Anyone can rehearse a few answers to some of the standard frequently asked interview questions, but more and more companies are opting to do things a little differently in order to ensure they hire someone who is a good cultural fit, as well as possessing the required skills. There are plenty of candidates with the right qualifications and experience, but not all of them will suit the company and it’s crucial to distinguish between them. A good cultural fit is for both the employer and employee, as productivity and work satisfaction is higher when the team gel well and the workforce share the same values. Not to mention the cost of a bad hire which may come as a result of hasty hiring decisions.
In order to assess how a candidate would perform within the company, they employer may ask them to complete an assignment of sorts, or to take part in a role play, to observe how they approach the task, respond to a scenario and to get a general idea about their personality.
These kind of interview techniques are most common among innovative, fast growing companies, particularly in the tech industry. If you have an unconventional interview planned you may be unsure about what the best way to prepare is. Here are a few pointers to help you out.
1. Have an interesting story to tell
In this type of interview, the employer wants to build an idea about your personality, so it’s good to have something to say about yourself that will make you stand out. Chances are they have asked you in for an interview because you have the relevant qualifications but they want to learn a bit more about you as a person. Come equipped with an interesting story to tell about yourself and be prepared to discuss your hobbies and personal interests. A bit of humour never hurts either. You want to come across as someone who gets along with others easily and will fit well into the team, so make sure you are approachable towards your interviewer and show a bit of personality.
2. Control your body language
The way you hold yourself can tell a lot about a person. Although nerves can often get the better of us, try your best to come across as confident and self assured, by sitting up straight, maintaining eye contact and avoiding fiddling/fidgeting during your interview.
3. Don’t panic if you can’t answer a question
It’s common for the interviewer to ask some slightly out-of-the-box questions in an unconventional interview, so don’t get yourself worked up if you don’t know how to answer something. Most of the time there won’t actually be a definitive right or wrong answer and the interviewer is just looking to learn about about what kind of person you are, so be yourself and answer questions they way you feel best appropriate.
4. Come up with a plan
Demonstrate how you can help the business grow. Before attending your interview, make sure that you know their product inside out and have come up with a few ideas that you consider yourself qualified to implement within the company. This could be anything from changing their product, to introducing a new strategy. This shows that you are proactive and will give them an idea about what you can bring to the business.
5. Aim to succeed
You want to walk into your interview with the key goal of landing the job and to give yourself the best chance of this you should enter with a positive mindset. If you convince yourself that you are the right person for the job, then it will make it ten times easier to convince the interviewer so. Study the job spec in detail and take a look at the company website and social media accounts to build an idea of the kind of individual they are looking for and then develop a plan for how you can convey yourself as this individual.
