Chris Potter
If I apply for a role on your website, does my CV ever get sent on to the client directly?
I am actively looking for a new role - what is the best way to keep in touch with the roles that you have?
There is no failure – only feedback.
So how do I turn rejection to my advantage?
One of the best things about my job is when a role comes off for someone and you know it’s their dream role which will have a positive impact on their future career development. But on the other side of the coin one of the hardest parts of my job is letting someone know when they’ve been unsuccessful and the disappointment you know they’re going to feel.
As a recruiter I’ve built up a relationship with a candidate and got to know them well. I know how much they want the position; how much research they’ve put in, that they’ve rehearsed their interview technique, the difficulty they’ve had trying to juggle their diary and book time off work, the discussion they would have had at home with friends or loved ones, their future hopes and aspirations, even the cost of their travel.
Deciding to go ahead with a job application is a big deal. You’re of course hoping the time and emotional investment will be worth it but of course there’s no guarantee that that you’ll be successful and offered the role.
We all have to deal with rejection from time to time. So, what’s the best way to deal with it?
We all have a natural propensity to take rejection as personal. But I always say to my candidates that no interview is a bad interview.
Remember having been asked for interview in the first place is a big deal. It means your CV stood out to the hiring manager; you’ve been chosen above other applications; your experience has stood out. It’s important to remember this.
Generally, we’re not used to talking about ourselves or ‘blowing out own trumpet. We feel uncomfortable with it as we’ve been taught from an early age not to boast. Having a face to face interview will allow you to practice. Being given the opportunity to think about what you’ve done; your achievements and core competencies is important. It’s something you can use time and time again in your personal and working life.
The feedback you get from an interview can be used and embraced as an opportunity to learn. If a hiring manager has said that you tended to waffle, used “we did” instead of “I did” or didn’t listen to the questions, you can think about this and concentrate on succinctly articulating better responses next time. Replay the questions you were asked. Practice and be ready for the next interview. Bring it on!
Photo credit: Allie Smith
Whether you’ve been thinking of a job move for a while but just not got your act together, or you’ve suddenly found yourself out of a job and needing to get sorted fast… here are our top tips to get you on track when starting out on that all-important job search.
1. CV CV CV
First and foremost, get your CV together. This can seem daunting – particularly if you have not done one for a while or have a long career history … it’s amazing how difficult it can be to remember all that you’ve done! The trick is to not worry too much initially about getting it too ‘perfect’ - a straight forward, clear, chronological run down of your work history is great! Many people refine their CV as they go along or have different versions. The important thing now is to get down on paper what is factually correct – so make sure you’ve got the basics in there … companies, dates, roles, key responsibilities. Add in your contact details and education – and done! You’re ready to go!
As well as being your essential ‘calling card’, getting your work history down on paper can be a brilliant motivational exercise too ... it’s easy to forget just how much you’ve achieved – so it’s a great opportunity to take a step back and take stock of how much experience you’ve got under your belt to offer a new employer.
You can refine your CV over time, so don’t let “I’ll wait ‘til I get my CV done” be the excuse that’s holding you back from getting your job search well and truly under way. Keep it simple, and get it done.
For more in-depth guidance on writing your CV see our blog - 'Writing your CV'.
2. BRAINSTORM YOUR GOALS
Have a ‘brainstorm session’ to clarify what it is you are looking for. If you’re not on a standard career path – and let’s face it in events is there such a thing? - then it can sometimes be tricky to know exactly what you are looking for. Best thing here is to do a bit of a brain dump – big piece of paper, loads of thoughts.
You may have a really clear idea of the sort of role you want, or you may be open to a number of different paths.
Don’t let it hold you back if you are not sure – you can follow up on a number of channels within your job search. Just get your thoughts down on paper, and then in order.
If you have a clear idea – great – but if you are not sure, just work out what the main ideas are so you can easily and clearly articulate these to others if you are asked … ‘what sort of role are you looking for?’, or ‘do you have a clear idea of what you’re looking for’.
