Interview Process
Preparing for your interview
At the interview
Questions you may be asked at the interview
Questions to ask at the interview
What to expect at a second interview
Negotiating your remuneration package
What to expect at second interview
Interviewers are not in the business of holding second interviews just because they can’t decide who to offer the job to and they want to look at other candidates. The second interview is an opportunity to find out more about the candidates or to enable someone more senior to interview a shortlist of candidates. It won’t be a straight repeat of the first interview and you might find that you are asked to undergo psychometric tests, assessment centre exercises or a technical interview along side your second interview which is all quite formal. On the other hand an interview with a senior colleague or manager of your original interviewer can be quite informal, as they simply want to ascertain that the first interviewer made an accurate assessment of you.
If there is an outstanding concern from your first interview it is likely to be aired at a second interview. Your interviewers may be worried if you have less experience that the other candidates or concerned that you are over qualified. Interviewers often throw one “wildcard” candidate into the shortlist and it could be you. So they will need reassuring that you are the right applicant for the position.
Keep in mind that they called you back for a second interview so they obviously don’t consider that you being over qualified or whatever else may be bothering them made you a non starter. They obviously thought you had considerable strengths elsewhere to shortlist you despite their misgivings. They really do just want to be reassured that you can do the job.
It’s likely that you will be asked a lot of questions directly related to your past performance at a second interview, some of these might be:
- What improvements have you introduced in your current role?
- What have you done to increase productivity?
- What has been your biggest success?
- What has been your biggest mistake?
- How have you increased the profitability of your department?
Should you have management experience you are also fairly likely to be asked about this including questions such as; whether you have done your own training, recruitment and so on. If the position is going to require you to relocate they are also likely to ask how you feel about this and whether your family will be in agreement.
Tests
It is becoming more and more popular now to vet potential candidates using psychometric testing and you can use these in your favour. These need not be a worry and aren’t once you understand what they’re for and how they work. If you are the best candidate for the position then they will only reinforce your that fact.
Psychometric tests – what are they? They basically fall into four different categories which are as follows;
- Ability/IQ Tests - test your general ability at broad skills such as numeracy
- Aptitude Tests - these relate to job specific skills such as selling or managing
- Personality Tests - these assess your personality type
- Motivation Questionnaires - these assess what drives you and your relevant attitudes
Although all these are categorised as “tests” they do not have pass or fail marks. The reason for this is because, in particular, with personality tests all of the answers are right. What these do is ascertain how you think and whether you think in the same format as the company would like you to. These tests are rarely used in isolation but rather to provide support to other selection methods.
You will almost always be given forewarning if you are likely to be asked to sit a psychometric test, usually when you are advised that you have got an interview. They may take place on the same day or you may have to go back and sit the test or in some cases given a web address and password so that you can complete it at home. The test generally will be explained to you beforehand as to how to complete it and how the information will be used. If you find yourself in this situation you are entitled to ask questions and the following are some examples of perfectly acceptable questions to ask:
- What kind of tests will I be taking; aptitude, ability, personal motivation?
- How will I be asked to take the test; verbally, written, over the internet?
- How will the test fit in with the recruitment process as a whole?
- What tests will I be taking? There are plenty of tests out there, all with names and they should be happy to tell you which ones they are using
- Are there any tests I can look at? Test guides give examples of what to expect. If there aren’t any, ask the interviewer for examples. This is like doing mock exams and a way of preparing
- What feedback can I expect at the end of the test? At the end of the test and once the results have been assessed, you should be given some kind of feedback by the interviewer or a colleague trained in such things.
Once you have this information you can start to feel happier about the tests. You can use the internet to find out more about the test you’ve been told you’ll be taking. Either log onto the test producer’s website or, if you don’t know their web address, simply key in the name of the test into a search engine. Many test producers give sample tests on their websites for you to practice
.
When it comes to actually taking the test itself make sure you’re ready for it and don’t forget your glasses, pen or anything else you might need. Here are some guidelines when taking a psychometric test of any kind, they are fairly straightforward as you would expect them to be;
- Try to keep calm and read the instructions carefully
- Don’t skim read any instructions – It is important to be clear about how to answer the questions
- Always complete the practice questions at the start of any assessment – ask your administrator if there is anything you don’t understand before you start the test
- Plan your time to answer as many questions as possible
- Don’t spend too long on a single question – you can always go back at the end
- Check that the question number being completed matches the one on the answer sheet
- When assessing difficult multiple choice questions start by ruling out those that are most unlikely to be correct
- If you change an answer make sure that it is clear
- If in doubt give your best estimate
- If you finish early go back and review your answers
Ability and aptitude tests
Tests such as these measure your specific skills and give a score which tells your potential employer what your level of ability is, or what your potential for learning new skills is. Research has shown that ability and aptitude tests are an excellent guide to future performance and it is therefore no surprise that employers are using them more frequently.
