Overview

Most interview processes will involve a number of stages, and your objective at each stage is simply to get through to the next one, and eventually to a job offer.

As most employers will select candidates to interview from a shortlist of applications or CVs you’ve already passed the first hurdle. This means they like what they see on paper – the interview is your opportunity to back this up and persuade them that you’re the right person for the job.

The typical interview stages are:

• Telephone Interview / Screening
• Group Interview
• First Interview
• Second Interview (possibly a presentation)
• Third Interview (possibly a presentation)

When preparing for an interview, it is essential to view the specific stage in relation to the process as a whole.

For example, the second interview might require you to present what you will do in the first 3 months of the job.

If you have this in the back of your mind during the first interview, you can ask questions that would make preparing the presentation a whole lot easier.

[hint: read the whole of this section before your first interview to avoid coming unstuck!]

It can also work the other way round – interviews are a notoriously inaccurate method of recruiting the right person for any vacancy so many employers will go with their gut feeling and if they like you offer you the job.

They then decide whether this was the right decision during your probationary period based on how you actually do the job.

If this happens you might well be offered the job at the end of the first interview, so make sure you read on through all of these stages in case they’re so impressed they want you to join the company there and then!

Finally…

Don’t put all your eggs in one basket. No one can guarantee success in every interview and the dream job after the first interview may turn out to be a lot less attractive when they tell you the salary on offer!

Another reason to progress a number of opportunities is to be able to tell the company you’re interviewing with just who else is interested in hiring you, this can help speed up their hiring decision if they think they might miss out.