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Appearance

This is an interview so you need to dress accordingly and be in the right mind-set.  Do not let a casual appearance throw your opportunity of a successful interview away.  If it comes down to you and another candidate and they made the effort to dress for the occasion, guess who is likely to get the job offer?  

Regardless of whether your interview is in person, over the phone or via video, put yourself in the right mindset.  Never wear jeans, t-shirt, casual shirt or polo shirt – even a work logo one.  Men should wear a smart business shirt with smart trousers or a suit and tie and women should wear a smart top with trousers or skirt or a dress.  

Remember to smile and if appropriate, a good firm handshake goes a long way to convey confidence.

Video or phone call interviews

Think about your setting.  You need a quiet space where nobody or anything can distract or interrupt you.  Consider what the interviewer will see in the background.  Tidy clutter away.  A healthy looking house plant or picture creates a better backdrop than the weekly laundry pile or kids toys.  Make sure the camera and sound on your computer are switched on and working correctly and that you are visible and audible.  Make sure you will not be cast in a shadow or any glaring light to blind the interviewer and that they can see you clearly – not just the crown of your head.  Video tips for interview; and telephone interview tips should help you with the right set up.

Research and prep

Do your research – no matter how informal the first meeting is – know who the hiring company is – research their products, brands, licences, competitors, retailers – never take for granted it’s an informal chat – if you have not done your research, do not be surprised and cross when you are not shortlisted for next stage interview.

Interview questions

Undoubtedly you will be asked competency questions so be ready for these – a lot of candidates find it difficult being interviewed this way, instead preferring to talk more generally.  Having an interview prep session will help build your confidence.

Know your interviewers

LinkedIn and Glassdoor are great for researching your interviewer and the company – knowing where people worked previously, how long they have been in the job and where some other employees have come from are all insightful and helpful tools for devising your own list of interview questions, such as ‘why do you love working for the company?’ or ‘what attracted you to the company in the first place?’  This could highlight that culturally you are all aligned.

Be ready to talk about you 

Many of us struggle to talk about ourselves, even some of the best and most successful sales people can fall at this hurdle.  ‘Tell me about yourself’ – a seemingly innocuous question yet can lead to a labyrinth of answers and where to begin with your story?  This question can be asked repeatedly in your interview history – from an initial Recruiter interview through to an employer HR person and finally to the hiring manager.  You need to tweak your story slightly because the recruiter is not wanting detail about you and the role to which you’re applying, but more about the macro i.e. could you fit culturally with their client, is your knowledge relevant enough and personally are you someone that could meet the brief?  The hiring company however will want to hear more micro detail based around your past, present and future and how that all relates to the job vacancy.  Reading the job description and understanding the company culture will be vital in how successfully you can answer ‘tell me about yourself’.  They have your CV to hand but want a very quick over view of why you are in the application process.

Answering clearly

Try to keep your answers as clear and concise as possible, avoid waffle.  A lot of candidates find that the STAR interview technique helps to convey their point, STAR means:

Situation

Task

Action

Result 

If you deploy this framework then you should be able to answer the interviewer their question whilst displaying your knowledge and capability for the job but you also need to let your genuine interest and passion for the role shine through to try not to over-rehearse answering these kinds of questions otherwise you may come across as fake.

Numbers, facts, figures

You are bound to be asked about numbers, facts and figures so make sure these can ping off the top of your head and be ready to talk about how much a role you played in certain aspects or was it a combined team effort in some cases – both are equally important as the other.

Skills tests

Be prepared for something like an Excel test – you may need to demonstrate your ability to do pivots and vlookups.  If you feel you need a refresher in this then be sure to have a coaching session prior to interview.

CV history

Have your interview cheat sheet ready to hand, this will keep you on course throughout the interview.

Be ready to talk about your achievements and your failures.  What lessons were learnt from the failures?  Which achievements are you most proud of and why?  What role did you play in them and which other stakeholders or colleagues were involved?  How to explain gaps in your CV – not everyone sails from one job straight into the next, especially in this day and age so ensure you are able to talk about the times when you were not working.

