Face-to-face is fine

Few people relish the prospect of a job interview

Few people relish the prospect of a job interview. There's nothing nice about being called to account for yourself under pressure, but for most jobs the interview is central - so there's no escaping it.

Cormac Lankford started to get interested in how people perform in interviews when he was doing a thesis for a master's degree in psychology at UCC 10 years ago. A careers guidance counsellor at second level for many years, Lankford used the recruitment experiences of 60 companies, a large number of job applicants and the views of recruitment, training and other senior managers to identify what makes a good interview and a successful interviewee.

"There is no better way of establishing what the requirements of interviewers are than by asking them to comment on the performances of interviewees," he says. "This is precisely what was done as preparatory work and it was within such a framework that I developed hard-headed, practical steps for job success."

Lankford has since written a book, The Interview Challenge, which is designed to equip job applicants with everything they need to know about the selection procedure.

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He kicks off with a section which outlines what the interviewer will be trying to find out from candidates during interviews - for example, how good are their communication skills, how well have they researched their interview material, how do they cope with stress and what evidence is there of leadership qualities. Under each heading there are examples of potential questions and how to handle them.

"Interviewers are constantly watching for tell-tale clues about your attitudes," Lankford says. "Feelings of indignation, inadequacy, dissatisfaction and despair can easily be conveyed in oral communication.

"So the candidate has to be careful not to display characteristics verbally that reveal him or her in an unfavourable light."

As regards what to wear and how to look, Lankford endorses what most people already know: like it or not, most potential employers prefer potential employees to look fairly conservative. So long or unruly hair on men, women with overly heavy make-up and both sexes wearing clothes which are inappropriate or out of context (e.g. too tight, too dark or too trendy) generally don't find favour with interview panels.

Lankford's advice to those already on the hunt for a new job is laid out in a clear and practical way, but he is also keen to stress the need for people (of all ages) to make sure that they suit the job as much as they think it suits them.

With this in mind he has included a table which lists 96 careers which readers can rank in order of preference to build up a profile of where their interests really lie.

"It really is important to decide the area that interests you, and that means knowing yourself first," he says. "That's less of a problem with older people who come to see me, but it's not so easy for younger people going after their first job and they may need help. "People need a clear idea of what their career profile really is. If you have weaknesses in your career pattern and interests, there are things you can do to rectify this," Lankford says.

Aptitude tests have become widespread in job selection in recent years and they are often a cause of concern for candidates. To take some of the fear and mystery out of the process, Lankford goes through the different tests and gives examples of what aptitudes they are testing and how they work.

"The reasoning behind these tests is that employees need to have many other abilities besides purely academic ones," he says. "The types of aptitude tests given by employers are related to the skills required on the job - for example, logical reasoning for management, mechanical reasoning for engineers and numeracy for accountants."

According to Lankford, most people need to train to get good at something - and that includes interview techniques. He breaks training for interviews into three sections: research, self-preparation and interactive training.

The first section involves finding out as much as possible about the relevant company from annual reports, in-house journals and newspaper clippings. At stage two, candidates are asked to work on themselves, identifying their strengths and weaknesses, visualising the interview step-by-step and thinking in advance about how they would handle any unexpected situation which arose during the interview.

In the final section, Lankford suggests either buying the services of a professional interview-skills trainer or getting a trusted family member or friend to play the role. He recommends using a tape recorder or video to record simulated interviews, so the candidate can hear or see how he or she answers questions and reacts to the "interview" situation.

Where are the areas in which people fall down most? Lankford says that a lot of candidates have problems making a connection between their qualifications or training and the job they are applying for. "People often have a very good degree or lots of training courses behind them but they can't explain the relevance of their knowledge to the job - for example, someone who has studied statistics but doesn't make the links between this and, say, a job in quality control in a chemical company.

"A second area where people fall down is preparation. Candidates need to be able to demonstrate evidence of research to the interviewer," he says. "There is no excuse not to do this with all of the information available today.

"Interviews have become tougher over the years and this is an area where companies like to see evidence that a candidate has found out about their organisation. It shows interest and motivation."

Some people, Lankford warns, tend to become overly assertive in interviews, trying to take control of the situation.

"My advice is to calm down and take it easy," he says. "Keep your feet firmly planted on the ground and don't start moving them about or you'll start to fidget. "I know it's important to maintain eye contact with the interviewer, but this doesn't mean staring at the person all the time. You're allowed to look away while you're thinking about your answers." For many older people, and particularly women who have not worked outside the home for some time, facing an interview can be very daunting.

Lankford's advice is don't panic. "Stand back from yourself and look at what you've been doing for the past five, 10 or more years," he says.

"In the case of a woman at home, she has been juggling all the elements required to make her home run smoothly. In this respect her job is not dissimilar to that of any manager.

It's the same for an older man who might have coached a younglads' football team. Initially he may not see where this fits, but of course this too is demonstrating leadership and management qualities. "Skills start to emerge when you look at it like this. This is why it is so important to do a good analysis of one's skills and strengths."

Contact Point: The Interview Challenge is published by Blackhall at £9.99. Cormac Lankford has a careers assessment and counselling practice in Cork (tel: (021) 341032).