A good ‘make it happen trick’ is to simply write down a whole lot of information about what you are best at – you may not know the title of the role you’re after or which organisation it is with, but at least you know you are looking for a role that features a lot of ‘what I’m best at’!
You should also give thought to what salary you are looking for. We’d recommend having a salary range in mind, rather than a figure. This allows you to respond flexibly and openly to opportunities, and not restrict yourself too much.
3. RESEARCH & SIGN UP
Research relevant job sites and recruitment consultancies – you’ll normally find there are some specialist websites and job boards which are focussed on your sector or specialism – these are often linked to the main publications within your sector, but also check out industry associations for where relevant roles are likely to be advertised.
Get to know who the main recruiters are in your sector. The ‘smart’ trick here, to save on scrolling through endless web pages of irrelevant roles, is to sign up for job alerts so you’re getting relevant jobs sent to you as soon as they come up.
Most publications, recruitment agencies and job boards do a daily or weekly update – so make sure the jobs come to you hot off the press.
4. BE READY TO ACT…
If you get a positive response to a job application that you’ve submitted, make sure you are in the right mind set to get on with things. It’s not uncommon for us to receive CVs in response to our adverts but be met with an eerie silence when we try and contact that candidate to find out more!
Opportunities can move fast – everyone’s busy out there, they’re not going to wait around for you … so, if you’re taking the time to apply for roles, make sure you’re ready to respond if you’re contacted!
If you are looking for a job, people will want to talk to you on the phone or face to face, so get into the mindset of being flexible. Perhaps make sure you have a time set aside morning, lunchtime and evening, just to check up on any job responses or are available for calls. Have an ‘interview outfit’ ready to go… swot up now on a few interview tips by reading our article - 'What Should I Wear to My Job Interview?'. In recruitment it is often the early bird that catches the worm – if you’re indulging in a bit of navel gazing or waiting for your interview suit to come back from the dry cleaners, someone else has got on with it, gone in and possibly got the job.
Another quick pointer on this - closing dates on advertising boards are when the role ends its advertising slot, so don’t confuse those with a stated ‘closing date’ for applications that would be in the advert copy. If you see something you are interested in, apply as soon as possible ... you may well miss the boat if you don’t.
5. UPDATE YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA
If you are able to promote the fact that you are looking – do it! “Event Manager – Currently looking for new opportunities” will invite recruiters to get in touch with you – so update your LinkedIn profile if you can.
Obviously if you don’t want your current employer to be aware of your search, you won’t be able to do this! But what you can do is update your profile, so that recruiters who are doing internet searches will find you and see your specific experience easily – make sure all your role titles and companies are on there. Recruiters spend a lot of time searching for talent for great roles… make sure you come up on those searches!
Oh… and be prepared with a bit of script for those awkward moments if a recruiter calls you and your boss is standing next to you. Be prepared, and have a confident reply already in mind – “Sorry, can’t talk now, I’m busy, but can you email me, and I’ll get back to you as soon as I can.” … “ PPI Companies! They just won’t leave me alone!”
6. LET PEOPLE KNOW
A lot of roles come about by word of mouth --- often not a direct contact, but someone you know happens to be chatting to someone, who will mention a role, and that person will think of you! But only if they know what you’re capable of, what you’re interested in, and that you’re up for change.
To manage things politically you don’t have to let people know if you are miserable at work, you just need to let them know you’re ready for new challenges!
7. SET A SCHEDULE
Set an action plan and schedule. A job search can feel soul destroying …. it can take a while, it can have a few disappointments, and you can sometimes feel that nothing is happening despite all your efforts and applications. Be prepared for that, build it in to your plan, know that it can take a while. Keeping the momentum going and your motivation up is key – and essential to that is having a plan in place. Keep a log of what you’ve done … put some goals in there and build in milestones to either pat yourself on the back in terms of the effort you’ve put in or to review what might not be working.
Keep on it, and schedule time in each week to review roles that have come up and chase up on roles you’re waiting to hear back on. Remember every application is getting you nearer that dream next step – stay focussed, stay patient and stay on it. Give yourself a realistic time scale and build in measures so you can see you’re doing the groundwork, even if the perfect role hasn’t come up… yet.
