Interviews... daunting for some, a welcomed challenge to others. Whichever camp you fall within, one thing is for sure, they remain an integral part of a company's hiring process.
Interviews are designed to find points to separate the remaining applicants and narrow down to that one lucky person...the new hire!
But how do you find success at this stage and secure the job? The key is in understanding the real reasons for this stage of the process, along with making sure you follow a few simple rules.
So what is the real reason for an interview? Is it to assess if you can do the job? Well yes it is, but the interviewers already believe that you can do the job. After-all, they have read that very fact on your CV/application. So assuming that you have not provided any bold false claims, you have cleared that hurdle.
If that is not the main reason, what is? TEAM FIT. The potential employer wants to know if you are the person their business they are looking for on a personal/culture level. Does your personality fit the profile of the person they are looking for, or could it cause too much unrest? Are you going to find difficulty settling because you're a very reserved person and the team are loud and boisterous? These are questions the business are trying to answer and ones that an applicant should also be keen to know before joining a new place of work.
As an applicant you should do your due diligence. Look at the company website, LinkedIn pages etc and work out who the people in the team are. Look into their interests and social media profiles. Do you share similar interests and do you think there may be things in common? Same applies for the interviewers you will meet. Do your research to find things that you can use to build rapport in the interview beyond the weather and your journey to their offices!
Other simple and time-tested rules one should follow include:
Dress code - in most cases that will mean formal business dress and is often a safe bet to leave a positive impression. But with some sectors, businesses or even certain employers, they may be more relaxed and business dress may be too formal or 'stuffy' for them. Check ahead of time to be sure!
Plan your route and an alternative - how will you travel to the interview? how long will that journey take at that time of day (Google Maps has good functionality to show travel time at various days and times)? It is also worth being safe and planning an alternate route if there happen to be any unexpected problems on the day.
Arrive early - you will feel more relaxed if you are not rushing to get there on time, and it also doesn't give a prospective employer great confidence in your reliability if you are late for an interview!