Tamara info@eliteinterviews.ie. at Elite Interviews www.eliteinterviews.ie, is keen to share her 6 Top Interview Tips

1) Why do you want this job?

An apparently simple question, and yet easily the most difficult for a lot of people to answer well. Sometimes people make the mistake of thinking this question is a chance to show off their ambitions and neglect the actual role at hand. This question is really asked because the interviewer wants to know you are as invested in this role and company as they will be in hiring you. It is no good to them if you have ambition to leave the role within a short time frame. Show them how you are invested in this role, and that it makes sense for your long term goals, but that you are not merely interested in a brief stepping stone on their dime

2) Be prepared.

It can be so easy to excel in the technical aspect of your interview by preparing well and anticipating possible questions based on the job description, so be sure to study that very well as your interview guide. This is particularly comforting if you are nervous about your communication style or struggle with nerves in an interview, because you be confident that in this aspect you know your stuff. For example, if you are interviewing for a LEAN role, have your 7 wastes ready to rhyme off the top of your head, have examples of how you have tackled or would tackle each waste, and why. Showing how you have used your technical expertise in previous roles will greatly bolster your capabilities to an interviewer.

3) Relax.

Easier said than done for some but remember that you are there for a conversation. It is simply a method for the interviewer to ask about what you have done in greater depth than your CV allows. By being called for an interview at all, you can be assured that you have a lot of the qualities they are looking for already, so take confidence from that.

4) Focus on you.

Forgetting to focus the answers on tangible actions taken by they themselves is a surprisingly common theme among my clients. Refer every question to something you yourself did, and be sure to crystal clear about your exact role. For example, if it was a team effort, mention that fact, but then speak in the first person such as “I was responsible for implementing a 5S system and I did so by…”.

5) Talk about results.

If you have made hard or soft savings through a project, be sure to mention that in actual terms. Giving an example of a project you did without also communicating the result is a common mistake among clients, and can weaken the impact of that example to the interviewer.

6) Change.

An important communication skill for people in management, supervisory, engineering, project leader roles, etc, is the ability to implement change. A good change agent is key to some of these positions that may require a big change from the status quo. Be sure to prepare to answer how you approach dealing with people in order to change a process. Key to this answer will be to show your technical knowledge. By educating process workers on the relevant principles, for example in 5S, and showing them how such change actually benefits them and their work, is often the key to effective change. This kind of approach shows your confidence in your technical ability to engage the stakeholders and achieve necessary changes.