These tests aren’t general knowledge tests they are aimed at assessing your ability to reason or think in a logical manner. Some of these tests are broad in scope but others focus on verbal skills and numeric, these being the most popular.
Ability and aptitude tests are a bit like taking exams. There is a given time period to complete them and they are often in the form of multiple choice. Generally they become more difficult as the test goes on and sometimes there may be more questions than you can answer. This isn’t important it’s the proportion of answers you get right not the number of questions you complete.
So how important are ability and aptitude tests in relation to the rest of the recruitment process? You can get a good idea of when in the selection process the test takes place. The earlier you take it the more important generally it is. The later in the process that you sit the test the more likely it is that it will be treated as one of only many parts of the selection process.
Preparing yourself for aptitude and ability tests
You have seen that it is useful to practise for these tests by getting hold of sample questions or practice papers but what else can you do? Here are some tips;
- Practice not only with test papers but also with other related exercises such as brain teasers and puzzles
- For aptitude tests in particular, play word games and mathematical puzzles
- Practise your mental arithmetic and things like long division and multiplication
- For a numeric test, find out if you’ll be allowed to take a calculator into the test. If so, remind yourself (if necessary) of how to use a calculator to work out such things as percentages
Personality tests and motivation questionnaires
These tests are very different from ability and aptitude tests because there are no right or wrong answers and the tests are not generally timed. They simply aim to assess what kind of person you are. The point of this is to see how suited you are to the type of work you would be doing, how well you would fit into the company culture and how well you would gel with the team you would form part of.
Since you have absolutely no idea what the company is looking for in terms of personality type there’s no point in giving anything but truthful answer to these questions. In any case, these tests benefit you as much as the employer. If you really don’t fit in with the corporate culture or the type of work you’d be doing you probably wouldn’t want the position anyway. The kind of things these tests will identify include:
- What motivates you
- Your attitude to life and work
- How you relate to other people
- How you handle emotions
- How you approach problems
Motivation questionnaires are similar to personality tests but they focus more specifically on what drives you, how long you maintain your energy levels for a particular task, what situations tend to motivate you more or less and so on. They are more often than not used for staff development (once your in the position), than for recruitment, you may however encounter them during a selection process.
Assessment centres
Assessment centres are another of the tools employers sometimes use alongside interviews and psychometric tests to assess potential candidates. They are really another form of test, but this time on a more practical level. You undertake some kind of exercise, or perhaps several, such as group discussion exercises, role plays or team project exercises. If you are also taking psychometric tests these make take place at the assessment centre. An assessor or team of assessors will observe you during the exercises. Just like ability and aptitude testing, assessment centres are one of the most accurate predictors of future performance. They are also reckoned to be an extremely fair and objective method of assessing candidates. The point here is that if you really are the best person for the position you can be confident and it will show.
There are several different types of exercise you might be asked to perform. The key thing to remember is that even when the exercise is geared towards an end result, such as making a decision, the way you carry out the exercise will generally be at least as important as your final result. This means that you should make sure:
- The assessors can see what preparation you have done by making notes where appropriate
- You indicate how you have arrived at any conclusions
There are countless assessment centre exercises you might be asked to do, but here is a quick guide to the main types you may encounter:
- In tray. This is just what it sounds like. You are given the hypothetical in tray of the person whose job you would be taking over. You have to go through everything in it and mark on each piece of correspondence how you would handle it and what action you would take arising from it. Since these annotations are all the assessors have to go on, you need to make sure you mark down anything which might be useful or relevant.
- Case study. Here, you are given plenty of factual information about a business issue on which you have to make a decision. The information may be unclear in places. You have to assess the information and arrive at a decision, which you then relay to the assessors either in a brief written report or as a short presentation. Although it is important to make a decision if you are briefed to do so, your approach to the issue is as important as your conclusion.
- Group discussion. This is very similar to the case study except that you have to make a decision or recommendation – or perhaps several – in a group together with other candidates. Sometimes you are each given a particular role to play but you may all be given the same information.