8. STAY POSITIVE
We often say to candidates, it can be a bit like waiting for a bus … the right role might not come up for some time, and then suddenly several great ones come up at once! So, our final tip is stay positive and stay on it – in job hunting it is certainly true that you will reap what you sow!
Now, you were probably expecting points 9 & 10 … weren’t you meant to get 10 top tips? We must admit we’re partial to a bit of alliteration in our blog titles, and we also think 8 is quite enough to be getting on with to get you started! But if you want to add a couple of tips from your own experience, and send them to us to share with others – please do! Just email us at communicate@regananddean.co.uk
We hope this has been a useful ‘mind focuser’ – and helps you get up and running on your search for a new job, and a new career chapter! At Regan & Dean we are specialists in Events and Marketing roles, and work with some great employers – in-house, agency, association, commercial and publishing, charity, think tanks … We get a real mix of interesting roles – so if these are the sectors you’re interested in then sign up now for our job alerts here, and we’ll send you all our latest jobs!
And good luck with your search!
When is a Producer not a Producer?
Within the world of events there are two common, and very different roles, that have the same title – ‘Producer’.
As a specialist recruitment consultancy working within the Events sector we regularly work on both types of role. And, when we advertise roles for a ‘Producer’, the many and varied responses that we receive from interested candidates often reveal that they have seen the role title – but they haven’t read the advert! Gotcha!
More importantly though, it shows that there is a lot of confusion (understandably) about what a ‘Producer’ is – and the confusion that can exist as that title can mean many different things – so it is a real case of ‘read the small print’ even if it isn’t that small!
This is further confused as Producer is also a term widely used in the TV, Media, and Digital worlds – so no wonder it is not as simple as the word itself.
So, we thought, for all event job hunters and Producers out there, it would be useful to take a moment just to run through the different types of ‘Producer’, the different worlds they work in, and the different expertise they need. Also, if you are someone who is looking to build a career in events, this may be useful as you try and plot your way through the varied and exciting opportunities the event world can offer.
So, here we go.
There are two main ‘Producer’ event roles that commonly get confused.
Firstly, let’s start with Conference Producers.
A Conference Producer, (sometimes also referred to as a Content Producer or Commercial Producer), normally works within commercial events – ie events that are designed around their intellectual content, so as to attract fee-paying delegates with a particular interest in that content. So, a Conference Producer’s role is all about content and subject matter – normally within a specialist area/sector.
A Conference Producer focusses on developing the intellectual content and topics for an event. Their role has research at its core - identifying topics for a conference (or workshop or seminar) through in-depth market research, and putting together a commercially viable conference agenda. As part of this, they’ll normally be tasked to find and recruit speakers who will be of interest to their target audience. Ultimately, as well as wanting to produce a really interesting event that an audience benefits from in terms of learning/knowledge, within commercial events a Producer’s end goal is ‘bums on seats’, and generating profit/money from the event because people want to attend, and are happy to pay.
A Conference Producer may work for an Association or Professional Membership body, a ‘think tank’, a Commercial events company, or a Publishing/Media company. Their key expertise will be in their research skills, a deep understanding of their sector and the audiences they need to reach, and an ability to review and assess information, and understand what the key areas of interest are. Some Conference Producers will be specialists in a particular sector eg legal, oil & gas, property, engineering etc. and others will be generalists who are adept at quickly learning about a new sector and its key issues. A Conference Producer will research the sector, its commercial or professional challenges, its innovations, its hot topics, its best practice. They’ll also be involved with the marketeers within their organisation, on how to promote the event, and who to market it to …. (for further information about what it takes to be a Conference Producer, see our blog here).
Live Event Producers
Our second main group of Producers are Live Event Producers, or, within the live events world, again more often simply referred to as Producers. But they are very different in their role and expertise.
This sort of Producer normally works for an events or brand communications agency and their role centres on:
- taking an event from client brief to final delivery
- understanding the key objectives of the event
- designing the format of the event to achieve these
- pulling together the full creative, technical and logistical production of an event.
