The Importance Of Preparation For Job Interviews

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Interview Tips

Posted 04.04.18

job interviews

Put yourself in the job interviewer’s shoes. You’ve shortlisted candidates for interview based on their skills, experience and personal attributes and invited them to an interview. Now with that candidate in front of you, you’re questioning your judgment. The candidate doesn’t appear to know a great deal about your company, they’re making assumptions about the role you’re interviewing for; in short they are unprepared.

Conscientious candidates may be surprised to learn that this is not a rare scenario. Surprisingly, some candidates across the construction engineering industries present themselves for interview having done very little preparation beforehand. Thankfully, this is not often the case with our candidates as we work hard to ensure they are prepared ahead of an interview!

Preparing for a job interview should not be an onerous task. The information you need is readily available in the form of the job description, company’s website and the insights your recruitment agency can provide.

A quick online search can also uncover news and developments related to the company that might pertain to the role in some way. For example, a recent successful tender could be the reason the company need to recruit technical candidates like you.

Having this information will not only give you confidence in the interview, but also demonstrate that you have done your research and are knowledgeable about the company and their sector overall.

How To Prepare For An Interview

The following areas will need some research:

The Role – a job description will provide all the detail on skills needed and the responsibilities of the role, but it’s also important to understand how that role sits within the company. What size team will you be part of? Who will you report to, and who will report to you? What type and size of projects will you be working on? Is it client-facing and if so, who are those clients?

The Company – are you familiar with the company and the type of work they do? Where do they sit in the market? What is the company’s reputation like? Online searches can help you discover more about a business. Search by company name using the ‘news’ function on Google to see whether there are any recent stories in the press about the company. Also look on the company’s website to find out how they position themselves in the market, read company press releases, and find out what the company structure is like.

The People – you may be employed by a company but you’re working with other people. Therefore it’s important to get a sense of what the team is like and their expertise and abilities too. Search on the company website for information about the team – usually under a menu heading like ‘About Us’ – and also look on LinkedIn. If you can identify who you will be working alongside and reporting to, it can be helpful to look at their LinkedIn profiles to find out about their backgrounds and experience. You might be able to identify a key skill or area of expertise that is lacking within the business and that you can bring to the table.

The Culture – by now you will also be building up a picture of the company culture. The people within the business will give you an idea of whether you will also be a good fit. Perhaps you already know someone who works there, or has done in the past, so you can find out first hand what the company culture is like. Also look at the company’s website to see what their values are. Vision and mission statements will also give you an indication of whether you’re a good fit.

Get Support From Your Recruitment Agency

Prior to an interview it is worth speaking to your recruitment agency about what you should expect. Here at Energi People we work with companies long term to source candidates for their construction engineering roles. That means we know a lot about them, for example what the interviewer is like, what kind questions to expect, and what they will expect from you.

Our clients are often quite candid in their feedback on candidates – and experiences with other recruitment agencies – so we know what they’re looking for both in terms of the skills and experience needed for a role, and in how candidates present themselves at interviews.

Get in touch if you’re looking to make a move in the construction engineering industry and would like to discuss you next job with our team.

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