How can you prepare for an important job interview?

Congratulations! You’ve been invited to interview for a job role that you’ve applied for, showcasing your mastery of the application process. Now, it’s crunch time. How well will you stack up verbally against the other candidates?

We've all been there – facing a panel of interviewers throwing questions to see how well you can think on your feet. Instead of being stumped by curveballs, you can prepare ahead of time for the likely questions you’ll be asked. This preparation can make you stand out as the preferred candidate over others, who might hesitate and cobble together responses on the fly.

Deducing likely questions

One effective strategy is to examine the job advertisement carefully. Look for sections like “About You,” which describe the qualities the employer seeks. You've already met the educational requirements, as evidenced by the invitation to interview. Now, focus on the other attributes mentioned. Here are some common qualities employers look for and how you can prepare to discuss them:

1. Leadership experience If the job ad mentions “a broad range of previous leadership experience,” prepare to give an overview of your leadership roles. Reflect on your professional experience and list the industries you’ve worked in (e.g., hospitality, recruitment and business). Then, identify the leadership skills you have utilised in those roles. Some examples include:

• Keeping the team focused on their goals
• Encouraging team members to share views and ideas
• Upskilling colleagues and fostering their talents
• Providing counsel, advice, and maintaining an open-door policy
• Inspiring, guiding, and motivating individuals and the team
• Practicing collaboration, openness, respect, and empowerment.

Tie these skills to specific occasions where you demonstrated them, making them more accessible during the interview.

2. Attention to detail is the basis of another likely question. For qualities like “high attention to detail in both written and verbal communication,” recall roles and examples that showcase your meticulousness. For written communication, think about drafting, reviewing, and editing documents. For verbal communication, focus on preparation, practice, eye contact, and a measured tone of delivery.

3. Ability to work under pressure is a classic. When asked about your ability to work under pressure, provide examples from your current and past roles. For instance, meeting deadlines, staying calm and focused, prioritising tasks, and assisting others can all illustrate this ability.

4. Customer service excellence is highly likely to elicit a question. If “proven experience offering a high level of customer service” is a requirement, reflect on what good customer service means to you. As someone who has walked more than five decades on the planet and been the recipient of both good, bad and ugly customer service, I don’t think you can beat three simple rules/skills at the crux.

These are ‘listening skills’, ‘politeness’, and ‘timeliness of response’, assuming of course that the response is also accurate. When I think back over my hospitality career, success also came from having good observation skills, empathy and a friendly demeanor. No one wants to wait, and wait, and they expect to get what they asked for, with a smile. If workers are not focused on each customer during the transaction, then mistakes are made. It happens all too often. I also consider it rude if the server also doesn’t look me in the eye and provide basic ‘professional warmth’.

So your focus needs to be on key elements such as listening skills, politeness, and timely, accurate responses. Draw on your experiences from various roles to highlight these skills. In hospitality, focus on empathy, observation skills, and maintaining a friendly demeanour. In financial services, emphasise timeliness, accuracy, and politeness. In health and wellness, highlight empathy, patience, and building trust.

Additional tip: To further prepare, enlist the help of a clever friend to brainstorm possible questions and practice your responses. Here are some additional questions to consider:

• How have you improved efficiencies in the workplace?
• Can you provide an example of leading a team to achieve a specific goal or project?
• What drives you to become a successful leader? How do you measure your success?

When it's your turn to ask questions, what will set you apart from other candidates is the quality of your questions. Be specific to demonstrate your expertise in the field.

Wishing you the best in your interview! Remember, preparation and practice are key to success. By anticipating the interviewer’s questions and reflecting on your experiences, as well as having researched the company so that you have some quality questions of your own, you can confidently demonstrate why you are the best candidate for the job.