With 2015 well and truly under way and the market buoyant we are organising a lot of interviews right now.
Interviews are probably right up there with public speaking in terms of enjoyment for most people. Nerves are natural but you will only be talking about yourself so remember you can’t get it ‘wrong’ it’s about you!
This month: Perfect your interview technique
Firms are trying to understand who you are, how you (best) work and what skills and experience you have. They need to know that you can:
- Do the job
- Fit into the team
Before the interview:
- Read and re-read your CV, know why you wrote each part of it and be happy to expand on any of it.
- Think of examples of your cases in detail that you can discuss. Ones involving tricky aspects, large values or volumes, anything outside of the norm are great for discussion pieces.
- Think of scenarios at work where you have had influence/ changed minds/ lead people/ developed ideas/ brought in new ways of working. Anything that shows your interaction with colleagues and clients and your influence/ impact on others are good indicators of working relationships.
- Think about your body language/ attire. This is a tricky one but speak to an honest family member or friend (we all have one) about habits, gestures or phrases that you use or overuse!
One of the trickiest feedbacks I ever had from a client was that the solicitor rolled their eyes to the point of distraction during the interview, not a good start!
Myself or my colleague Ali Gibbs are very happy to conduct some 1 to 1 training with you if you would like to hone your interview technique.
Thanks for reading, enjoy the sunshine and get in touch if you’d like interview training or any other career help.