They will be the lynch pin and project lead to the creative, technical and logistics teams.
A Live Event Producer will work very closely with the client to understand what they need the event to do – be it to show off the key selling points of a new product, incentivise a team, or to inform the company’s staff on what’s happening in the business. The Producer may decide this is best done with a big conference for 500 people over two days in an exotic location, a roadshow visiting relevant dealers, or a ‘wow’ moment PR stunt launching the product in a very creative and visually impactful way. The Producer is the person who will propose what the best solution is … and then they’ll also be the one to make it happen.
Within the corporate world, Producers will typically work on conferences, awards events, roadshows and launches – normally events where there is a technical requirement for staging as well as script/av content, and a creative aspect designing the look and feel of the event to make it as interactive and successful in its messaging objectives as possible. Events might range from a Sales Conference for a pharmaceutical company, an AGM, or a car launch incorporating lots of theatrical and/or interactive elements.
A Live Events Producer will normally have had an events agency background, (typically starting off as a Production Assistant or Junior Producer). Their forte may be corporate events (events centred around conveying a company’s message, brand or product information, which will therefore involve lots of understanding corporate/brand messaging), or public events (such as festivals and celebratory events, with a focus more on the purely technical and staging aspects), or a mix of the two.
In summary a Live Events Producer will understand all the elements that are needed to bring a whole event together, across creative design, format, technical production and logistics. (Watch out for our upcoming blog – What is a Live Event Producer). So, you can see how specialist, and how different, this role is!
But it doesn’t end there.
Our final ‘catch-all’ grouping of Producers – are TV/Radio Producers, Digital Producers, and Theatre Producers – we often see TV or digital Producers apply for our events focussed roles. While there are, of course, a lot of key skills that overlap – eg creative understanding, production knowledge (within their technical specialism), project management etc… - the sort of projects they work on, and hence their expertise, is very different. But again, the fact that the same ‘Producer’ job title can apply – does of course sometimes lead to confusion within the job market place!
So, if you are a Producer - be it TV, Live Event, Conference or Digital - before you apply to the next Producer role you see – it is certainly worth taking a moment just to check if it is the sort of role you think it is!
And - in answer to the question, when is a Producer not a Producer? Well, unfortunately it can be, when they are a Producer! Just a different type!
Within our fabulous world of events - whether you are a Conference Producer or a Live Event Producer looking for a new role, we are always delighted to hear from you – we regularly get great opportunities for both talents and expertise … just check the small print to avoid disappointment!
Sign up for job alerts on our website to keep posted on all our up-to-date ‘Producer’ opportunities!
If you work in recruitment or have any interest in your company's employer brand, you're probably familiar with GlassDoor. It's a review site for employees and job applicants to rate their experience of employers anonymously.
In the same way that a series of poor TripAdvisor scores can scupper a hotel's chance of attracting visitors, so consistently poor feedback from candidates will have an impact on your ability to attract talent.
It doesn't stop with GlassDoor. Google Reviews, LinkedIn, and all manner of other social media are being used by your employees and applicants to share their experiences of you. And while most companies can expect one or two bad reviews from disgruntled individuals without too much impact, consistently negative feedback will damage your employer brand. And put off good talent.
Will Potential Employers Check My Social Media Profiles?
And yet it can easily be avoided. Many of the mistakes employers make stem from thinking about recruitment in the wrong way, or not thinking about the process enough - how important it is and what it says about the way you do business.
Recruitment as a two-way process
Some inexperienced recruiters - and some who should know better! - see the recruitment process as one in which they hold all the power.
In an environment where there are many potential applicants, all of whom have the right skills, that may well be the case. But examples of this are few and far between, particularly when you are looking for the more experienced level of candidate and wanting to attract the best in a competitive market.
For professional positions such as marketing and events jobs, you're looking for the best possible candidate to fill your role. The best candidates, of course, will have their choice of roles and companies, and one of your objectives should be to prevent your competitors from securing superior talent.