Traits

Being able to demonstrate traits such as active listening, small talk or even empathy all go a long way to convincing the hiring manager you are a stand out candidate.

End of interview

The interviewer is bound to ask you if you have any questions and yes – of course you do!  You need to compile a fairly comprehensive list of questions because some of the questions you had may have been answered during the interview.  Asking about salary package is best avoided at first interview stage – unless the hiring manager asks you about your salary expectations. 

Some really great questions to ask are those which will help you identify if you and company are culturally aligned and if it is going to be a business that is going to enable you to continue to flourish in your career.  Asking about aims, objectives, growth plans and what the plans and strategy is to get there.  Who was the last person they promoted – how long had that employee been in their previous role prior to promotion.  How many employees do they currently have and what is their onboarding strategy for new recruits?  What does success look like to them as a business?  How do they celebrate success, and what team building initiatives do they have and how often do these take place?  How do they feel about flexible working hours?  How do they like to be managed by their superiors and what is their own style of management?  All these questions will help you identify if the business and you are going to be aligned or not.

Courtesy

Do not be afraid to ask the interviewer for their contact details so that you can drop them a line thanking them for their time and interest in you.

If you feel your CV would benefit from a refresh or that an interview prep session with us would boost your confidence, please contact us to find out more about how we can help rowena@shoreyconsulting.co.uk

Typical competency questions

In an interview you must be ready to answer common questions such as the following.  You will need to talk around situations and outcomes, how you achieved results.  Failures you experienced and what the lessons learnt from them was.  If you have stated on your CV that you grew business or spearheaded a project then be prepared to be challenged, your interviewer is digging to find out if these were all your own actions or those of others, was it a team effort which generated the result or all your hard work.  You must have facts and figures ready to trip off your tongue, without them you will fail. 

Here are some typical questions which arise in interview:

Tell me about yourself.

Describe your dream job to me – if you could create it.

Why did you leave your last position, or why are you leaving your current position?

What do you know about this company?

What are your goals?

What makes you effective?

How do you perceive yourself?

What do you think are out industry’s latest crazes, trends and must haves?

Tell me about a time something you were working on failed.

What are your greatest strengths and weaknesses – what weaknesses have you overcome?

Why do you want to work here?

What have been your most significant achievements in your current or last role?

Which of your managers in the past few years has got the best results and most value out of you and why?

How do you keep your team focused?

What things about your last role gave you the most job satisfaction?

In what areas would you like to further develop yourself?

Have you ever had to fire someone for poor performance? How did you manage the situation?

What types of decisions are the most difficult for you to make? Why?

How do you influence and sell co-workers or decision makers?

How do you communicate across the whole business?

Describe the biggest change you’ve ever dealt with. How did you adapt?

What do you think your colleagues would say about you?

Describe yourself in 3 words.

Why should we hire you?

What are your salary expectations?

If you feel you could benefit from having an Interview Prep session to cover off an informal or more in depth interview, or an Excel test just to ensure you are confident with showing your ability to use pivots and vlookups, Shorey Consulting Ltd is able to offer these services in either 30 or 60 minute sessions – contact us to find out more

Telephone interview tips – do’s and don’ts

In our strange and COVID world a phone interview is the new normal but not everyone is a fan of them, often a precursor for a call back to a Zoom or Teams interview it is essential to nail the preliminary phone round so if you need a few pointers to set you on the right track, read on…

As soon as you know your interview date

Plan

Where will you have your phone interview?  If it is at home then you need to use a quiet room where you will not be disturbed.  Think about which the best room will be for you on the day.  Get the room ready in advance with an office or dining room chair and a table you can use to write notes from and place your laptop or iPad on – with your CV on screen.  Do not use a bed or lounging chair to have your phone interview from, it will affect the command of your voice and mentally could make you overly relaxed.  If you think having a phone interview in work related clothing will aid you mentally then plan what you will want to wear and get it ready.

