Interview help - I really want this job but I'm never successful at interview!

[amusedbush]

I have an interview next week for a job I really, really want. It's my first interview at this level of salary/responsibility and I'm nervous.

Unfortunately, I have a long history of unsuccessful interviews. I would say I'm offered an interview for 9 out of 10 jobs that I apply for but I never end up getting it. A few years ago, I was trying to get out of a job I hated and attended 11 interviews, all unsuccessful. I always ask for feedback but it's never anything I can work on, it's just that someone else had X, Y or Z.

I stopped looking for a while because it was depressing me and just settled into a slightly different role. I want out of this industry though, so I had an interview just before Christmas and it seemed to go well but, again, I didn't get it.

Does anyone have any foolproof advice? I prep my behind off and I always seem to get on really well with the panel. I'm not overly nervous, I don't waffle and I use the STAR format for my answers.

I would sell my own granny for this job so I really need to shine. I have a list of questions and I have prepped answers, I just need to know how to make myself stand out. I would really appreciate any advice you could give me, especially if you hire staff in the third sector!

Oh no, I'm not even engaging on MN

Bump?

My top tip is to wear something that makes you stand out and be memorable.

@Justkeeppedaling

My top tip is to wear something that makes you stand out and be memorable.

Oh, really? I've always gone for muted colours! It's a virtual interview and I was planning to wear a camel coloured jumper but I might look for something a bit more memorable.

I've chaired some interview panels this week so have some thoughts as some were quite tiring. This might not relate to you but just in case it's helpful:

Although STAR is a good format, it can lead to a lot of waffle. Listen closely to the question, take a moment if you need to organise your thoughts, describe the problem, describe YOUR particular action to resolve the problem, and then the impact.

It's helpful to look at the person spec beforehand and prep bullet points of all your relevant examples in this format - practice saying them.

You say you get on well with the panels which is great- are you getting the balance right between being personable and professional?

Have you asked for feedback from any previous interviews?

I'm just nipping out for dinner but have chaired interviews in the third sector so will come back of I think of more advice :) I realise my previous answer touched on things you had picked up anyway.

@BrimfulOfBaba

I've chaired some interview panels this week so have some thoughts as some were quite tiring. This might not relate to you but just in case it's helpful:

Although STAR is a good format, it can lead to a lot of waffle. Listen closely to the question, take a moment if you need to organise your thoughts, describe the problem, describe YOUR particular action to resolve the problem, and then the impact.

It's helpful to look at the person spec beforehand and prep bullet points of all your relevant examples in this format - practice saying them.

You say you get on well with the panels which is great- are you getting the balance right between being personable and professional?

Have you asked for feedback from any previous interviews?

Thank you for this!

As I said in my OP, I always ask for feedback but it's never constructive. Every single time (and I'm guessing this is just to let people down gently), they tell me that I was the second choice, or they really liked me and had no doubt that I could do the job... but. There is always a but. Someone else was doing the same job at a different company... someone else had slightly more experience...

The personable vs professional point is interesting. Don't get me wrong, I don't go in and try to be best mates with the panel but I definitely aim for the more relaxed side of professional. I'm autistic and so I'm really aware of masking and trying to be likeable.

I chaired some interviews this week. I had three to interview, and ended up with two excellent candidates. They were both highly appointable and I would have been happy to have either, but in the end I picked with the team in mind. The person I have chosen has excellent skills and experience. It’s slight short-termism on my part, but the other candidate was someone I could have grown and nurtured into the perfect fit, but I already have a couple of people who are in a growth phase and wanted the experience to help me shape the rest of the team. I’ll probably have to replace them much sooner though.

So whilst it’s frustrating, a lot of it is out of your control. Best thing is to aim to leave the interview having done your absolute best.

What kind of feedback have you been given, we may be able to help decode it.

Go back to the job description and especially the person spec. In an interview I want people to tell me their direct experience of those things. What I tend to find is that CVs are an exaggeration, the discussion let's me explore more the part they played.

For example if the person spec says that I need someone with experience leading audits of a certain function to a known industry standard. The CV says 'Led audit of IT security controls for organisation to ISO27001 standards'. Then I speak to them and I ask them for examples of how they did the audit, what format they chose, whether the company was certified, if they had done any training. And it quickly becomes clear that someone else led it all, made the decisions, told them exactly what to do, and their role was basically to take notes and set up the meeting. Perfectly fine but not what I'm looking for and shows that the person will need a lot of handholding and developing before they will be able to perform the elements of the role that I need them to lead.

build a detailed profile about the company, eg their business, their stock market value, their accounts if publically available, know whos who , ect, thats one angle id use, all the best op

I have done loads of interviewing and it is stressful and exhausting. You need to make it easy for the panel. Is there any chance you are too rehearsed and sound boring as a result? Don't mean to offend but too rehearsed can sound inauthentic.

Practice saying your answers outloud and record yourself. How do you sound? You could ask a friend to do a practice interview?

And have some questions for the panel.

For me the best interviews as a panelist and as a candidate are when it becomes conversational and we forget we are in an interview and are really trying to get to know the individual.

I would also explore a bit more on storytelling. How to engage people etc ....

Know the job spec inside out and make sure your answers reflect this.

@Jewel1968

I have done loads of interviewing and it is stressful and exhausting. You need to make it easy for the panel. Is there any chance you are too rehearsed and sound boring as a result? Don't mean to offend but too rehearsed can sound inauthentic.

Practice saying your answers outloud and record yourself. How do you sound? You could ask a friend to do a practice interview?

And have some questions for the panel.

For me the best interviews as a panelist and as a candidate are when it becomes conversational and we forget we are in an interview and are really trying to get to know the individual.

I would also explore a bit more on storytelling. How to engage people etc ....

