Futurepoint.ie are a synthesis of management and education professionals. It is headed up by Paul Walsh who has worked in the Irish public transport and the multi national industrial sector. He has also expanded his career portfolio into the education and training sector. He has successfully managed complex multi million Euro operations, delivering business process improvement, employee development, change mangement, and managing diverse multi level employee relations. He has specialisation in recruitment, employee training, team building, employee engagement & intervention, communications, interviewing & selection. He has developed adult education courses for third level colleges such as UCC, WIT, and delivered training to such professional bodies as members of the Irish Law Society. He has also worked in second level education delivering consulting career guidance teaching. He wrote and developed the City Colleges Diploma in Strategic Management. He holds a BA Degree from University College Cork, a Diploma in Business Studies from Waterford Institute of Technology, a Diploma in Management from the Irish Management Institute,and a Masters Degree in Law from The University of Wales.

Smart Strategies

Successful Interview Skills Are Not A Secret Anymore!

Successful Interviews

The following presentation is a topical exploration on successful interview outcomes.

It explores skills and knowledge that deliver successful outcomes in the most difficult part of the hiring process.

Objective

The objective of this presentation is to bring aa job seeker through each stage in the standard interview process and deal with each expected challenge so that the candidate achieves a winning advantage.

What is an Interview?

An interview is a conversation with a purpose!

Myths-The Best Person Gets The Job!

The best person for the job does not necessarily get it.More often its the person who gives the best interview.

I am a victim of Discrimination!

Interviews are more than just giving technically correct answers.Theyre also very much about building rapport.It is a discriminatory Process.

Interview Myths

Not all interviewers know what theyre doing exactly. It is your job is to know how to handle the good and bad interviewer.

Bluff!

Its better to be honest and admit ignorance than try to pretend you know an answer.You will come across as disingenuous and less than bright.

The Ugly Truth

Good looking people get the best jobs - maybe in model agencies, in the real world, employers are keen to hire talent over superficial factors.Of course, many talented people are also good looking!

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Striving to give the perfect answer can get you into a muddle. Its better to give a good answer that is to the point rather than searching for perfection.The interview is not a place for reflection.

Good Enough Is Good Enough

The Sweat At The End

Do not ask questions for the sake of it. Only ask a question if you have a genuine query that has not been covered.

Poor Behaviour

Interviews are formal occasions requiring relatively formal behaviours.Interviewers will expect this and may react negatively if they dont see it.It is near impossible to recover from poor behaviour.

Trick Questions

Interviewers do not spend all their time looking for flaws.Theyre more interested in getting an overall picture of who you are. Avoid answering questions defensively. Its much better to see every question as an opportunity to highlight your best points.

Interviews Are Daunting

Because of their nature, interviews are inherently challenging. Making mistakes at an interview is something that everyone does. The good news is that we can overcome our errors by correct preparation, practice and perseverance.Remember the 3P's

The Rote Of All Evil!

Beware of faulty preparation. Avoid rote learning of other peoples answers. Always prepare your own.You will also want to know yourself as the winning candidate to successfuly do the job.Copying others will be noticed . See Picture.

Pre-empt the conversation

Knowing what employers want to hear at an interview constitutes a great start for preparing your own answers and simplifies interview preparation.

Ideas In The Emploers Head

What most employers want to hear can be represented by three key questions:Can you do the job?Are you the sort of person they can work with?How motivated are you?

Theory & Practice

Get in as much practice as you can and always ask for honest feedback. Talk with friends, relatives, use professional career managers..

Theory & Practice

Perseverance is everything.You will be pushed beyond your expectation.Perseverance is a test of your Motivation and Character..

Competency Questions

Your first important step to preparing your interview answers is to find out as much about the job as possible.Focus on the job, not the internal workings of the business.

Competency Questions

Can you do the job? questions are generally the most common questions asked at interviews. They are concerned with ascertaining your skills, knowledge and experience.

Competency Questions

Can you do the job? questions can be split into three categories:Questions about duties that you have performed before.Questions about duties that you have not performed but whose skills you have mastered.Questions about duties that are entirely new to you.

Answering Questions

There is a 4 step technique to interview success process that provides a simple to use framework with which you can capture all the relevant information you need to construct interview answers.What you did.How you did it.The context in which you did it.The outcomes of what you did.

Answering Questions

As well as capturing what you did and how you did it, the four step technique also compels you to think about context and outcomes. It is ideally suited for answering behavioural questions and can be used in a flexible way. Beware of long-winded answers.

Answering Questions

The most effective way of putting together the information you capture using the four steps is to pose to yourself standard interview questions and then answer them out loud until you become fluent.

A Good Answer

A good interview answer will generally contain the following points.A context.Specific examples.What you did and how you did it.Outcomes.It will get directly to the point.Wrap your answer in the context.

Transfer Skills

Many people fail to appreciate the transferability of their skills and knowledge. When theyre looking for a new job, they only look at the job title or duties, not the skills underpinning those duties. Understanding that skills and knowledge can be transferred between jobs can open up a whole new world of career opportunities.

