In France, putting in some good preparation ahead of your job interview is essential. In this article, Mister Bilingue explains how to be professional and convincing when it comes to meeting your recruiter!
Do you have a job interview coming up in the next few days? Feeling stressed and worried about messing it up?
Rest assured, that's completely normal. To channel that nervous energy into positive action ready for your professional one-on-one, all you need is a little preparation!
But how are you meant to act in front of a recruiter whose goal is to get you out of your comfort zone?
The Mister Bilingue team is here to explore three essential questions with you for succeeding in your job interview and bagging that dream job:
Ready to explore the wonderful world of job interviews?
So let's get started with what to do BEFORE the interview!
It's true, to succeed at an interview, you need to know how to prepare for it in advance! If that wasn't breaking news to you, then you're already on the right track. For the rest of you, it's time to get serious and grab a pen and paper.
As you begin preparing for your interview, a good place to start is making sure that you're clear on the specificities of the position you're applying for, including the skills required and the types of tasks involved.
It's also a good idea to know a decent amount about the company you're applying to. True, you're not going to be asked to name the exact date the company was founded on or the precise number of employees, but the recruiter may ask you questions about the values of the company, its objectives and wider mission.
Finally, if you can't find certain information or if there are things you want to know about the job in question, we recommend writing down all the questions that come to mind in order to ask them at the interview. This shows the recruiter that you are genuinely interested in the job and the company.
To make your application more credible, you need to figure out what sets you apart from other candidates for this specific job.
To do this, start by listing your strengths and classifying them in four ways:
After sorting through your different strengths, focus in on each one by asking yourself what it brings to your overall profile and how it can help you get the position in question.
Here's how you can prioritize your strengths:
Begin by identifying the strengths that are the most relevant to the needs of the company.
Secondly, think about which of your strengths seem less important for the position and may therefore be of less use to you during the interview.
With this simple technique, your mind should be a little clearer and better focused on your strengths and qualities that are really relevant for answering the recruiter's questions.
Preparing for questions can be tricky as you never know what the interviewer may ask you. However, it's a good idea to go ahead and think of some likely questions and try to go about answering them as efficiently as possible on your own. This way, you'll be better prepared to answer questions more generally and less stressed if you're asked those specific ones.
Here are some of the most common questions that come up in interviews. You may even want to ask a friend or family member to role play some of them in a pretend interview!
An interview can take place on company premises, by video call or even simply over the phone.
In any case, an interview usually proceeds in more or less the same way, even if the order is a little different each time. This means that you can imagine your interview based on the model below and prepare for it in advance, maybe with the help of a loved one playing the role of the recruiter.
To kick things off, the interviewer may begin by asking you to introduce yourself in about a minute. For this simple exercise, you'll be expected to present the main points of your CV and explain the reasons that led you to apply for this job in the first place.
However, it's important to note that you need to outline your professional career without regurgitating your CV word for word, as the recruiter will probably have the real thing to hand.
Wait, you haven't written your CV yet? You must be a risky type, but luckily there's still time to remedy it using our article all about writing the CV of dreams!
To get the hang of introducing yourself, we strongly recommend getting in some practice with the help of a loved one, by explaining your background in one minute. No more, no less!
After your introduction, the recruiter will probably move on to ask a few follow up questions about your career in order to clarify specific points. They could be most interested in your education and training, your previous experience, or the details of a specific project.
Try to be natural and give simple answers: the interviewer simply wants to find out a little more about you. After all, this is your life that you're talking about, it shouldn't be too difficult unless you start playing fast and loose with the truth!
At this point, the interviewer usually explains in a bit more detail the position that you're applying for, including the tasks it will involve and the skills required. They may tell you more about the company, describing its culture, values, or how the team works together.
Make sure to ask all the questions that you thought of before arriving at the interview. This will enable you to create a real dialogue with your interviewer, highlighting your interest in the job and setting yourself up as a curious and interesting person!