Prepare

Ensure you have a copy of your CV to hand, both printed and on screen (printed in case your computer dies or there is a power cut).  Write down all the questions you want to ask.  Using the job description and candidate spec which have (hopefully) been provided to you, create a Cheat Sheet.  For tips on a Cheat Sheet read my Cheat Sheet document.

Research

Begin your research on the company.  Look at LinkedIn or Glassdoor to see if there are any comments about the company as an employer.  See how many people have worked there.  Do they look like a good employer where people want to stay and can progress in their roles?  Check out their website, is it fresh and interactive, B2B or B2C too?   Do store visits to their retailers to check out the products on the shelf.  Discreetly ask suppliers or retailers or anyone you know that knows the business about their thoughts on them, have a look at Trust Pilot for reviews and ratings.  Ring up their customer services team and ask for a brochure to be sent out to you and see what arrives or try ordering something small and see how quickly it gets to you.  You may receive polarised views about the company but that’s ok for now, so long as they are not all negative keep going with the interview process but take heed of what you have learned and use it wisely in the interview stage to see how they handle answering tricky questions.

Help Notes

It is inevitable you will be nervous even though it is a phone interview, nerves are good, harness them.  However if you are prone to mumbling, gabbling, straying off topic, rolling your eyeballs, fidgeting, speaking in a monotone voice, laughing shrilly or taking forever to finish sentences then it is a great idea to have lots of little stickit notes dotted around to remind you not to do these things.  Remember to breathe, speak slowly, smile often – yes your smile does come down the phone line you will be amazed, keep your energy level up and try putting inflections in your voice because you are not being hired as a robot, not yet at any rate.  Have a cup of water to hand and take small sips often so your throat and lips remain hydrated.

Questions

This may be your only chance to really dig and find out if the company is one you would seriously want to work for so avoid the boring questions like how long is lunch break or what percentage do you contribute towards pension – instead go for the really important ones such the business culture, how are teams and people managed – you want to establish if its autonomous or micromanaged; how flexible is your role – is it literally to the letter of the job spec or can you get your hands on wider aspects (often the case in smaller companies); office layout – open plan or silos; communication – via email or in person (ideally a combination); employee engagement – when did they last celebrate success, what was it about, where did they go, what did they do (this will speak VOLUMES about what sort of employer they are); succession planning – is there any? Important if you want to stay in the company and move up the ladder otherwise you will be sharpening your CV again in a few years’ time; what is so great about working there – ask the interviewer to give you 3 examples; do they have an onboarding process or is hello, here is your employee handbook, good luck, see you at the next performance review.  The role itself – why has it come about?  Company goals and objectives for the year – what are they?  What will it mean to the business if they achieve them?  Similarly what will it mean to the business if they do not (this could affect your position as the newby – last in first out et al).  If you are able to get across these questions it will definitely help you to gain a clearer perspective on the type of employer the company is.

On the day of the phone interview

Communication devices

Aside from the devices you will need to have your phone interview with, leave them outside of the ‘interview room’.  Silence your mobile messaging alerts if your interview is on your mobile.

Be on time

Get to your ‘interview room’ a good 10 – 15 minutes prior to the call.  Settle yourself at your station and ensure the phone is fully charged.  Animals, kids, partners should all be vacated from your interview space, unless of course you need your dog for a health or mental purpose in which case Fido gets to keep your feet warm (this comes from a dog lover with two lugubrious basset hounds who work alongside me daily but I know how much a dog’s snoring comes down the phone line).  Place all your information in front of you, cheat sheet, notebook and pen, stickit help notes, questions, CV (hard copy as well as on screen in case of power failure). 

Listen

As well as taking your turn with asking and answering questions, be active in your listening, let the hiring manager speak, allow silences to be filled by the interviewer.  Silence is golden after all.

Questions

Be ready to answer situational or behavioural questions, these are known as competency based questions and are the most commonly used ones.  See my document on Competency Based Questions if you need information on what to expect. 

