6 Interview Tips To Stand Out And Win Job Offers

Research data suggests that on average job seeker spend 2 hours to prepare for an interview.

But is it enough to stand-out among your competition and convert your interview into a job offer?

Here are 6 strategies that will help you to prepare and face your most important interview with confidence and separate yourself from 99% of other candidates.

‍1. Research the company

This is a tip that we all know. What’s important here is the extent that you research the company aligning with the specific role that you’re interviewing for. With the competition out there, its not just enough to read few pages in their main website. Go one step further to search the company on Google, check other sites such as business insider, competitor & customer surveys to see how they are placed in the market and try to identify specific challenges they are facing.

2. Research potential questions

One of the most important interview strategies that I've personally used, interviewing for companies such as Honda and Kaufland is  doing my own research on potential questions for the interviews. If the job is through a recruitment agency or directly from the company, it is important to follow below steps to identify possible questions and setup a strategy that is tailored to the specific role and yourself.

• Check out websites such as Glassdoor and review comments posted by previous employees and candidates who were interviewed for similar roles. Even if you are unable to find the exact role, these comments are valuable for you to understand the structure and the process of the interview.
• If you are referred by a recruiter, try to get as much  information from them as possible to understand the potential questions as their insights will be more accurate.
• Organise your answers for the questions using STAR method. (Situation, Task, Action, Result)

‍3. Try using their product or service

Companies love their customers and honest feedback especially when you are trying to join the company to solve one of their problems. If it’s a product-based company check if you can buy one of their products or check with your friends for their feedback. If it is a service, try signing up for a trial, test the service , and note down few areas that can be improved.

‍4.Research their current market position

Search for news articles, business journals to understand the current market position of the company, what are their goals for the next 6-12 months, the challenges they face and what initiatives are driving them to overcome those challenges.

‍5. Know your interviewers

If you are referred by a recruitment agency, try to get as much as information about the interviewers. Look up their LinkedIn & Facebook profiles, personal website or blog to check their career history, special projects, volunteer, interests and hobbies so you can get to know about their personality which will help you to tailor your answers more effectively.

‍6. Research, refine and record your answers

Recording helps to see how your body language and the way you deliver the message. Opportunity for you to ensure that your body language/ tone aligns with the information presented or questions answered

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Conclusion

If your goal is to stand-out among the competition and make a long-lasting impression on your interview, it is recommended to at least spend 8-10 hours minimum for your interview. Researching about the company, their market position, the challenges they are trying to overcome within the next 6-12 months as well as understanding the interview panel is crucial to prepare and tailor your answers to ace your interview!

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