“FAIL TO PREPARE,

PREPARE TO FAIL”

e-Frontiers highly recommends that you use the time prior to the interview wisely. Interview preparation is essential and must be taken seriously. Some people we engage with spend up to 10 hours preparing. Based on our research, candidates who prepare well in advance of the interview, increase their chances of success by up to 30%. Regardless of the type of interview, you are about to have; behavioural, experience or competency-based, e-Frontiers recommends that you use the following approach.

What do you know about the company?

Interviewer: What do you know about our company?

Interviewee: You are a software solutions provider.

(Silence)

Outcome: Rejection

The above is possibly the worst answer you can give to a HR or hiring manager. Sometimes they may be insulted or this can be a moment of embarrassment for you. Ensure this doesn’t happen. It is a competitive IT jobs market, and when you are seeking a new job, most of the time you will have a few options. The client also has options. Stand out from the competition by researching the company.

With the first step in your interview preparation, e-Frontiers suggests you write down 20 facts about the company you are meeting. Depending on the company (i.e. a Multi-national or a Stealth-mode Start-up), the information available may vary.

There are many resources for information such as their website, Google News, Silicon Republic, LinkedIn, your e-Frontiers Recruiter, etc. If you find it difficult to obtain information, this will allow you to start creating questions to ask the interviewers.

For Skype, Hangouts and phone interviews, you can have these points sitting in front of you.

If it is a face to face interview, re-read these points just before it begins.

Tell us about you

The next essential tip in your interview preparation that e-Frontiers advise is that you write out your experience where it correlates to the job description. What on your CV relates to this job? When asked to go through your experience at the interview you should primarily focus on matching you to the job. Don’t be too rigid either. You are likely to possess skills and experience that go beyond the job description and can add further value. Employers want this added value. They know you can do this job but what sets you apart from the competition?

For competency-based interviews, link your experience to their competencies.

The position

The next objective in your interview preparation is to re-write the job description in your own words. What do you think this job is and what do you know about it? This will allow you to relate the role to your experience and skills.

Your motivation

One of the most important areas in your interview preparation, and why you are even considering looking for a new role is to write down your motivations for this job. Why do you want this job? We suggest you aim for 10 motivations. Step 1, 2 and 3 should help construct these motivations. Financial motivations are fine but they need to be low down your list. Your e-Frontiers Recruiter will be discussing these in initial engagements.

Post-Interview – Their perception of you

Following the interview, over the coming days, the interviewers will be discussing your performance. The final step for your interview preparation that e-Frontiers recommends, is for you to write out in 5 – 10 lines what you want them to say about you. This will create a framework that will guide, shape and direct your interview.