So, while applicants have to show you why they are the ideal candidate for your role, it's equally important that you demonstrate why you're the best company.
Yes, it's obvious. But too many organisations get it wrong.
Help candidates give their best
In our experience, interviews that aim to trip candidates up rarely bring out the best in people. We're not suggesting that interviews should not be challenging, and clearly, you should pick up any inconsistencies or possible competence gaps. But we recommend you brief your candidates in advance about your expectations and the general format of the interview to avoid any nasty surprises.
How to deal with a nervous interviewee
We've rarely seen an adversarial interview attract the best candidate and it is likely to put many good people off your organisation for good. Also, playing out 'good cop, bad cop' scenarios for example in a panel interview can give an off-putting and confusing view of the company culture.
Get back to applicants
A quick straw poll of candidates reveals that employers not getting back to them is the number one irritant. Most job hunters realise these days that some roles get dozens or hundreds of applications and so they might not hear anything back. We'd always recommend, at the very least, that an automated system acknowledging receipt of their application and clarifying timescales and process should always be in place.
And if a candidate has made an effort to attend an interview, and probably gone to some expense to do so, it's not unreasonable of them to expect a personal yes or no answer.
You might want to manage their expectations of when they might hear from you during the interview, but they do deserve a response even if it is just an update on the current timeline if that changes, and an appropriate 'thank you for your time' should be a minimum expectation for unsuccessful candidates
Give feedback
Lack of feedback came through as number two in the list of candidate frustrations.
Feedback has reduced in the last few years, and one of the key drivers is that employers are becoming more fearful of their feedback being used as evidence of discrimination.
The fact is, you should always be able to demonstrate your recruitment decisions are always made on an objective basis. And if you can do that you should be able to provide objective feedback too.
Why do I never get feedback from job interviews?
Treat successful candidates well and unsuccessful candidates even better!
Some employers express surprise that having offered a candidate position, they don't hear back, or their new signing does not arrive on the day. While we would not condone this behaviour, it does emphasise the importance of keeping in touch with candidates in between offer and their first day.
This onboarding communication helps to address that post-decision dissonance that can lead people to change their minds after accepting your offer, as for many good candidates a counter offer may well occur.
If anyone is going to post negative reviews, however, it is most likely to be unsuccessful candidates. So it's important to treat them with respect too, not only to avoid negative publicity but because it's the kind thing to do.
And remember, one day you may find them on the other side of the desk, either as a prospect or even your interviewer!
There is an easier way
A reputable recruitment consultancy like Regan & Dean will take on much of this work for you, briefing candidates in advance of your interviews, and sharing feedback both ways to ensure all parties are fully informed and engaged. We communicate with successful and unsuccessful candidates for you, making sure they stay engaged with the process even if it is lengthy, and remain positive about the organisation if it is a 'no'. And we keep in contact with the person you appoint until they start with you - and onward during those critical settling in first months.
It is often purely a lack of time that means you can't completely protect the image of your brand during the recruitment process - working with a quality recruitment consultancy to manage communications over this busy time can give your brand the added protection it can need throughout this critical, and image defining, process.
To discuss how we can work with you to help you fill your next marketing or events vacancy and manage all aspects of the recruitment process well and positively on your behalf, please call 020 7409 3244 or email communicate@regananddean.co.uk and talk to one of our team.
What does a Human Resources Manager do?
A couple of decades ago we had Personnel Managers. Nowadays, several companies have Human Capital Managers and some even boast Heads of Human Energy! But the most common term at the moment is Human Resource (HR) Manager.
But what does an HR Manager actually do?
What is an HR Manager?
Let’s start with what seems like a simple enough question .. but finding a universally accepted definition of the HR Manager is difficult. The online business dictionary, www.businessdictionary.com, defines the HR Manager as:
“[The] individual within an organisation responsible for hiring new employees, supervising employee evaluations, mediation between employees and bosses as necessary, and general overseeing of the personnel department.”
Many HR Managers would also have responsibility for staff development (training, coaching) and ensuring performance management takes place.