Manners

It is always advisable to thank the interviewer for their time at the end of the call.  You could extend this further by asking if you can email them in person – this way you will have their details to stay in touch with.  Whilst the role may not work out for you on this occasion, the company may have future roles they would like to consider you for.  Also they may have other contacts they could put you in touch with so a polite thank you can go a long way.  If your interview has been handled by a recruitment agency it would be prudent to let them know this is what you have done otherwise they may think you are trying to go behind their back.

Never do any of the following in a phone interview – or any other kind of interview!

• Smoking
• Eating
• Yawning
• Listening to music
• Taking another call (unless it’s an emergency call)
• Sounding bored
• Multi-tasking

Discussing salary package information

If you have applied to a job which has not given any salary package information then it would be sensible to ask what their budget for the role is and what the package includes overall.  There is no point getting excited about the opportunity and being taken through to the next stage and investing more of your time on preparing for the session to only after second stage interview, discover the salary is way beneath your expectation or what you can possibly drop to.  It is far better to manage all expectations at the outset and walk away if needs be.  If you are going through a recruitment consultant then ask them to establish all of this for you prior to even having your CV submitted.

Video Interview Tips

You’ve flown through the preliminary phone interview first round and now you are invited to attend a video interview, if you are not someone whose life over the past few months has been spent having through screen meetings and therefore now feel confidant communicating and conveying through screen, do not panic, a video interview is much akin to a face to face one, only with some slightly different aspects to add into the equation.

Your interview space

If you live in shared accommodation it is important to find a quiet area away from the hubbub of noise and distraction.  Look around and have a good tidy up, put away clothes, personal effects, clutter, this is your interview room so get into that mindset as it will help you focus on the day.  Nobody wants to see a bra draping over a bed end.  Also ask those you share your home with to avoid interrupting you on the day but if you are in a communal area do make sure nobody is likely to walk by semi-naked – believe me, my own two eyes have seen it.  The person interviewing you can see more than you think – just remember that. 

Dress for interview

Even if your interviewer is in their Onesie it doesn’t mean you should let your standards slip.  Dress as though you were going for the interview in person, being in more formal attire will be a good prompt to retain your focus as to what the video call is all about – avoid bright colours.  As you don’t know if you might be required to stand up (power failure, web-cam falling off – anything could happen in a life event) it is advisable to wear something smart on the bottom half as well as the top.

No distractions

Put your phone on silent, turn the face down so any messages coming in won’t distract you or better yet, put the phone somewhere else.   Close down browsers on your screen.  Let everyone in your house know you are having an interview so must not be distracted.  Similarly turn off the radio, TV, iPad, evict the dog, cat and/or kids from your interview space.  Distractions will lose your focus and this could cost you your interview.

Focus on the camera not the person

Many people make the mistake of looking at the person on the screen but it’s the camera you need to look at.  If you look at the interviewer, to them it seems as though you are looking down so focus on the camera for as long as you can.

Body Language

Do remember to smile and avoid sitting with your arms folded over your chest which can appear closed, avoid frowning and certainly do not yawn!  Avoid using a really comfy chair to sit on – if you do not have an office chair then use an upright one but make sure it is comfy enough to avoid you wriggling about.  If you talk with your hands place them on your lap or hold a pen.  Look like you are fully engaged and keen.  Remember not to put your hand over your mouth otherwise you will not be heard. 

Cheat Sheet or notes

Keeping your notes or cheat sheet close by will aid you when answering any tricky questions or if your mind goes blank – we all have those moments so using your carefully planned bullet points will help get you out of difficulty and remind you about the company you are applying to.

Practice

Make sure your camera and volume are working properly and play around with the angle of your webcam or laptop camera, make sure your wi-fi is up to the job of a video interview and is not likely to keel over part way through the session.  Schedule in a dry run so you know on the day where and how to sit, the correct placement for your device and most important of all, so that you feel confident in delivering your answers and asking questions.

Family issues, traveling, sabbatical, sickness, redundancy, raising a family – these are all reasons why so many people have gaps in their CV history but it’s how you deal with the gap which will contribute towards landing your dream job.

