Your frequently asked questions: answered by tutor Muriel McClymont

 

Q1. How can I make myself stand out as the right candidate in the interview?

A1. This is the million-dollar question! Whenever I have been interviewing, I am looking for a someone who:

• is a good match of skills and experience to the job specification
• has taken the trouble to find out about the company/position
• will fit in with the people already there.

The best way to stand out from the crowd is to prepare thoroughly. I am always amazed by how many people don’t bother.

• Make a list of all the skills, qualifications and experience the job specification details, and come up with how you can provide evidence of experience for each one. Even where you think you don’t have any directly relevant experience, think of the closest example you can, and think about how what you’ve learned would transfer across to this environment.
• Look into the organisation, check out their website, see what is happening for them. What are they promoting? Check them out on Google to see if they have been in the news. You can glean a lot of information this way from what new areas they are trying to get into to what their values are as a company. This is also a great way of finding questions to ask them too.
• As for fitting in, if you have prepared well, you’ll be more relaxed and able to chat, so will come across more yourself. If that means they think you won’t fit it, you are better off not getting that job anyway!

Q2. I always get so nervous about interviews. I’m like a rabbit caught in headlights and I never come across at my best. What can I do to improve this?

A2. Once again, this can be helped by preparation. Do everything suggested in the answer above then, think about specific situations where you have demonstrated the skills that are required for this role. Practise talking about how your contribution helped create successful outcomes in these situations. As you do this you can sort out which bits sound impressive and edit it down in the telling to the key elements, which demonstrate how great it would be to have you on their side. When any of us talk about an experience, we become more animated and our faces light up as we re-live an exciting experience. It’s much more interesting for the interviewer and will make you stand out too.

If after preparing thoroughly you still feel nervous, then the simplest thing you can do is to breathe. Or should I say b-r-e-a-t-h-e…. When we are nervous, we tend to take short, shallow breaths, high up in our chest.

Try this right now. Take three deep, slow breaths. Each time as you breath in, try to suck air right down into your toes and count slowly while you do this. Then, breath out slowly and steadily, counting at the same speed as the in breath. Keep going till you have counted at least two counts longer that the in breath. Just this act of getting some oxygen into your body helps to calm your fight or flight reflex, which is where the shallow breathing comes from. It is very difficult to stay really nervous, if you calm your breathing down.

Q3. I’m told I talk too fast and I know I do when I am nervous. What can I do to help this?

A3. It’s very hard to hear what we actually sound like to the rest of the world. Recording your own voice is the best way to tackle this one. Many phones these days have a record option, so you can record yourself answering the sort of questions you think you may get asked at the interview. Then honestly assess how you come across. Do you speak too fast or too slowly? Are you speaking loudly enough or too loudly? What’s your tonality like? Do you need to vary the way you speak to make it more interesting? Practise doing things differently, so you have more choices on the day.

Q4. I hate it when they say: “Tell us about yourself.” What are you supposed to say to this?

A4. Believe it or not, this question can be a real gift. It’s an opportunity for you to showcase yourself and your experience in a way that you are in charge of, as long as you have prepared in advance. Preparation again, hmmm, is there a theme developing here?

“Tell us about yourself,” is often used as an ice-breaker, designed, believe it or not, to put you at your ease! It does however, allow you to lay out a well-rounded, finely tuned, highly relevant summary of yourself – that nicely mirrors the job spec. It can be useful to have prepared a sentence to get you started. Try to create a sentence that contains, what you do, for what type of people or organisations, to what effect. For example, I am a theatre actor, working largely for Shakespearean companies, and I always get standing ovations! (Only if this is true of course). Design your own version of this, so you have it handy. If you are not sure by the way they phrased the question whether they want a brief history or highlights of why you are the right candidate, then ask.

Q5. I was made redundant three times, how can I possibly explain that away in an interview?

