How to get an interview
In our last newsletter we looked at identifying what opportunities are available and choosing the ones you want. In later editions we will look at interviewing and getting the best possible start to your new job. Here we concentrate on obtaining an interview.
Whoever you meet, whether it is the managing director, a human resources professional, or a recruitment consultant, it is essential that you see things from their point of view. That way you enable them to recognise that you are the solution to their problems because you have identified in advance what those problems are and you have described how you have overcome similar situations in the past.
They are looking for a capable person with a specific set of competencies. They won’t want to search into your standard CV to find them, but if they can see they are immediately evident they will call you for interview.
Companies look for people who research them and anticipate what their requirements will be. That is why a standard CV is not helpful, not even if accompanied by a specific covering letter. What is needed is a tailored CV which shows that you have the key competencies they need in their business.
Competencies
Competencies are the skills, behaviours and actions which cause specific objectives to be met. And the best evidence of these comes from past achievements. The key point is that these achievements should relate to what companies need doing.
How do I know what they want?
A well-organised recruitment campaign is based on clearly defined competencies which the company has identified as being critical to achieving its objectives. You need to find out where the company is going, its progress to date and the obstacles it needs to overcome. i.e. your research needs to be thorough. The company’s own website, internet searches, annual reports, trade surveys and comments from people who know them are relevant sources of information.
If the company’s name is not published then ask the recruitment consultancy. Unless it is a confidential assignment the consultancy will normally tell you and provide you with an Assignment Brief which gives full details.
Putting it all together
The best way is to take all the above data and note the key requirements/competencies as they occur to you. Then rank them in order of importance. The ranking is indicated by the content of your research. Evaluate honestly whether you have the competencies they almost certainly need. If you do, tell them at least twice in your CV by listing the major responsibilities of your current and past roles in the ranked order of importance to them, and re-emphasing with a list of key achievements (quantified numerically wherever possible), in exactly the same order of importance to them.
And you can address how you meet the top four priorities in your covering letter.
The two lists of competencies will greatly increase your chance of being called to interview and it’s very likely they will conduct the meeting based on your tailored CV.
Of course not every interview produces an offer or the right offer so your strategy also needs to identify other positions to go for. This will be covered later …..
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