Break the ice, not their will to live
The question “can you talk us through your career to date?” is often used as an icebreaker. However, many candidates seem to hear it as “can you please tell us every little twist and turn you ever took in your career and, in the process, bore us all to death?” writes Liam Horan, Career Coach, […]
Time your run in recorded interviews
Recorded video interviews are becoming more popular, and, in fact, publicjobs.ie has recently started using this method for some screening interviews, writes Liam Horan, Career Coach, Sli Nua Careers. In a recent engineering recruitment campaign they ran, candidates who survived the post-application form cull had to answer three recorded video questions. They gave you the […]
Short title needn’t present a barrier
Q: They’ve asked me to do a ten-minute presentation at the start of the interview, but the instruction amounts to just one word: ‘Challenges’. What’s a woman meant to do with the likes of that? Hemingway wouldn’t manage to cobble together something from that title. Any tips would be appreciated. (IK, email). A: I am […]
New boss is struggling badly
Q: When push came to shove, I didn’t take the top job in my department. I was sounded out about it and it was mine if I wanted it. But it’s a lot of hassle. They appointed an external candidate and he lasted six weeks before he got the curly finger. Now they’re back at […]
One story to tell all the stories
A competency-based interview revolves around telling one story that tells all the stories. To know that Lionel Messi can produce magic, you don’t need to see his every goal – just one of his best, writes Liam Horan, Career Coach, Sli Nua Careers. Neither is it necessary to listen to Bocelli’s entire back catalogue to […]
Follow the leader
In a competency-based interview or application form, when you tell a story about how you lead, it is vital that you also show how others followed, writes John Moloney, Career Coach, Sli Nua Careers. Leaders without followers are not leaders. What I am getting at here is that you should not underestimate the importance of […]
‘How did you prepare for this interview’
Q: In a recent job interview, I was asked a very unusual question: ‘how did you prepare for this interview?’ I didn’t know what to say and muttered something about reading their website. In fact, I had put in a huge amount of preparation, including speaking to somebody who works there and doing two sessions […]
Speak for yourself
In an interview, there’s a subtle dance between being sure of your skills and coming across as arrogant, writes Liam Horan, Career Coach, Sli Nua Careers. In my experience, the fear of appearing arrogant causes many candidates to downplay their skills far too much. This is unfortunate because, in reality, I have rarely come across […]
Hand talkers, plough on
The greatest moment in an interview training session is when the client starts to talk with their hands, writes Liam Horan, Career Coach, Sli Nua Careers. Until then, you generally haven’t noticed how much they’ve been suppressing their hand movements. But once those hands start going, you know the client is beginning to talk naturally […]
Why ‘why’ is crucial in an interview
The unspoken question in a job interview is “why?”. The story you’re telling, the example you’re illustrating, should not just be a run through what you did – ideally, it should explain why you did it, writes Liam Horan, Career Coach, Sli Nua Careers. So that new technology system you implemented in your company is […]