- Interview role play. In this exercise you are given a brief on a meeting you are about to have with a role player. You should use the brief to plan the meeting – the way you do this will be a significant part of the overall assessment. You’ll be given time to prepare, generally up to 30 minutes. The meeting, as your brief will tell you, will involve either discussing an issue with the role player, or using them to help you collect information about the issue. Either way, you will be expected to use the information, or the results of the discussion, to reach a decision on the issue.
Team tests
If an employer is particularly keen to know how you fit into a team they may ask you to take part in some kind of team test. This kind of test generally lasts all day or even over a couple of days. It might involve anything from hiking across the moors to building a model of the empire state building out of matches. You will be observed and assessed throughout the test.
One positive point to bear in mind here is that these tests cost a lot of money to run and the prospective employer would not be spending this if they thought the position didn’t warrant it and the investment was worth while. So the fact that you’ve been asked to participate in this test alone is a confidence boost.
Unless you’re applying for a position as a out of bounds manager it is highly unlikely that your prospective employer cares whether you are any good at hiking across the moors. What is really going on here is your prospective employer wants to see how well you work as part of a team. It is impossible to spend the time pretending to be someone that you are not and in any case would you want a position on this basis. This type of test is likely to put you under enough pressure and you would have a hard time putting on an act for the whole duration even if you wanted to.
So you must be aware that it’s your team performance that counts, not the project you’ve been given. Try and be yourself but avoid extremes which may deter the assessors from recommending you:
- Don’t take over officiously and become too bossy, although if the team genuinely defers to you as its leader that’s fine
- Don’t be as quite and reserved as a field mouse that you seem like you are not involved. Make sure you make enough of a contribution to be assessed on
- Don’t get into arguments with other team members. If conflict arises, play a diplomatic role as it will show you in a much better light to your assessor
- If there are other teams competing with yours it’s a good idea to show your competitive streak, but not to the point of ruthlessness. Try and adopt the approach of “It’s only a game, but all things being equal we’d like to win and we’ll give it our best shot.” You aren’t likely to get the position just because your team wins but it’s how you play the game that counts
Apart from showing that you are the diplomat, the most useful roles you can take on in the team to impress your assessors are:
- Keep the team focused on the objective
- Summarise how the team is doing from time to time
Would you like a drink?
Second interviews can frequently be a far less formal affair and they could be held over lunch, dinner or maybe even a couple of drinks at the local bistro. If this is the case your interviewer (or interviewer’s if there’s several of them) are looking to see how you behave and whether you’ll fit in with other people. Regardless of how relaxed the atmosphere may seem don’t forget that you are still on trial. Make sure you behave well and make easy conversation but keeping under wraps anything that you wouldn’t have given away at the more formal interview. Try and enjoy yourself but don’t drink too much. This is not just from the point of view that you want to show your potential employer that you only drink in moderation but you must remember when you have an alcoholic drink you are more likely to let your guard down.
Once the interview is over you often feel a strong sense of relief. Just because the interview is over it doesn’t mean that you should just sit back and do nothing. So once you get back home from attending the interview it’s a nice idea to:
- Write a letter of thanks to the interviewer
- Make notes so that you remember how the interview went
- Give feedback to your recruitment specialist so that they can pass this on to your interviewer/s
Saying thank you
Writing to say thank you for lunch or drinks is good manners. The letter doesn’t have to be written on paper you could email your interviewer to make sure that they get it as soon as possible. Your letter should have four basic functions:
- It gives you chance to remind the interviewer who you are
- It shows that you have good manners and are courteous
- It gives you chance to mention anything important that you missed saying at the interview itself
- It shows that you really are committed to getting the position
Very few people bother to write a thank you letter after an interview so it will certainly bring attention to you and bring you to the forefront of the interviewers mind. It may also help you if you had slipped down the list a little. It can make the difference between getting on the shortlist for the final interview.
What does the letter need to say? Only you can decide what to put in your letter but it could be something along the lines of “Thank you for giving me the opportunity of meeting with you this afternoon. I very much enjoyed the interview and would confirm that I am still very interested in the position. Should there be anything further you would like me to clarify please contact me on my mobile number provided or speak to my recruitment specialist. I look forward to hearing from you in due course.” The idea is for the interviewer to read and remember the letter but with not having to spend fifteen minutes reading it.