Perhaps the more important thing is to define what HR is commonly recognised as today – from the CIPD (the sector’s professional body) website:
"HR is about helping an organisation to create value through its people – literally providing human resources. The work of an HR professional will vary depending on the type and size of their organisation, but could include recruiting people, training and developing employees, and helping to decide how staff should be paid and rewarded. There are even roles which focus on employment law and protecting the rights of employees at work. HR professionals will also often deal with legal issues, help to shape the culture of their organisations, and focus on what keeps their colleagues productive and engaged."
What are the key responsibilities of an HR Manager?
Changeboard.com, the popular HR website, presents a generic job description that includes the following key responsibilities for HR Managers:
• Providing leadership and direction to the HR team to provide an HR service to the business
• Managing absence, disciplinaries, grievances, absence and employee relations.
• Measuring and improving employee satisfaction
• Coaching managers on performance management
• Guiding managers on learning and development for themselves and their teams
• Designing and implementing the training plan
• Recruiting, retaining and succession planning talent – including recruitment campaigns
• Advising on reward and benefits
• Designing and implementing HR policies, procedures and processes
• Ensuring compliance with UK law
• Advising managers on HR issues
• Dealing with disciplinary and grievance issues
• Managing HR budgets.
It’s quite a list!
But research by gusto.com, involving a survey of 100 HR professionals, suggests they are spread even more thinly. Asked how they spend their time on a day-to-day basis, HR pros gave the following responses:
• Paperwork (21%)
• Answering Employee Questions (20%)
• Navigating People Issues (16%)
• Training (10%)
• Counselling (7%)
• Compliance (5%)
• Onboarding (4%)
• Interviewing (4%)
• Payroll (3%)
• Benefits (2%)
• Planning Team-Building (2%)
• Other (6%)
What kinds of HR jobs are there?
There are numerous opportunities in HR, from HR generalist roles such as HR Director, HR Manager and HR Executive, through to more specialist positions such as Payroll Manager and Recruitment Manager which tend to be found in larger organisations. Some organisations will separate Learning and Development into a separate department entirely, although of course they will still work closely together.
One job title that has become increasingly common is HR Business Partner. In this arrangement, an individual HR generalist is matched with one or more departments to advise managers on key HR issues.
The CIPD defines HR Business Partners’ work as follows:
“HR business partners work closely with business leaders and line managers to build capabilities, plan and manage talent, and develop approaches that achieve shared organisational objectives.”
What is the CIPD?
The CIPD (the Chartered Institute of Personal Development) is the professional body for the HR profession in the UK, Ireland, Middle East and Asia. Its full title indicates just how fundamental development is to the HR role in many organisations. The CIPD sets the professional standards for HR, provides training and qualifications and lobbies government on behalf the HR profession, and most HR roles will ask for evidence of CIPD qualifications as part of their specification.
What role do HR professionals play in recruitment?
So it’s clear that HR professionals are often spread very thinly, even before they take on the time consuming challenge of recruitment. Too often they are sucked into performing administrative and non-core tasks when their time would be better spent on advising the business.
Nowhere is this truer than in recruitment, when tasks such as researching the market, writing adverts for jobs, reviewing CVs, arranging interviews, gathering references and managing feedback and offer negotiations can easily fill the diary.
That’s one reason why many HR Managers choose to partner with recruitment consultancies like Regan & Dean. Not only do the best specialist agencies have a knowledge of talent available that in-house teams would struggle to replicate, they can take on much of the ‘administrivia’ of recruitment and also provide strategic input and guidance. With expertise within the fields of Events and Marketing, when an HR Manager needs to quickly find a new and relevant employee, going to a specialist recruitment agency like us, can be a game changer.
If the busy HR professional invests time in closely briefing the right kind of recruitment agency, not only will they get to meet a wider range of qualified candidates, they also find their to do list begins to feel much more achievable.
If you are a busy HR Manager looking to find a recruitment consultancy that specialises in finding talent within the Marketing and Events sectors then do please get in touch to find out more.
See also – How to choose a recruitment company.
