so you’re already in a good position.

Let’s start firstly with preparing your answers. You obviously won’t be able to predict exactly what questions you will be asked, but you can predict the likely questions/scenarios the interviewers will want to know about.

Questions that come up regardless of what role you’re being interviewed for are typically around soft skills, for example:

· Tell us about a time you had to work in a team to achieve a goal.

· How do you manage your workload and what are your priorities?

· Can you describe a difficult decision you’ve had to make?

· How do you handle difficult co-workers/customers/clients?

The questions themselves will be asked differently but they cover the key themes interviewers will want to uncover, such as your approach to teamwork, time management, conflict and working under pressure, so practise some answers that are relevant to these common themes. You can do this with a friend, in the mirror, with a family member, with a goldfish even, just make sure your answers are structured and concise.

To help you prepare, Google the STAR technique which helps you plan your answers. This technique helps you keep your answers focused, Situation,Task, Action, Result. Set the scene of the issue, then go through what YOU did to resolve the issue (avoid using ‘we’ too much, an interview is the time to talk about you!) and what the outcome was (how did you know it would work or what did you learn from it).

If you are already in the job market and are actively applying to jobs, use the working day to think of a bank of possible scenarios that could highlight some of the key soft skill themes that companies want to see, then turn that scenario into a good answer.

When it comes to the role-specific questions, it’s OK to say you don’t know the answer when you’re asked something outside of your skill base but don’t beat yourself up after that point. Many interviewers will walk through the question with you, looking for what logic and reasoning you can apply to the question. Often, showing that logical thought pattern to get to an answer is just as valuable as actually knowing the answer. We all deal with new challenges in our working lives so being able to apply logic is a very valuable skill to highlight.

You’ll want to research the company as well. I have yet to be in an interview where the manager doesn’t ask what you know or think about the company. At Drax, interviewers want to see that you’ve looked into the company and that you are interested in joining us.

Most companies have a wealth of information on their websites, but the goal isn’t to memorise as much of it as you can. Instead read through information you can find and focus in on some key aspects that really interest you or are relevant to the role. For example as the potential recruitment manager at Drax I was interested in the culture of the company and what online advertising & social media presence Drax had, so before my interviews here I spent a lot of time researching Glassdoor, LinkedIn, Twitter and the company’s careers pages — things that were relevant to the role I’d hopefully end up getting.

Also remember to focus on the information that is relevant to the job role you are applying for. Accountants will inevitably look at our annual reports to gauge our financial performance and I would expect the technical plant teams to know or try to find out about what kind of plant and equipment we have here on site.

Researching the company is not a competition to see who can remember a timeline of dates and events. It is instead a chance to show us how you have connected with the values and strategy of our company.

Interviews are an unnatural experience and can be unnerving, for every candidate at every level. And that is a good thing. Nerves can show us that you want this opportunity and that you are serious about joining us.

If you spend time preparing well, you will take the pressure off yourself to think on the spot in the interview, which should allow you to relax and be yourself. Remember not to talk too fast, remember to breathe and remember the person interviewing you was once on your side of the table being interviewed. We all want you to put your best foot forward.