Edit your CV

If you have been working for several years you do not need to explain all your career history since completing education.  By listing on one line the employer name, job title and years you were there will save a lot of space – and by only stating the year rather than month helps to avoid employment gaps.

You could just put the employment from and to dates as years omitting the months for previous roles however a half decent recruiter is likely to ask you for the actual months you were employed there as well as the years, particularly during the last 5-7 years of your career which is the most crucial part of your working life. 

Rather than explaining gaps in the middle of your CV which takes up unnecessary space or could simply put the reader off you straight away, explain any lengthy gaps in a covering letter supplementing your CV.  Gaps for more than 3 months should be explained.

Honesty best policy

Never lie in your CV, it will eventually come out so honesty is always best. 

You might not be able to fully disclose certain information especially in the case of a settlement agreement or tribunal but by informing the recruiter of this situation they will understand and should not press you for details.

Never change your employment dates to try and fudge any career gaps in your CV.  If the recruiter or hiring company calls your past employer they will provide your actual dates and then your fabrication of the truth (or lie) will probably result in you not being offered the job.

Always be honest about your career gap, recruiters and hiring managers see career breaks all the time in CV’s but lying about your gap will not benefit you – it could cost you the job.

Be Proactive

There are many ways you can fill any gaps in your CV whilst you are looking for work.

Take up voluntary work.  Do an online course (speak to an advisor at the Jobcentre about any courses you could be interested in as there may be government sponsored courses available meaning you do not have to pay for them).  If you enjoy writing then start a blog or if you’re creative find things to make and either donate or sell on eBay or Etsy.

Do not wait for things to come to you, you have to be proactive and by doing this it will show your grit, determination and drive to want to improve yourself and be a contributor – employers will look much more favourably on someone who does not just sit and wait for the world to come to them.  By being proactive your life will have structure, value and meaning which ultimately will boost your morale and confidence.

Positive words

Explaining gaps in your CV is simply a matter of the right positive wording e.g. ‘I was let go and I’ve haven’t found work since’ would sound much better if you said ‘I have been taking some time out to re-shape my career direction and identify companies and opportunities which genuinely excite me.’  This conveys a strategic approach to your having a gap. 

If you have been proactive in improving your skills through learning or showing flair by setting up a small side-line venture to occupy your time whilst you seek your next full-time perfect role, talk about how this experience has benefited you – it is far more impactful to show a positive mind-set.

Be Prepared

Your gaps will get raised in interview so being ready to cover them off with a slick response will be crucial to interview success.

By genning up on the hiring company and understanding more about who they are, their business culture and the actual job description, you will be able to succinctly and convincingly convey why you are an ideal candidate for the role despite your career gaps.  Being able to talk confidently and knowledgeably of their industry, latest trends and competitors will propel you into a front row seat for next interview rounds.

Reasons

If you have gaps in your CV for any of the following reasons here is how to handle communicating them:

Travelling

Right thing to say – ‘I didn’t take a gap year prior to university and after 5 years of working I really wanted to explore part of the world I had no knowledge of.  I spent six months traveling around Asia and immersing myself in the local cultures and communities.  It has given me a much wider appreciation for how different cultures think and operate which I believe makes me a more rounded individual.  I now feel ready to embrace my next exciting career challenge.’

Wrong thing to say – ‘I went to Koh Racha in Thailand and partied hard for 3 months, I really can’t remember much about it other than the Moon party which was amazing.’ 

Family Issues

Right thing to say – ‘My father was really ill and as my mother wasn’t capable of looking after him by herself I decided to take time out from work to support them both and I’m happy to say my dad made a full recovery so I’m now able to return to work full time and can’t wait to get started.’

Wrong thing to say – ‘I had some issues which I don’t want to talk about’.

Sickness

Right thing to say – ‘Unfortunately I did not feel strong enough to be a positive contributor to my job due to a lengthy illness so I made the difficult decision to resign from  my job which I actually loved.  However, I’m now back to full health and fitness so I’m keen to settle into my new career challenge.’