Transfer Skills

Before you discount a job that interests you, list the major skills and knowledge of that job and then beside that list your existing skills and knowledge. If there are a lot of matches, then you know what to do!

Worth Repeating

Use the four steps to help prepare your answers.What you did.How you did it.The Context.The Outcome. Repeat until fluent

Duty (Competency) Questions

Questions about duties (competencies) which are substantially different to anything youve done before are generally the most challenging in an interview.Approach these questions as opportunities to show that you have achieved new duties in the past and succeded.

Tough Duty Questions

There is often no one single answer (nor a right answer) about how duties are performed, especially if context is missing.In a hypothetical question, your answer will be hypothetical.Consider this as a question on how you deal with awkward questions.

All Things Being Equal

Are you the sort of person we can work with? questions, although generally not as frequent as the Can you do the job? questions, are just as important. When your job skill competency level is accepted, they become more important. This is often termed the all things being equal principle

All Things Being Equal

Even if youre not asked Are you the sort of person we can work with? questions, you should attempt to address the issue by looking for opportunities to talk about your relevant attributes.Remember to stay on message

All Things Being Equal

All employers are keen on hiring people who possess the following eight established universal qualities.Not in order of preference and preferences change by employer.

All Things Being Equal

PERSONAL TRAITSCommittmentWork EthicChange FriendlyHonestyLife Long LearnerCooperative (Team Player)Coping SkillsSelf Manage

Motivations

Convincing interviewers that youre highly motivated requires more than saying the right things. Body language and how you say things are just as important. Try to avoid using the word passionate, it is over used and is a by word for rote learned preparation.Unless you are Albert Einstein!

Motivations

When preparing your answers to motivation questions, one of the helpful questions you can ask yourself is Why do I like this kind of work? Your specific responses to this question will constitute the core of your motivation answers.These questions will help you decide through reflection on your career path choices aswell.Pick your favourite flavour.

Motivations

Express yourself with enthusiasm. Interviewers expect to see keenness in motivated candidates.In this respect, hold just a little bit back in preparation as actors do in rehearsal.Keep your best for the performance.

Motivations

Motivation questions present certain difficulties.When you are motivated your critical reflection is subdued as you are in a contentment flow. We are inclined to critically remember times when motivation was low and are therefore able to critique these times better.

Key Employability Questions

The importance of these questions is that they are based on skills required for most professional jobs. This makes it highly likely that you will be required to answer a number of questions relating to these professional skills.Team WorkPlanning & OrganisationInterpersonal SkillsChange FriendlyDeliver Results & Service

Key Questions

How you answer a question relating to any one of these questions could make or break your interview.Employers will often use these as waterline issues for any candidate.Any answer given must be of an acceptable level of satisfaction.

Body Language

Building rapport and trust requires three things: answering questions intelligently and honestly; ensuring all your non-verbal communication does not give cause for apprehension in the interviewer; and conforming to acceptable interview behaviours, such as never ever arguing.Do not sit rigidly in position afraid to move. This is the zombie effect, it appears cold and personaly remote.

Be aware of first and last impressions, people tend to better remember what happens at the beginning and end of any interaction, including interviews. Smiling, using appropriate facial expressions and nodding your head at the right time all give a positive impression.The 80/20 Rule Applies on hiring manager certainty.

The Last Impression

Will work for Food & Money

When negotiating your salary, dont undersell yourself, but be realistic in what you ask by considering your career path plan. Consider the overall package and not just the financial rewards.

Key Points - 3Ps

Dont waste your time looking for quick fixes, they do not exist.They could even make matters worse. Great interview performances come from proper preparation and practice.Getting it right first time.....takes time and effort.

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Key Points - Rote

Avoid memorising other peoples answers.Rote learning becomes evident at interview.You need to speak with your own voice.

Key Points - Rapport

Remember that interviews are about more than just giving good answers; theyre also about building rapport and trust. Building rapport and trust is contingent upon more than simply words, body language and attitude are critically important.

Key Points - Competency

All interviewers want to know three things: Whether you can do the job How motivated or driven are you Whether youll fit into the existing workplace culture.

Key Points 4 Step

Using a simple question repsonse framework like the 4 step system can help organise and bring together large amounts of disparate information about your work achievements, to help you form clear and articulate answers.

Key Points - 21st Century

The vast majority of professional jobs have skills or duties that overlap. These include: Being a good team player Planning and organising your work effectively Good interpersonal communication skills Ability to cope with change in the workplace Ability to provide effective customer service and deliver your role fully

Key Points Learn from it

No Interview is a waste of your time.

If you do not get the job, you are simply a step nearer to the job you will get .

The importance is to reflect on each interview and use the learning from it.

That way you are moving towards your goal.

Key Points Be Prepared

Often, interviewers are not experienced and can ask questions that are not well considered. Your job is to know how to handle both the novice as well as the experienced interviewer.

Key Points Work It!

Believe in yourself. It is tough out there!Here is the missing piece!Dream itBelieve itWork itAchieve itGood Luck!