Richmond Solutions' quick guide to preparing for job interviews

1. Never waste a chance:
preparing for interviews
So, are you a good candidate or a weak candidate?
Do you know how to maximise your impact at interview?
We’ve written this paper with you in mind.
It’s not a simple tip sheet.
But it will repay reading.
It may even be the most valuable
10 minutes reading you ever do.
Let’s begin >>
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2. The Weak Candidate
Weak candidates come in many forms. They may not simply be
someone who is a poor match for the job in question. They
may actually be a good match, but fail to put this over in their
paperwork or at interview, missing prime opportunities.
Weak candidates have one particular thing in common: poor
preparation. This means that they miss out not just on one
opportunity but on many. In fact, for a weak candidate, getting
a new role becomes purely a game of chance. They learn the
hard way, if at all, and, maybe, get an interview with a company
that they know well.
What’s more, badly prepared candidates tend to be less
confident in the room and this will have an inevitable impact
on their performance, no matter their true potential.
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3. The Good Candidate
In a competitive market, you need to None of this is wrong and is better than
perform at your best in every interview nothing. However, to be a truly good
to secure the job you want. From your candidate you need to do more – in
earliest meetings with careers advisors other words, you need to do some
you will have been told that you must proper research. Ideally, this should start
always prepare for an interview. What with your application but at the latest,
does this mean? Do you: in-depth research should begin the
moment you know you have an
• Read a bit about the company? interview. This should involve:
• Check over your application and
make sure that it answers the job • Understanding the
description? company/organisation
• Rehearse a few questions and • Understanding the role
answers? • Understanding who you
are talking to
Let’s look at all three
of these vital steps.
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4. Understanding the organisation
Put yourself in the shoes of the employer: • What is the direction of the company? In drawing this together, you may find it useful
what do they value and what will make them Is it on the way up or the way down? to write a SWOT (or strengths, weaknesses,
say “yes” to you? Reaching an adequate answer Is it a market leader or a pretender to the opportunities and threats) analysis. This is not
to this requires travelling some hard research crown? Is it looking to expand its offering only a good way of bringing some order to
yards. We recommend that you find answers or is it refocusing on a core service area or your research, providing you with a useful
to the following questions: product range? summary to which you can refer, but it may also
• What is its financial position? help you in drawing up questions to ask at the
• What is the purpose of the company/ • Who are the competitors? interview.
organisation? In other words, is it a public How does their proposition differ
company, owner-managed, a charity, a public and what is their proposition vis-à-vis
body, a social enterprise, etc? the company/organisation that you are
• What are the company’s values? In other interviewing with?
words, what do the people who run it and • What market is the company/organisation in?
those who already work there hold dear? Why would someone choose to come to
Can you also work to these values? them or buy from them as opposed to a
competitor? What are its USPs?
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5. What your SWOT Analysis might look like:
JZT Manufacturing
Strengths: Weaknesses: Opportunities: Threats:
• JZT has an established product • The Delta range has flopped since • There is demonstrable demand for • A Chinese company has recently
range with a loyal customer its launch two years ago. JZT’s products in India and China. entered the market and is offering
following. • JZT in the UK has recently been • They have just signed an agency a similar range for approximately
• JZT enjoys strong brand loyalty, through a round of redundancies agreement with the largest sales half the price.
especially in its domestic, UK which may have unsettled the agent for these products in South • There has been a drop in demand
market. remaining employees. America. for JZT’s products in their core
• JZT is making good progress in the • Despite two attempts in the past • They have recently opened a European market.
Russian market, which it entered 10 years, they have failed to gain a factory in South-East Asia, allowing • The Lugano range from Bottega
three years ago. real foothold in the US market. them to manufacture on a cost- Lampi is acquiring market
• Their Omicron range is the UK • While being one of the earliest competitive basis. dominance in its class, at the
market leader in its field, while Eta, manufacturers in the market, JZT expense of JZT’s Sampi range.
Iota and Xi are all in their have been slow to embrace • The strength of Sterling versus the
respective top tens. emerging technologies. Renimbi is damaging JZT’s export
• JZT have a high-profile and widely- sales.
respected Chief Executive.
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6. Information sources
The kinds of information sources that you should use to • For information on competitors, make a search on the
bring this information together are: internet on the service or industry in question and/or
find market reports. In the case of the latter, some will
• The company’s or organisation’s own website. have tables of contents freely available online from
• Company reports. For public companies, charities and which you may be able to derive the names of the
public bodies, these will usually be available on their competing companies so you can do further research
own website. Where the information is not on their yourself.
own website, the information for UK companies (no
matter how small) is available on the Companies With this kind of knowledge under your belt, you are in
House website (www.companieshouse.gov.uk); a far stronger position to differentiate what you can offer
and for charities you can refer to the Charities the company/organisation you are applying to. It will give
Commission (www.charitycommision.gov.uk). you a better idea about whether you want to join it and
• The news. Try Google News (or similar) but will help you tailor your responses accordingly.
if you can get access to online news archives
like Factiva or Lexis Nexis through a library,
all the better.
