My First Interview

I remember my first REAL interview like it was yesterday. Luckily i was interviewed by someone i worked with for 3 months before they made a decision to interview me for a permanent role. It wasn't easy, even though i worked with my then boss for those months as a temp. I was ready. Now, picture this, i studied at this company for 3 years, i was part of the "SRC" at some point in my life during my years there, i worked in their call Centre for 2 years prior to my interview, i was part of the residence committee for 2 of my years there. Now, talk about an over achiever who knew "EVERYTHING ABOUT THE COMPANY."

This did not stop me from doing my research though about the company. I spent the whole weekend reading about the company, just to make sure that if they asked me anything about what the company stands for, then i am able to sound like i know more than they know. To cut the long story short, they did not even ask me a single question about the company, NOT One. I was not frustrated though as i knew i was prepared. The one question that caught me of-guard was from the HR manager when he asked me, "Are you a foreigner, or do you consider yourself a foreigner?" Like, what the hell? Who asks such a question? How dare he? What is he trying to prove? Needless to say even with that strange question, i got the Job.

The Moral of the Story

Preparation/ Research

Do your research. Your first, second or however many interviews you do will always be a test of why you want that role or even that company. For example, as a recruiter, if i ask you why you want to come and work for Investec, i EXPECT the candidate to show that at least they know what the company does. Here is one of the answers i get from those candidates that never did their research, "All i know is that Investec is a Bank." That's it, nothing more, nothing less. Now, even though one could argue that Investec is a Bank, it still does not show that the person knows more about the organisation. So, do your research and remember, even if no one asks what you know about the Organisation, you have nothing to lose.

The Nerves

It is only normal that one one shakes in their boots. You know when someone asks, "Can i offer you anything to drink?" Well, you better take that bottle of water. Sipping water in between your question and answer sessions goes a long way in helping calm you down. 5 minutes before the interview, please go to the bathroom and do your "whoooosahs" in the bathroom. You do not want someone firing questions at you and all you can think about is that bathroom break.

Curve Ball Questions

"Are you a foreigner, or do you consider yourself to be a foreigner?" Or "How many coins does it take to reach the top of a 50 storey building?" These are questions do not always have the right or wrong answer. In most cases, the interviewer is trying to understand your thinking process, or rather, they are hoping you will show them how you got to the answer. This is the same as that Maths test in high school where you know the answer and out of 10 marks, you only get 1 mark because you did not show how you got to the answer. Think about this the same way, every answer is marked out of 10, so how are you going to get all the 10 marks?

Tell us about YOURSELF

Spending 20 minutes talking about the fact that you were born in some rural village of Xoxo will not get you your 10 points. Infact, we start negative marking after 5 minutes. Don't be that PERSON. Its a timed interview and in most cases, we should have covered all we need to know about you by the time we reach the 40 minutes mark. And remember, the best Interviews are conversational. Try by all means to have a conversation with your interviewer.

Do you have any Questions for US

Remember that research i spoke about? Well, this is where it really helps. Its is easier to ask questions about the culture if you know something about the organisation. I was so prepared in my first interview that i had tonnes of questions lined up for my then Manager. I would however caution that one does not ask questions for the sake of asking. This can be the downfall of even the most well prepared.

To be Continued...

Strike William Ngobeni

Metallurgist - Process Engineering

5 年

This was posted in 2014 and even today it is still helpful.

回复
Ntombifuthi Malaza

Senior Regional Manager at BETSA

10 年

Thanks Tshidi, you've enlightened everything well and you made me look back to my previous interview. I recently graduated and I've realised just by reading through your post that there's a lot to learn and pick up when going for interviews and asking questions at the end of the interview is essential and important, never thought of that always said nothing which is bad. Thanks again much appreciated

Zukiswa Ntyinkala

Senior HRO - HR Projects Results oriented HR professional | Driver & implementor of impactful HR projects | Employee Wellness aligned with great Talent is my ethos!

10 年

Great stuff - lovely and funny read..

回复
Loreal van Niekerk

Director / Business Development Manager at LHA Recruit

10 年

Its really good to see that managers still see candidate that come for interviews as human beings. Its really challenging for both the interviewer and the candidate, some times really good candidates loose the position due to their lack of confidence in an interview, yet would be the "perfect" applicant. I also do believe that armed with knowledge of the company you are going to and even a good background check on who will be interviewing you could help quite a lot. Usually this information is on a company website and if it the interview was through an agency usually they have good knowledge of the company, they should share this info with the candidate.

Dolly G. Mokgatle

Human Resources Officer at Botswana Examinations Council

10 年

On point..was conducting interviews last week and one of the guys there had a glass of water,wont believe that one of the panelists was irritated by that. i was impressed that despite the nerves he managed to poor himself a glass of water

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