The debate over onsite, hybrid and/or  remote work can and will rage on (especially on the pages of LinkedIn) but one thing is absolutely for sure

Interviews will happen in person

Marketers average tenure in a business is 4 years. This means that many people interviewing in all likelihood interviewed virtually for their current role.

Early-mid career Specialists/Managers may have only ever interviewed virtually. For more Senior roles we could be looking at 8-10 years or more since their last in-person interview

In a virtual interview preparation is important but it is easy to have notes at hand and guides to work from. Face to face preparation is absolutely essential to making sure you can relax and maybe even enjoy the interview process.

Before the Interview

• Research, research, research.

Research the company. Research the people you are meeting. Research the role – look at similar roles and be prepared to talk about Why you want this job and why you want to work there. Get excited because this excitement and desire to learn and develop in this role with this business and leader can over talk a lot of technical know how.

AI is your friend

Use AI to

• help you get a really good overview of the company, their competitors, their brand, mission statement and values and any relevant news stories.
• help you craft a compelling (and succinct) personal introduction that highlights your relevant skills and achievements for the specific role. Sometimes ‘tell me about yourself’ is the hardest question to nail down.
• help you prepare questions to ask the interviewer, demonstrating your interest and knowledge about the company and role⁠

If you don’t want to or don’t have time to prepare for your interview save everyone’s time and pull out of the process. Do not go unprepared – this is not the time to wing it, please don’t.

• Plan your Answers and Practice –

Plan out your STAR answers and practice them.  Go through the Job Description and make sure you have an example for all the areas you are strong in. Look at the company values and have examples of where you have displayed them. Using a template to plan out your answers is great. Ask someone to roleplay with you, voice note or video yourself but make sure you practice and check in if you are going off track.

If you would like a more detailed guide to preparing for your interview/ some example questions please contact us

The Basics

• Plan Your Outfit, Collate Your Notes and Know Where You are Going the Night Before

Sounds simple but you can never be too smartly dressed for a first interview. Most businesses are smart casual but when interviewing ensure you are leaning to the smart end of whatever attire is appropriate for your industry and check that you have everything ready to go the night before.

• Plan Your Trip and Be 15 Minutes Early.

Ok remember how we had to be reminded to check our Tech and check our internet connection before we logged on to video interviews – please check how you are getting to your interview and leave enough time between meets to get there and have some time to breathe. Interviews are stressful enough without worrying you will be late just don’t do it to yourself.

• Make sure you know who you are meeting and can pronounce their names.
• Turn your phone/smart watch off/to silent before you get to the office.
• First impressions really count. Smile and maintain eye contact with whoever is greeting you – you can absolutely guarantee their opinion counts whether they are interviewing you or not.

During the Interview

Be yourself – you have done all of the preparation, you know your stuff, let your personality show.

Listen to the question and answer the question you are asked not the question you anticipated.

Try not to be afraid of silence – I know it’s hard I struggle with this one big time- but when you are asked a question stop before you answer. If you feel yourself waffling stop and say sorry I went off track. It happens, no big deal.

Ask questions throughout – if you aren’t sure of something ask and qualify. Ask for a question to be repeated, qualify you have understood what they mean. If a question puts you on the spot say so – don’t feel you need to get everything right first time.

After the Interview

 If you are going through a recruiter call us and de-brief we are as invested as you and we can’t wait to hear how you went.

Be Kind. Be kind to yourself and make sure you list in your head 3-5 things you did really well in the meeting and something you learnt about the role or manager you didn’t know before that made you want the position even more. Even if this isn’t the one for you make sure you take from it some positives for yourself

Follow up with a thank you to the interviewers, ask if they want to qualify any of your answers and reiterate what you learnt in the meeting and why you want the job.

Hope you found this summary useful. For more details or to explore how mrkt talent can help you spend less time interviewing and more time with the right talent contact us now.