Face to face interviews: Top tips for a successful interview
congratulations! You’ve got over the first hurdle and made it through to a face-to-face interview.
That means your prospective employer likes the look of your graduate CV, so you can go into your face-to-face interview with confidence.
But how do you best prepare and ensure that you stand out from the crowd?
Your CV will only get you so far; you must also impress them with your conversation skills, face-to-face communication abilities, and personality.
What is a face-to-face interview?
Face to face interviews, sometimes abbreviated to ‘F2F interview’, or ‘face-to-face interview’ or just ‘face-to-face’, is usually the final stage in the job interview process.
This is an in-person interview that usually follows a successful phone interview.
In a face-to-face interview, you may be speaking with the Hiring Manager, the CEO, the MD, or your Line Manager.
When you interview face to face, it is common for more than one person to interview you; for example, in a graduate job interview, it is common for the team leader and the Hiring Manager to interview you.
Though a presentation may be required at times, a F2F interview usually entails going over your graduate CV, discussing your skills and experience, and learning more about your interest in the role.
If you’ve reached the face-to-face interview stage, this means you’re on track for success; so here are 6 top tips for interview success at the face-to-face interview stage.
6 top tips for a successful interview
1. Use your face-to-face communication skills
The face-to-face interview is when the employer determines whether you are qualified for the job and a good fit for their company.
But it’s also a chance for you to decide if you think you would want to work for their company.
A face-to-face interview is an excellent opportunity to demonstrate your communication skills.
Employers will be interested not only in what you say, but also in how well you answer their questions and communicate your response.
Make an effort to speak clearly and avoid going off on tangents about irrelevant topics.
You want to exude enthusiasm, sound upbeat, and excited about the job opportunity.
If you want to know how to be successful in an interview, this starts with how well you communicate yourself, and demonstrate your relevant skills and experience.
2. Do your research
This may seem obvious, but it’s surprising how many people overlook it when preparing for a face-to-face interview.
Make sure you’ve read through the company’s website and have a few snippets of information ready to drop into the conversation – this could be case studies you really liked or a specific blog that resonated with you.
This not only demonstrates your initiative, but it also demonstrates that you are genuinely interested in what the company does (and are not simply applying for any graduate job).
It is also a good idea to conduct research on the employer, so don’t be hesitant to look them up on LinkedIn.
When preparing for a face-to-face interview, make sure that you’ve also read the job description a number of times, and try to mention the requirements in your answers as much as possible.
One of the best interview tips is to do your preparation – make sure you’ve prepared your answers to common interview questions, too.
3. Use real-world examples in your answers to interview questions
You can almost certainly expect some situation-based competency interview questions, such as ‘tell me about a time when you had to deal with a stressful situation.’
These questions are your opportunity to shine and demonstrate that you are qualified for the position based on your previous graduate jobs or education.
Make sure you have some examples ready for these types of interview questions, as well as some experiences to share.
For example, if you worked part-time while at university in a restaurant, you could talk about when you had to deal with stressful busy times in the restaurant and what you did to ensure full customer satisfaction.
Never, ever say ‘I don’t know’ or ‘pass.’ One of the best interview tips is to make sure you’re prepared for all types of interview questions and know how to prepare for an in-person interview from the start.
4. Ask the employer questions – In person interview questions to ask
At the end of a graduate job interview, an employer will always ask “Do you have any questions for me?”
Your answer should always be ‘yes’ and you should always ask at least three questions.
Some good questions to keep in your back pocket include:
- ‘What are the next steps?’
- ‘What’s your most and least favorite part of your job’
- ‘What’s your company culture like?’.
As a general rule, refrain from asking basic questions such as ‘Can I wear whatever I want to work?’, ‘What does your company do?’, and ‘How long until I’m promoted?’
Top interview tips, especially for face-to-face interviews, are to demonstrate that you are engaged and interested; asking the employer interview questions is a great way to demonstrate this.
5. Wear a smart interview outfit
What should you wear for an interview?
Unless an interviewer specifically states that it is acceptable to dress casually for an interview, you should always dress smartly.
This is the interviewer’s first impression of you, and you want to make a good one.
Looking sloppy or as if you haven’t made any effort will immediately give the wrong impression.
It does not have to be expensive; simply put on an outfit that is clean, smart, and tidy.
You only require one outfit for any graduate job interview.
One of my top interview tips is to never underestimate the power of a first impression!
6. Be yourself in a face-to-face interview
My final top tip for interviews; you’ve made it this far because the company likes you and your experience, so it’s really important to be yourself.
It might also be the only time you meet those in the company face to face before starting the job, so you want them to buy into the authentic version of you, rather than a fake, interview-only version.
If you don’t get in, you know it’s not the right job for you – and there are plenty of other graduate jobs available.
Going into a face-to-face interview with this knowledge should reassure you that you do not need to pretend to be someone you are not; this is one of the most important job interview tips.
Preparing for a face-to-face interview checklist
If you’ve got to the face-to-face interview stage, you need to make sure you’ve done all your interview preparation.
Preparing for in person interview is vital to your job search.
Read our interview preparation checklist & tips to a successful interview below:
Make sure you know what type of interview it is – There are many different types of face-to-face interviews/in-person job interviews, and while it is usually a sit-down chat through your CV, you may be required to prepare a presentation, task, or interview with a panel.
Prepare your answers to interview questions – Check to see if you’ve thought of all possible questions, including questions to ask employers in a job interview.
Brush up on your graduate CV – It may seem obvious, but you must know exactly what is on your graduate CV in order to discuss your skills and experience. If you need some assistance getting started, you can always use some CV templates. Make sure you can speak in depth about everything you’ve written on your CV during the interview.
Dress for success – Plan your interview outfit ahead of time to avoid stress on the big day. Do your research again. There are slightly different ways to dress depending on the type of interview.
Plan your commute – The last thing you want to be doing on the day of the face-to-face interview is worrying about being late, so plan your route ahead of time, and remember to account for rush hour!
