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Interview Skills
Getting selected for an interview was your first hurdle. You cleared that! Now it's the interview. If you prepare for this you will improve your chances of success immeasurably. Here are some tips:
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Before the Interview
Research the company or firm you are going
Do research
Prepare a list of questions
Rehearse talking through your CV
Logistics
Research the company or firm you are going to
This helps you understand their outlook on life, the jargon they use, their culture, and a whole lot more. Once you have a grip on this, you can weave it into your interview bringing out points which will resonate with your future employer!. If they are a very people-orientated outfit, perhaps you would be best moderating your Atilla-the-Hun-attitude towards managing people. If they are looking for someone with tall building experience, emphasise your experience in this area. Unless you are trying to make a different point, perhaps your speed of learning, talking at length about low-rise social housing might not get you very far!
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Do research
Start by calling up the organisation and asking for their brochure/annual report etc. Then read them! Trawl through back issues of the Architect's Journal, New Civil Engineer and Construction News. These publications cover most of what is going on in the industry. Call up the organisation and get the low-down on the person interviewing you. Speak to the receptionist, or his or her secretary. My experience is that if you are open and honest, and ask for help, you'll get fantastic assistance. But have some questions ready: "Is Mr Jones chartered?", "What sort of projects does/did Mrs Smith work on?", "What's the best way of dealing with him/her?". When ever you're talking with people down the phone trying to get help, smile. It really does work!
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Prepare a list of questions
Most of us do this, if we do it at all, while waiting at reception! This isn't the best way. Asking bright questions is a key way of standing out from your fellow interviewees and impressing your interviewer. It is well worth putting aside a little time to prepare for this. Do it well before your interview and have the questions written down - you may have a wonderful memory, but it is not unknown for the pressure of an interview to turn the best of us into gibbering idiots. A written list provides you with a psychological anchor. "Do you have any questions Mr Smith?". "Yes I jolly well do," we can reply with a flourish waving a sheet of tightly worded questions. Don't have too many, and don't try to be clever!
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Rehearse talking through your CV
This means finding an empty room and talking to yourself! OK, you'll feel like a complete headcase at first, and if some one overhears you, you might find yourself in serious difficulties!! But doing this is so worthwhile!!! Many, many interviews start with the interviewer asking you to talk through your CV. Often this can be the first time for several years, that you have talked about yourself. If you have just graduated, perhaps its the first time ever. Unless you have rehearsed this you are not going to make the best of it. The idea isn't to prepare a speech. It's simply to help you order your thoughts, dredge up memories form the past and link your experience to the needs of your prospective employer. Identify your most relevant experience, and stress it! Bring this out at every opportunity.
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Logistics
Do some work on interview location and transport, and aim to arrive ten minutes or so early. It is very off-putting to arrive bathed in sweat. Take your invitation to interview with you. There are few things quite as embarrassing as standing in reception trying to reach into the recesses of your memory for the name of the person interviewing you. Give some thought to the way you dress. Dressing up is safer than dressing down. (i.e. it's better to be the only person in a suit, than the only person without one!). If you are one of those unreconstructed people who insists on occasionally filling your lungs with the smoke from a burning white stick-like thing, don't. At least for the duration of the interview.
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