Anxiety about an interview often is a result of not knowing what lies ahead. How will the interviewer behave? What will the structure be? How will they be assessing me? Take confidence in the knowledge 90% of interviewers will use variations of the same techniques.

Many interviewers are thrown in without training, told to learn on the job. Even so, through experience they learn the same taught approach employers and consultants have been preaching to their front-line hiring managers for eons.

More likely than not, your future interviewer will adhere to the following 10 step guide:

• Make the interviewee feel at ease on entering the room. Give a firm, warm handshake and a friendly smile. A relaxed candidate is essential if you are to get the best out of them.

• Take notice of the body language. Does the applicant sit with crossed legs or arms, fidget or have poor eye contact? If so they may not be good for a customer facing job.

• Is the interviewee enthusiastic? When all attributes are equal, the candidate demonstrating the most desire is the best hire.

• When questioning the candidate, use open questions such as ‘What attributes do you think you could bring to the job’. Using closed questions with ‘yes’ or ‘no’ answers will teach you little.

• Pick a general opener – very often “tell me a little about yourself” or “walk me through your CV”. This allows you to assess a range of communications skills, ability to follow instructions and the opportunity to learn about their background.

• Identify accomplishments – find out where the candidate over-achieved or contributed something valuable to their previous employer. Keep asking until you are satisfied you have a fair reflection of their previous successes.

• Self appraisal – ask candidates to evaluate their performance in a previous role. Learn about their ability to self-analyse, do they know their strengths and weaknesses?

• Situational question – find out how they deal with typical situations to understand their core skills, for example ‘What would you do if the work of a colleague was not up to standard?’

• Direct probe – assess the skills needed for the job with direct questions asking for evidence of each skill.

• Their questions – the questions a candidate asks reveals insight to their values, goals, analytical ability and business knowledge. Watch out for those with no or weak questions (about salary, benefits, number of employees, year founded).

The good news for us is most interviewers are average. Knowing the 10 step interviewer training plan gives you a clear idea of what’s to come.

Good Luck

www.CVWritingIndia.com