Few people know how utterly untactful I can be in a job interview. I have only had two serious job interviews in my nineteen years and both times I got rejected. I don’t attribute this to me having a poor personality or an unimpressive CV, I just think that I was unprepared. A year ago I had an interview at PC World, they asked why I wanted to work there. My answer was (I quote) “because I like technological…*awkward pause*…things.” Looking back on it, all I can do is laugh. It’s no wonder why I did not get that job and although I sincerely believe I would have been excellent at it, I didn’t give a good impression in my interview.
Last week I received an email from my university’s fantastic careers and employment service offering students the chance to have a mock interview with Ernst & Young. Needless to say, I jumped on the opportunity as fast as I could. I’ve had a lot of time to think about my interview skills from the PC World interview to now and although I was nervous, I was also prepared.
The interview went well with me answering a number of questions to an excellent standard. I surprised myself by how well I did (what else would you expect from a ZCL writer?) . A few of the questions he asked were “what is your biggest achievement?” “give an example of a time when a goal was set for you and you reached it” and “when have you worked in a team and succeeded?” After the interview I got the chance to talk to my interviewer from Ernst & Young about some common things that people had gotten wrong in their own mock interviews. Here, I’d like to share with you five things that I learned:
1) Don’t look out of the window. When you’re being interviewed keep steady eye contact. Try and avoid the temptation to look out of the window.
2) Don’t make your CV too complicated. My interviewer told me about one guy he had interviewed whose CV was about four pages long in block print. He then complimented me on mine for its simplicity and straight-to-the-point nature.
3) It’s okay to ask your interviewer to repeat the question. I know we don’t like to come off as though we’re not paying attention or are too dumb to have understood the question the first time it was asked, but it’s better to fully understand the question than to answer the wrong one.
4) Broaden your answers. Try and use different examples for each of the questions you are asked. For example, if they ask you three questions about ‘teamwork’ try and illustrate that you’ve demonstrated teamwork on three different sectors of your CV rather than focusing only on one.
5) Answer the question. When you’re asked a question, answer it and don’t ramble off topic. Although you think you’re making yourself look better by fitting more information in, you’re actually making yourself look worse.
The experience I gained in my mock interview with Ernst & Young was invaluable. I feel much more confident now that if I ever get called for an interview, I’ll be able to manage it just fine.
Do you have any interview tips or horror stories like mine? Feel free to share them! 
Image by: Alex Beadon Photography
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That sounds like a great opportunity. Although I’ve had two great summer jobs since I was in college, I never got them through formal interview. One place the only interview question was pretty much, how soon can you start? The other place I had been doing a placement and they just hired me. I’ve had one horribly long interview for an accounting firm (didn’t get the job). I really wish I had asked why I hadn’t gotten the job when they called to let me know because it would have been good to know for future reference.
What does your CV look like? I would be interested in looking at a template or something with no personal information for reference. I’m never sure how to do mine.