This third stage (which usually comes at the end, after the introductions and talking about the job itself) is probably the most fluid part of the interview, but also the most interesting. It can include two main themes:
1- The interviewer asks you a few more personal questions about yourself.
2- You can ask the interviewer some additional questions.
In the first case, the interviewer may ask you questions that aren't directly related to the position.
When it comes to these types of questions, the interviewer will be looking to find out more about you, your personality and your life outside of work. It's always interesting for an employer to know if a future employee has a healthy and positive social life outside their professional life, after all.
Whatever gets thrown at you, remember to stay professional, present a positive image, and avoid entering into detail on anything too personal: no interviewer wants to know that you go to your grandma's for tea every Tuesday!
If you're afraid of stumbling on a trick question, we recommend taking a look at this article on the top classic trick questions that come up in interviews!
For the second part, your interviewer will almost certainly offer you the opportunity to ask any questions you may have if you were to be accepted for the position. This is the moment to demonstrate your readiness for your future job!
At this stage in the interview you have the opportunity to round off the meeting by asking relevant questions about topics including:
If it hasn't already been mentioned, you also have the option of bringing up the question of your salary at this point, but this is a question best left to the end of the interview.
In most cases, this is one of the last questions asked by an interviewer, so be sure to think carefully about your target salary beforehand to make sure that you're not caught off guard. It's important to remember that the objective here is not to start negotiating a figure – this step normally comes after, if the interview goes well.
Now that you know what's in store for you when you finally meet your recruiter and how to go about preparing for it, all that's left to do is learn how to embody a real professional in body and spirit!
We know what you're thinking: how should I know, it's not every day I have an interview! Fortunately for you, we're here to help!
What are soft skills and do I have any? Of course you do! "Soft skills" describes the things that make up most of our personality. Each of us has some and we use them fluently in all aspects of our personal and professional lives.
Here are a few examples of soft skills:
These types of skills are essential for your professional life, and you need to be able to highlight them in a natural way during your interview as you talk about yourself and your experiences. The interviewer may even ask you which qualities best characterize you in your daily life and this is the moment to show off these types of skills!
Of course, it's important to remain as honest as possible at all times to avoid sending your interviewer mixed signals about what kind of person you are. If you explain that you're a humble and reserved person and then go on to start talking about your multiple business conquests a few minutes later, the recruiter may point you in the direction of the door.
Want to know more about the most important soft skills in business? Here are some of the top soft skills to add to your arsenal!
Let's round off this article with five things to avoid if you don't want to find your CV in the trash at the end of the interview!
Don't be late: always be punctual and make sure to arrive ten minutes before the scheduled start time of your interview, even if it means waiting around for a few minutes.
Don't arrive unprepared: we've said it before and we'll say it again, make sure to prepare for your interview beforehand! If the interviewer gets the sense that you don't know anything about the company and that you don't have any questions to ask, the interview may come to an abrupt end.
Don't be over familiar: we shouldn't have to remind you of this, but when in doubt, it's better to avoid familiarity when talking to your interviewer! The person recruiting you isn't your friend, and they're not your racist uncle either. So, make sure to address them accordingly. If you think it might be appropriate to lighten the tone with some informality, be careful, and it's always best to ask first.
Don't tell the story of your life: if you manage to relax and feel comfortable, that's great. However, make sure to stay on topic and not to veer too far off the track by bringing up subjects that are unrelated to the company and the job in question. Let the interviewer steer the discussion, simply focus on answering their questions clearly and effectively!
Don't bring up the question of money too early on: we suggested earlier in the article that you may want to discuss your salary at the interview, but if that is the case, be sure to save it for the very end of the interview. Discussing compensation early on in the interview can be seen badly by recruiter, so if you're not sure, wait until the next time you speak, because the question of money will be addressed sooner or later!
TO SUM UP:
How to prepare for an interview:
What happens in an interview:
How to behave during an interview:
Congratulations, thanks to Mister Bilingue you now know how to succeed in a job interview!
Still not sure how to go about looking for a job? Well, we explain everything you need to know here!
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We hope you found this advice useful and wish you all the best in your job search.
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