Face your fears

Do your research. Swat up on the company: explore its website, social channels and its latest projects or developments.

Make sure you know who you’re meeting: drop their name into Google or check out their profile on LinkedIn. It’s rare someone doesn’t have a profile these days and you might come across something useful to bring up in the interview.

Know yourself: this sounds obvious, but be prepared to talk interestingly about your achievements, both in and out of work.

A face-to-face interview is a mutual meeting with a common goal.

The employer wants to make the right appointment, and you want to make sure the company is the right fit for you.

It’s a two-way discussion, so make sure it’s not just the interviewer asking the questions.

You wouldn’t buy a car without carrying out a test drive would you?

Your interviewer wants to know how your experience, skills and behaviour match up to the requirements of the role, so tell them.

Think of similar situations you’ve handled particularly well and tailor your responses accordingly.

One more thing – say what you want to say, then stop. Waffling will dilute the pertinent things you have to say, so as a rule, don’t talk for more than two minutes at a time.

Here’s an insider’s tip – drive a good dialogue, engage with your interviewer, build a rapport and ensure that their interview questions are clear to you because it’s ok to say if they’re not clear.

Not only will this give you more thinking time, it will also help draw a clearer picture of the role and let you determine whether it matches your own goals, personal values and motivations.

End the interview with some well considered, thought-provoking questions.

They will resonate long after the interview is over, especially if they are asked enthusiastically.

For example, ‘what would success look like for the right candidate within this role in the first six months?’ is a question that shows an ambitious and proactive mindset.