From our specialist experience in financial recruitment, we provide you with career advice at every stage of your job search, including:

• Detailed interview preparation and technique
• Creating a strong CV

Interview preparation and technique

For many people, attending a job interview can be a daunting prospect, especially if it has been a while since you were last in that situation. By taking time to make effective and thoughtful preparations, you will already have given yourself a strong chance of getting the job before you even walk through the interviewer’s door. In addition to your own efforts, we always provide as much interview guidance and practice as you need, and are happy to discuss any aspect of this in person.

Whilst it is important to consider any information given to you about the interview structure/content, the interviewer(s) and the type of business that you are visiting, the following guidelines should enable you to answer most questions and will give you the confidence that you need. Spend time considering each of the five areas below:

1. Your experience to date

• It may sound obvious, but make sure that you are familiar with everything on your CV and be able to talk in detail about how you completed tasks.
• Use examples wherever possible, particularly when you are talking through your experience. Examples help to back up what your CV says and allow you to sell yourself further.
• Make sure that you have highlighted key achievements and responsibilities on your CV to draw attention to things that you want the interviewer to know about you.
• Be able to explain the reasons behind previous moves from one role to another and think about how you might address any unusual circumstances or gaps on your CV.

2. Your future aspirations

• Be prepared to explain clearly the reasons for leaving your current job, what you want to do next and why.
• If the particular role demands it (as most do), it is essential that you try to come across as realistically ambitious, without being over-confident.
• Consider where you want to be in, say, five years time. Explain how you plan to get there and the experience and skills that you believe you need to gain along the way. This will demonstrate how you want to achieve your goals, rather than merely describing the job that you want.

3. You and your personality

• Many interviews are ‘competency-based’, which means that questions may be phrased starting “Give me an example of an occasion when…”. The design of such questions allows the interviewer(s) to learn more about your personality, as well as testing your quick thinking! This is where a thorough knowledge of your CV counts. Examples of competency-based questions are:
  • Describe a situation where you have had to work under pressure.
  • Tell me about a time when you had to demonstrate exceptional drive to achieve a goal.
  • Explain a situation where you have had problems working within a team.
  • Describe a situation where you have found it difficult to accept change.
  • Describe a time when you have shown initiative.
• Think about your strengths and have three or four points on your list. You should consider the key strengths that will be required in the role that you are applying for and try to identify where yours are similar. Use examples and try to bring in a couple of non-work scenarios if possible.
• Equally, think about your weaknesses, using examples again. You should be honest in saying that you recognise a particular characteristic as a weakness but turn this negative point into a neutral one by explaining what you are doing to improve this.

4. What you know about them

• You must find out as much as possible about the business and the role. This usually includes web-based fact-finding. Whilst interviewers will not expect you to know detailed company history, you should get a general feel for the business. This ought to include their key client types, services and key competitors. Think from a commercial/business perspective.
• You may be asked to compare them with another, similar firm or your current firm. You should be able to answer questions from both a potential employee and potential customer point of view.
• Based on our market knowledge and feedback from previous candidate interviews, we will provide you with as much specialist information as possible to help you to complete this part of your preparation.

5. Questions

• Quite simply, make sure that you ask questions at the end of the interview, to demonstrate your interest. These could be about the role or the firm, but never about salary or benefits (unless the interviewer brings up the subject).
• Good questions are those which come from a business perspective or which demonstrate your ambition. For example, “What opportunities are there for this role to develop further in the future?”

Whilst you are unlikely to be asked everything above, by preparing it all, you have already put yourself ahead of the competition. However, try not to sound too rehearsed with ‘text-book’ style answers as this will be obvious to the interviewer. Even if you do feel that you have not performed as well as you would have liked, remember that the interview process is a learning experience and does improve with practice.

Finally, keep in mind that you are also interviewing them – as your potential future employer, they need to impress you too!

Good luck!

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Creating a strong CV

Writing your CV is all about creating a strong first impression. It’s the means you use to introduce yourself to a potential future employer and therefore needs to highlight your skills in a clear and effective manner. Not only can a good CV help to secure that all-important interview, it can even lead to the creation of a new job opening that allows an employer to take advantage of your particular qualifications or experience.

Whilst there is a wealth of advice available on what constitutes the perfect CV, the following guidelines highlight the key information needed to present yourself professionally, using today’s preferred style.

Basics

• Aim to keep your CV to no more than two pages in length and staple (not paperclip) the pages together.
• Use bullet points throughout to enable the reader to easily and quickly scan through your skills and achievements. A recruiter will probably have received several CV’s for the available position, so those that are easier to read will naturally attract attention.
• There is no need to include a photograph of yourself with your details.
• Laser-print the finished article onto white A4 paper, using a plain font (such as Arial or Times New Roman) in black ink.
• Make sure that you check the spelling and grammar of the document and ask a friend to re-read your CV for any mistakes that you may not have spotted.

Structure

• Start with your personal details: Place your full name clearly at the top, followed by your relevant contact details, then your date of birth and nationality.
• Follow this with educational history, listed in reverse chronological order. Therefore, list professional qualifications (partially or fully completed) first, followed by university and/or school education. State if you passed professional qualifications at the first attempt or you are a prizewinner.
• The bulk of your CV should detail your work experience. Again, present this in reverse chronological order. The first and most lengthy section needs to provide information on your current role. See the section below for advice on the content of this part of your CV.
• Following the detail of your work experience, list any additional skills that you have. This typically includes a brief list of computer skills and any genuine foreign language skills.
• Finally, it is important to add a small number of bullet points about your hobbies and interests outside of work. Good interests to list are those that are team based or those where you demonstrate interesting, additional personal skills.
• There is no need to list referees.

Content

• It goes without saying that you should concentrate your efforts on the sections of your CV detailing your work experience. Use bullet points to highlight one skill or aspect at a time.
• For each point made, ensure that you fully but concisely explain the detail of your skill. You should think about the responsibilities that you have had on a day-to-day basis.
• You may group bullet points into sections if your duties cover several areas. This may help to make your CV easier to review, but only if you have more than a couple of points to make in each area.
• For recent roles (or those that are particularly relevant to the job that you are applying for), you should list around three key achievements that you wish to highlight. These could include areas of additional or unusual responsibility and should draw attention to where you have added value to a role.
• Always write your CV in the present tense (even for previous jobs) and in the third person, without using “I” or “we”.
Explain all employment gaps on your CV; otherwise, interviewers may view them unfavourably.

Do not under-estimate the importance of getting your CV right! If you have any questions or need any specific advice, please contact us and we will be happy to help with all your queries.

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