Wrong thing to say – ‘I have an on-going health problem so I give up work easily.’

Redundancy

Right thing to say – ‘Unfortunately due to covid pandemic 30% of our workforce were let go, I was really enjoying my job and although I’d only been there 5 months I was starting to make quite an impact.  It was literally a case of last in first out and being a newby to the team I was part of the cost cutting exercise.  My line manager is more than happy to provide a reference for me.’

Wrong thing to say – ‘They let me go because my face did not fit’.

To summarise

Be ready to talk about your career gaps, the odd few weeks or couple of months here or there are common and understandable therefore hardly likely to raise any red flags but prolonged periods out of work will require careful explanation.

Head any concerns off at the pass by bringing up your gaps at the start of the conversation if you have not covered them off in an accompanying letter with your CV.

Be positive and engaging, show your desire to want to be a positive contributor to a future employer and this will highlight you as a desirable candidate.  Be honest, don’t hide anything and then you will have nothing to fear.  Recruiters want to help you get a job so being honest with them is key to your future success – if you lie to them and they later find this out they will feel embarrassed and let down by you, ultimately they may not want to ever discuss another role with you.

Need more CV advice?

It takes about 7 seconds for a recruiter to accept or reject your application.  Does your CV clearly convey your key skills, achievements and responsibilities?  Nailing the perfect CV is vital to securing a job interview.  If you think your CV could do with some tips and advice for improvement contact me for a free CV review – rowena@shoreyconsulting.co.uk

STAR – situation, task, approach, results

STAR is a helpful way of answering interview questions which are based around competency and behaviour, competency questions enable the candidate to speak freely in an interview.  If you have ever been asked ‘tell me about a time’ or ‘describe how you’ or ‘give me an example of’ this is competency questioning.  On the surface it is straight forward because you are openly speaking about real life scenarios however if you have made a statement on your CV which you are not able to personally give detail around, then it can trip you up and leave you exposed.  For people who are rusty with interview technique or new to the interview process then the STAR framework can help you however it is important to ensure you do not sound scripted in your answer delivery – you are being hired as a human being not a robot.

So how to use STAR to nail your competency interview questions

The STAR method helps you create an easy-to-follow story with a clear conflict and resolution.  Here’s what each part of the technique means:

S – Situation

Think of this section as ‘setting the scene’, you are laying out the narrative and giving context to the situation you handled, e.g

‘We were under a lot of pressure across the whole business to meet our Christmas delivery dates and everyone was beginning to feel quite stressed by it all, we knew if we could achieve our target that bonuses would be paid out so the pressure really was on’.

T – Task

Explain your action or responsibility in the role you played e.g.

‘As head of marketing although it is not my responsibility to get involved on the packing line, I understood this was an important and urgent matter so I communicated the urgency to my team and discussed with my other heads of department about what we could all do collectively to help achieve the target.’

A – Approach

Explain how you handled the situation.  If the action was carried out by a team, focus on your efforts.

‘After conveying this to everyone we all agreed we needed to support our warehouse operation, it was not fair to leave them to handle the pressure alone.  I took this to our MD and he supported my idea so I created a rota across all the departments freeing up certain team members across sales, marketing, finance and ops to go and lend a hand in the warehouse until all the shipment had been taken care of.’

R – Result

What was the outcome you reached through your actions? If possible, quantify your success or provide concrete examples of the effects of your efforts.

‘By providing extra helping hands we cleared the Christmas delivery two days ahead of schedule which was a good job because we had a sudden last minute order fly in for Amazon, if we had not cleared the Christmas backlog then the Amazon order would have been late.  We had a great time in the warehouse, it was a rally good team bonding experience and had a lovely festive feel, our MD joined us too, it really helped with fostering staff engagement and morale by everyone pulling together.’

Lastly

You may not know in advance if your interview is going to be a competency based one but the chances are it will be.  Don’t worry though because if you have been doing your job and are confident you possess the right skills for the role you are being interviewed for, you just need to think about work-related challenges and tasks you have gained experience in and exposure to.