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7. Understanding the Role
There are some basics that you should check at you must get a strong grip on what it involves.
the outset if at all possible. These include whether Obviously, you need to be able to explain the
you will manage a team and, if so, how many people skills you hope to transfer into the role. However,
are in that team? Similarly, will you hold a budget at interview you will need to show a thorough
and, if so, how much will it be? How will your understanding of the role itself, even if you have
performance be measured? For example, will there undertaken extensive retraining to enter a new
be specific targets that you will need to meet? Will field.
you be paid a salary or will part of your
remuneration be earned through commission? Ideally, if you are looking to make such a change,
your research will have started long before you
If the new job you’re going for is similar to one you even make an application. If possible, it would be a
have done before, then you will not need to do so good idea to see if you could shadow someone in
much research. However, even if you are in this your new chosen profession for a few days. If this is
position, you should ensure you understand where not possible or time does not allow, there is
the role sits in the potential employer’s nothing like learning from the horse’s mouth.
organisation and therefore how you will fit in. Network with people working in that field and,
What may be a pivotal role in some companies having established a relationship with them, ask if
may be a support role in others. Will you be happy you can call them to talk about what they do.
being a sideshow if you are used to being at the
centre of things? And visa versa? Just telling an interviewer that you have a “lifelong
passion” for something will not hold much water if
If the role represents a new departure for you, there is little substantial evidence for that claim.
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8. Understanding who you are talking to
You must understand the motivations of the Alternatively, the interviewer may be a hiring careful how you use this information and don’t
person interviewing you. Their own drivers will manager. If this is the case, you need to look for imagine that it’s a good idea to try to create
have a bearing on how they view you as a what keeps them awake at night and work out empathy by pretending you have common interests
candidate. what problem you are effectively being brought if that’s not the case. A friend once put on an
in to solve.You should be able to work this out application form that he was keen on clay pigeon
If you are being interviewed by a recruiter from an from the research you have done into the shooting when he’d only been once. He came
agency a major consideration will be the bottom company/organisation. unstuck when it turned out that his interviewer
line.Yes, alas, we mean fees. They need to be was a clay pigeon shooting enthusiast and wanted
convinced that you are placeable and that you will If you are able to, find out a bit about the person the chance to speak to a fellow fan of the sport at
be credible in the eyes of their client. If you don’t who will be interviewing you – about their length. Let’s put it this way, it did nothing for our
convince them of that, you won’t go forward as interests and what makes them tick. However, be friend’s credibility.
they will not wish to ruin the relationship with
their client.
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9. Bringing it together
Finally, go back to the job description. With all of
this knowledge to hand, place it in context. When
you look at the competencies it asks for, they
should now make more sense and rather than just
give a bland recitation of how your skills match the
job description, you can properly match them to
the needs of the company/organisation. In other
words, you can give some real colour to your
application and interview.
Never skimp on your research. Even if you get
through the application stage without it, a good
interviewer will find you out. Make the best of
your chances, don’t squander them.
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10. Experienced.
Heidi Nicholson is a Partner at Richmond
Solutions. Before becoming a recruiter and then
a personal career advocate, Heidi spent many
years in international marketing consultancy.
Her speciality was competitor intelligence.
Heidi has also worked in politics, and has a
First Class Honours Degree in French and Italian.
Andrew Brown has over 14 years of experience
recruiting senior executives in the private and
public sectors and specialises in devising
recruitment and selection solutions. A trusted
advisor to numerous Chief Executives on
recruitment issues, he has also worked on
leadership team assessments prior to private
equity investment on at least 50 occasions. He has
recruited on both UK-wide and international level
and of note, has delivered assignments in the US,
Croatia, France, Belgium and the Czech Republic.
info@richmondsolutions.co.uk
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11. Richmond Solutions offer interview training as one
of their services. For further details,please contact us at
info@richmondsolutions.co.uk.
If you would like a free review of your CV or LinkedIn profile,
please contact us via our website.
For updates from Richmond Solutions follow us onTwitter
@richmondsol and join our LinkedIn group.
With regular updates and information always appearing on
our blog,why not come and take a look
PERSONAL CAREER ADVOCATES
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+44 (0)20 8835 7082
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info@richmondsolutions.co.uk
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