It’s sometimes easy to forget that an events or marketing job interview is a two-way process. Any good interviewer knows that they need to sell the opportunity as much as the candidate needs to demonstrate their suitability for the role. Many good candidates however, miss the chance to ask important questions about the job or the company because they feel intimidated or, more often, because they have not prepared.
A good interviewer will have a structured interview plan that enables them to get the information they need to decide if you’re a good match for the position and the organisation. Within that structure they will normally allow you time to ask questions of your own.
Not only is this a great opportunity to make sure you have all the information you need to decide if the job is right for you, critically it also offers a unique opportunity to impress the interviewer with intelligent questions that leave that all important positive last – and lasting – impression.
It will certainly pay dividends to prepare your questions in advance. Half an hour spent looking over the job description and the company website will help you come up with questions of your own about the role, the company structure and so on. But where do you go from there? What questions might also give you the edge?
Here are a few questions that will help you stand out. They look wider than just the role, and delve deeper into the reality of the opportunity, and its context. Spend some time thinking them through and considering how you might adapt them for your next interview. They will demonstrate an intelligent approach to your interview and show you are serious about the opportunity.
What would you say are the greatest challenges in the role?
This question gives you a deeper insight into the role and also helps you understand the employer’s expectations. It also demonstrates you are up for a challenge if you ask in a suitably enthusiastic fashion!
You’ll need to be prepared to respond with some ideas of how you’d respond to the challenge though, if you do ask this question. If the greatest challenge is, for instance, managing a difficult team, if you can honestly say you’ve turned around a poorly performing team in the past, you will stand out. Or if you can say, that’s just the sort of challenge I am looking for, then it all adds to making the right impression.
How did you (Mr/Mrs interviewer) get to your position/role?
This question can help build rapport and, because we all like talking about ourselves, helps to fix you in the interviewer’s memory. Most people get a positive buzz from being asked about themselves – so it’s all to the good! It can also give you deeper insight into how careers can progress in the company. This sort of question is great if it is a more junior role, as it shows ambition and a keenness to learn, and is also great for account management roles, as it nicely demonstrates your interest in clients and people generally, and building rapport is key to these types of role.
What are the company’s future plans?
Your research will have given you a good idea of the company’s history and what it does now, but you can also demonstrate your interest in taking the company forward. If you’ve picked up a bit of news about future plans you can build on that. For example, “I see you’re about to launch a content division. How does that fit into your wider plans?”
This not only gets you useful information other candidates might miss, it also shows you’ve done your homework, and are thinking about your next role – the role they are looking to fill - for the long term.
What kind of person does well in this organisation?
The answer to this question will tell you a lot about the real culture of the organisation. You might fear that the company is very straight-laced and corporate but this question could reveal those people who build empathy and cooperation do best.
This will help you decide if the organisation is right for you and gives you guidance on the kind of values you need to demonstrate to progress.
Is there anything we haven’t covered?
This catch all question gives you a great chance to fill any gaps from the interview. There are several variations you can use; one useful example is “Are there any important areas where you feel I haven’t fully answered your questions that I can review with you now?”.
What are the next steps?
This is superficially an ‘admin’ question but it also demonstrates you are still interested in the role at the end of the interview, and that you are someone who is organised and thinks ahead. The information you get here will also help to manage your expectations and leads nicely into the end of the interview.
A final word of warning
Don’t take over
You don’t want to leave the interviewer feeling frustrated that they haven’t got all the answers they wanted, so make sure they’ve finished their questions before launching into yours.
Wait to be asked if you have any questions but if the interview begins to draw to a close and you haven’t, you should politely request the opportunity. In the unlikely event of the interviewer saying no, for no good reason, you probably have all the answers you need.
At Regan & Dean, before any of our candidates go for their interview for that all important Events or Marketing job, our Consultants always spend the time to make sure you are thoroughly briefed and to support your preparation – be it handy hints, the inside track on what this interviewer looks for, or general confidence building practice and support.
So, if you feel you’d like to work with a team who give you more than just a job spec, and you’re looking for your next events or marketing job, get in touch now or register for our job alerts here.
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