I don’t think I sound too rehearsed - at my last interview they commented on how well I came across. I can’t remember the exact word they used but it was along the same lines as ‘authentic’.

The head of department also complimented my questions for the panel, so I’ll keep those ones in the rotation

I practiced a little bit with a friend today on Zoom but I’ll record myself too.

@HalfShrunkMoreToGo

What kind of feedback have you been given, we may be able to help decode it.

Go back to the job description and especially the person spec. In an interview I want people to tell me their direct experience of those things. What I tend to find is that CVs are an exaggeration, the discussion let's me explore more the part they played.

For example if the person spec says that I need someone with experience leading audits of a certain function to a known industry standard. The CV says 'Led audit of IT security controls for organisation to ISO27001 standards'. Then I speak to them and I ask them for examples of how they did the audit, what format they chose, whether the company was certified, if they had done any training. And it quickly becomes clear that someone else led it all, made the decisions, told them exactly what to do, and their role was basically to take notes and set up the meeting. Perfectly fine but not what I'm looking for and shows that the person will need a lot of handholding and developing before they will be able to perform the elements of the role that I need them to lead.

That's really helpful, thank you. I will think about specific examples to highlight how I meet the criteria.

I've spoken about the feedback in my OP and a subsequent comment - it's nothing concrete that I can work on. It's always very wishy-washy, saying how much they liked me and how well I did. All of that still adds up to the sum of sweet fuck all in terms of a new job though so it's not helpful.

There doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason to it either. I went for an external job and they phoned me to say that I'd done really well but they were giving it to someone internal. Then I went for an internal post and they said it was going to someone external who was doing the same job elsewhere. So it's not even like I can tell myself that there's always someone lined up for the job before it's even advertised!

I agree to wear one bright thing. I have a really smart top that is red. My boss says when they were talking about candidates they remembered me as the ‘woman in the red top’ and it made me stand out against a sea of bland where everyone became hard to distinguish.

When you answer questions take a second and at the end ask if they would like you to give more detail in your answers. Smile and be polite and friendly. Sell yourself too it sounds like they like how you seem on paper so push on them how great you are with your experience abs achievements.

Good luck

It sounds as if you are getting really close each time so do take heart from that. I have been on panels lately. We had a couple of candidates whose examples depended on putting down other colleagues. Tales of how they had to rescue projects etc. It made the candidates seem potentially a bit hard to work with. Make sure your examples show you in a good light as collaborative and respectful.

One thing I will say, from long and bitter experience. This is not a pass/fail exam. If you don’t get it, you have not failed. This is because applying for a job is more like entering a lottery, or to choose a more precise metaphor, backing yourself in a horse race. In theory your odds are 6/1, or 11/1, and whatever you do well might narrow your odds depending on what the others do. And in some situations, you may be up against an overwhelming favourite.

There’s a reason we say ‘Good luck’ to interview candidates.

Are you currently in a job? And if so could you get involved in interviewing - being on a panel? It's probably the best way to learn how decisions are made at interviews. There is a subtlety that is probably hard to explain to someone. Two people could present with very similar experience and so the evidence is similar but one will get the offer and the other won't.

One thing I found useful is to watch some interviews on YouTube just to get me back into interview mode. You might be lucky and find some interviews in your particular sector.

Are you disclosing that you are autistic on your application form? Some people wrongly assume that an autistic person will be difficult to work with, or just not have much experience of autism and be nervous about offering support.

Don't waffle
Be clear in your answers, tie it in with the role and your previous experience
If you need a minute to think, say 'that's a really good question'
What type of role is it? For example if its team work, give good examples of times you have worked as a team
Smile and breathe!
Be honest, if you aren't you will end up tripping yourself up

A tip I tried after reading it online was to ask the interviewers at the end what they value/enjoy about working for the company. It can leave them with a nice fuzzy feeling to associate with you! The charity I work for is very proud of its values and it also confirmed for me that they are the sort of people I wanted to work with.
Been here 6 months and absolutely love it. Also prepared massively - read about them for weeks and they said afterwards my passion was evident.

Good luck!

@Jewel1968

Are you currently in a job? And if so could you get involved in interviewing - being on a panel? It's probably the best way to learn how decisions are made at interviews. There is a subtlety that is probably hard to explain to someone. Two people could present with very similar experience and so the evidence is similar but one will get the offer and the other won't.

I have been on one interview panel but we were hiring several grad student tutors to teach on an academic programme, so not your normal type of set up. I'm currently doing a PhD and teaching undergraduates part-time so I don't have much scope for taking on duties like that, unfortunately. That's great advice though, and if I had still been in a full-time job I'd have pursued that.

@2reefsin30knots

Are you disclosing that you are autistic on your application form? Some people wrongly assume that an autistic person will be difficult to work with, or just not have much experience of autism and be nervous about offering support.

I was only diagnosed in October last year so no, I have never disclosed anything before now. I have disclosed it for this position but only because it's a charity supporting disabled adults and the advert said they strongly encouraged applications from disabled people. Also, my own experience really relates to the job role so it felt natural to work those parallels into the application.

I did not request an interview under the guaranteed interview scheme, though. Generally I would be wary of disclosing for the reasons you mention. I don't want to be a tick-box interview for equality if I don't have a chance because it wastes everyone's time, and I don't want people to make snap judgements about me.

Thanks so much to everyone for the great advice, I am taking everything on board. I will definitely watch some interviews online (I didn't know that was a thing!), I will practice and record myself to make sure I don't sound like a dick, and I'll make sure every answer really clearly links back to the job spec. I'm still nervous but all I can do is prove myself to the best of my ability - if someone else on the day has more experience, that's not something I can control.

Good luck. And let us know how you get on.... Fingers crossed for you