Hopefully you will have received a job description for the role so you know what the hiring company is looking for.  Check through the criteria and make a list of your relevant experience and the outcomes of your actions – this will help convince the interviewer you have the right capabilities for the role.

It is ok to talk about times you have failed – we have all had some epic fails in our careers, we are only human but it is what we learn from our failures which sets us apart and shows how we handle set-backs.

Do not become rigid with the STAR framework, you must give a fluid interview where discussion flows rather than static answers drummed out.  Regardless of the situations and experiences you convey, make sure they clearly articulate about the situation, task, action and result but highlight your skills and achievements which best relate to the role you are applying.

You have just had a great interview and feel you could be a great fit for the role and company – excellent news!  To make yourself even more memorable, you should swiftly follow-up with a thank you note to the interviewer.

Below are 3 examples you can modify for your own purposes but they have been built around a phone, video and in person interview.

Good luck and fingers crossed for a positive outcome!

Phone interview – first stage

Dear [interviewer name]

I just wanted to thank you for the phone interview today [insert date] with regards to the role of [job title].  I really enjoyed speaking with you and learning more about the opportunity and company.  I remain very keen on the role and would welcome an opportunity for a second interview.

If you require any further information from me at this stage, please do not hesitate to get in touch.  I believe you have all my contact details but just in case they are here below:

[insert your email address, insert your phone number].

Hopefully I will hear from you soon with some positive news!  I hope you have a great rest of the week.

Kind regards

Jo Blogs

………………………..

Video interview – second stage

Dear [interviewer name]

I really enjoyed meeting with you today [insert date] on Teams/Zoom and I appreciate you making the time to interview me for the position of [job title].

From everything we talked about and the research I have conducted, your company feels like a really strong fit for me both culturally and professionally.  I believe I could be a significant contributor to your organisation and I feel that my leadership skills will help elevate an already high performing team.

I am aware the next stage in the process is an in-person interview with a 30 minute power point presentation and I am hopeful to be shortlisted for this third stage interview. In the event that I am successful and you would like to see me, I do need to make you aware of some holiday time I have booked as during this time I will not be able to attend an in-person interview [insert dates]. 

Should you require any further details from me please do not hesitate to call or email me and I really hope to meet with you in person so that I can demonstrate my strong candidacy for this role.

All the best

Joe Blogs

…………………

In person interview – final stage

Dear [interviewer name]

Thank you for inviting me to final interview today [date] for the position of [job title]. 

I really appreciated hearing about the roll out programme for twelve new exciting products over the next two years and what the roadmap looks like for this programme.  It certainly seems like it would be a very exciting time to be joining the company!

It was great to see so many happy looking people, being in a collaborative and collegiate business culture is important to me, as is being part of an organisation that is fast paced, forward thinking and dynamic. 

I am enclosing a copy of my deck in case you needed to share today’s presentation with any other colleagues.  If you have further questions, please do not hesitate to get in touch with me but suffice to say, I remain extremely keen on this opportunity and hope to hear from you soon with some positive news.

Kind regards

Jo Blogs

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Today, I am proud to be re-launching my established business and giving the brand and name a make-over to Shorey Consulting Ltd.  With 24 years’ recruitment experience behind me, 16 of which have been specialised within the Toy and Nursery markets, like many organisations, in order to survive the Pandemic and Brexit, I have had to adapt and evolve my product offering. 

Despite the recruitment market itself being incredibly active, I wanted to enhance the overall recruitment process which begins from CV submission to the first few months of the candidate being in post.  The obvious areas where I believed I could most strongly support my candidates were in CV layout and content; preparing for telephone or video interviews and from an employers’ perspective, creating 30-90 day onboarding plans and writing job descriptions. 