A5. Being made redundant was not your fault so you don’t need to feel embarrassed about it. Also, the world has changed. Redundancy has become a normal part of working life now, and many people have either been made redundant more than once themselves or know someone else who has. If you work in an industry like newspaper journalism, which is shrinking, then multiple redundancies will not really register as an issue.

What could make this an issue is how you talk about it. It’s important not to get drawn into any discussion in an interview about how awful being made redundant is. Of course it is awful, but this is not the time or place and talking about it will take you to all those dark places, where you will end up talking about things that you would rather not.

Instead, talk about the benefits of redundancy and the opportunities that have opened up for you as a consequence. Even if they didn’t feel like opportunities at the time, find a way during your preparation of describing what happened as an opportunity. For example, “Being made redundant three times has had its difficulties but it has given me the opportunity to work for two other companies, gaining experience which I wouldn’t otherwise have got. I have learned a huge amount from the whole experience including how resilient I am.”

Q6. I was hoping to be short-listed for an interview but instead have been invited to meet up for an informal coffee. Would this be a good opportunity to ask who I need to impress in the interview?

A7. No. This is the interview! (If you do well, it may be the first in a series). Every contact you have from a company about an opportunity you have applied for, whether it is a phone call, a coffee, meeting in the pub or a formal panel interview, is an interview.

I once saw someone being struck off the short list because they were rude to the receptionist! Someone else had virtually got the job after a second interview but when they went for an informal coffee afterwards with the initial interviewer, they let their guard down and admitted how worried they were about their experience. They also didn’t get the job. Remember that all contact with the organisation could have an impact on the outcome.

Q7. I have an interview next week but there has been no mention of money yet. What’s the best way to bring this up and what should I do if the money they are offering is too low? I am currently on a very low rate. Should I lie about what I am currently getting, if they ask?

A7. Interviews are a two way process. Not only are they deciding if you are right for them, you are making a decision about whether they are right for you. Making sure you are paid appropriately is really important but, when times are tough and there is lots of available talent, sometimes people commissioning work take advantage and offer unacceptably low rates.

Work out what your back stop is, i.e., what is the lowest rate you would accept for this work, then be prepared to turn it down if they can’t offer this. There are times when taking a low rate may be acceptable to you, e.g., to gain experience in a new area, to make contacts to network, or to eat! Perhaps that is why you are currently on a low rate.

I would never recommend that you lie in an interview because if you’re caught out, it will be assumed that everything you have said could also be untrue. Even if you get the job and the truth comes out later, it can be hugely damaging. Instead, you can say something like: “I am currently working at £x per day, which is much lower than I would normally accept, but I took that work so I could experience that environment first hand. That has been a useful experience but now I need to charge the going rate of £y.”

Don’t always just negotiate over money. If you are very experienced in that area, perhaps you could suggest that, as the money is less than you were expecting, then perhaps, with your experience, it may be possible to do all the work that they require for the same money but in four days a week.

If rates of pay haven’t been mentioned, simple enquire into what they were planning to pay. There is a chance that they will turn this back on you and ask what you would expect. In this case, you need to have already worked out what is an appropriate fee including the top rate you would ideally like and the bottom rate that you could take to make it worth your while.

Q8. I’ve got an interview next week but my experience doesn’t fit exactly what they are looking for. My CV didn’t make this obvious. How can I explain this at the interview?

A8. It’s important to be honest at an interview. It is also important to say what you can do, not what you can’t. The preparation described in questions one and two above talk about finding ways to demonstrate your skills and achievements. If there are areas where you feel you do not fit the specification exactly, find areas, which are as close as possible, then use them to demonstrate your talents, flexibility and ability to learn. Then you can explain how all of that is going to help you transfer your skills and experience over to this new area.

Remember much of your CV must have been of interest to them so sticking to what you know rather than talking about what you don’t know is key. If you start a sentence with “I can’t”, the interviewer will hear nothing more. Always think, focus and talk about what you can do.