My product offering is a complete and rounded package, and in recruitment if you do your job well, very often your candidate becomes the client meaning the process turns full circle.  This is my re-brand story and ultimately, I am my own brand.  The colours green, yellow, white and grey have personal meaning to me but ultimately, they also represent vitality, positivity, freshness and maturity.  As we start to exit the Pandemic, this felt like a good time to re-structure my business and re-invent the original colour-wheel to circle – or you may view it as a life ring – something to hold on to and know you will be in the safest of hands.

If you are an employer looking to fill a vacancy or a candidate seeking their next job venture, contact me to find out more about how I can assist you.

There are many questions you can ask to find out more about someone but one of my personal favorites is ‘tell me something about you which is not on your CV’. I am not trying to trip the person up, although there is usually a few seconds pregnant pause with some ‘errs’ and ‘ahhs’ then the light bulb switches on and I get their response. One of my favorite answers was someone telling me that the person who used to baby sit for them when they were very young, had been a sales agent for the toy company in which my candidate was working. Whilst the majority of answers are not work related that doesn’t matter to me, they are revealing, illuminating and can take you down other paths to explore to really get under the skin of your candidate and ultimately that is what I aim to do, to establish if their personality and cultural traits are going to be aligned to those of the hiring company I’m recruiting for, also they help to relax the person and it’s a good way to get them to open up about themselves – we’re not always very good at talking about ourselves, I think it’s an inherently British thing. So next time you’re interviewing someone and want to help put them at ease quickly, if you haven’t thought about asking this question before, give it a whirl, you never know what you might learn.

If you would like further tips and advice on behavioural or technical interview questions or how to use the STAR technique as your interview framework please contact me – Rowena@shoreyconsulting.co.uk

Stay safe!

Creating an ideal work space in the home or an outside building such as a summer house or shed is vitally important in today’s world of the full time working from home (WFH) person.  We have just had one of our big sheds pimped up – it once sufficed as my gym but now the barn doors are gone and replaced with double patio doors and the floor and walls painted in soft grey and white it’s a light, bright and inviting place where I look forward to being – either for exercise or work.

We now have the perfect opportunity to stamp our own mark on our workspaces and as a home reflects our personality and style, so too can our office.  Regardless of whether you opt for Scandi pared back, hygge warm and cozy or bright whacky colours, embrace your space and let it reflect you – after all, wouldn’t it be wonderful to feel just as excited to be going to work as it is to be going home?  Following are some quick and easy tips and fixes to help you transform your office space into one that is truly representative of you.

De-clutter

Try to keep your office space clutter free, it attracts dust and distractions.  If you have cupboards or drawers you could always put printers or scanners into these – if you are not using them on a daily basis.

Go green

Bring some plants into your office space – they will breathe life into the air and look pretty too plus green is a vital colour.  Succulents, orchids, botanicals are all perfect for an office desk or shelf, you could even add a small aquarium with pretty fish.

Make it personal

This is your space so stamp your own mark on it – whether that be a few photos or artwork – but just remember the likelihood is you will be having video calls so make sure whatever you do choose to display is appropriate for a professional workspace… just saying.

Soften the atmosphere

Adding a rug to the floor – especially if it’s a hard surface or putting up blinds or curtains, will help to take away from the echo sound plus it looks much more inviting.

Let in the light

Ensure you have as much natural light as possible and also think about having a desk lamp or floor lamp to brighten up dull days or shorter daylight hours in winter months. 

Optimise space

Shelves, cupboards, drawers – ensure you have enough of these in order to keep the area clean, tidy and clutter free.  You will be much more effective and productive if you know where everything is stored and can readily access what you need rather than trying to find something hidden under a stack of paperwork.  In today’s digital world try to avoid holding on to unnecessary papers – adopt the 3S motto – scan, save, shred – I just made that up but I quite like it!

Hydrate and nourish Keep your body and mind hydrated and refreshed – have fresh water readily available in a water bottle cooler; if you like your caffeine then have a special mug and drink tea from a china mug or cup – it will taste better I promise!  Avoid eating too many biscuits – instead opt for nuts or home-made energy bars.   If music helps you whilst working then play some tunes to boost or focus your mindset.