A key part of the work that we do at Relaunch Me is to help clients prepare for interviews so that they can be competitive and feel confident on the day. We work with clients from graduate/entry-level right through to Executive level and across a breadth of industries including government, financial services, accounting & finance, healthcare, legal, engineering IT, sales, marketing, design and emergency services (paramedic (all states), fire services (all states in Australia and New Zealand), border force, corrections and State Police).
Working with an interview coach can offer several benefits for individuals who are preparing for a job interview including the following:
- Understanding the perspective of the hiring manager and/or human resources: One of the biggest advantages of interview coaching is that you get to see the perspective of the person interviewing you. As interview coaches we have a depth of human resources/recruitment experience so we can help you understand what competencies or capabilities the interview panel is assessing and what type of behaviours that they are listening out for in your responses.
- Understanding how to structure your responses: The majority of private, public and NGO organisations use a style of interviewing called ‘behavioural interviewing’. This means that they will ask questions to elicit very specific examples of how you have demonstrated the key capabilities required to overcome problems or challenges in the past. In particular, the panel want to know ‘how’ you behaved when overcoming these challenges. In our interview coaching sessions, we will firstly help you understand what types of behaviours they are listening out for in these responses, what examples will work best to demonstrate the competency and how to structure your responses correctly using the STAR method which is the key to success in these interviews.
- Improved communication skills: An interview coach can also help you improve your communication skills, including the language you use, your tone of voice, body language and overall presentation. In many cases clients are not aware of some words that they are using until a coach helps them identify this or when they listen back to the recorded coaching session. In this article, Leah Lambart spoke to SEEK about what 9 words to avoid during a job interview. This is a must read before your next interview.
- Practise makes perfect: Once you have worked with us to develop the best STAR responses, we always recommend that you go away and practise saying them aloud, so you get used to hearing yourself tell these stories and talk about yourself in that way. Most clients find it very difficult to talk about themselves in this way, so practise makes perfect – remember “the more you sweat in peace, the less you bleed in war”.
An interview coach can then also conduct a mock interview with you to practise before the actual interview. This allows you to receive personalised feedback and to feel more confident on the day.
Don’t let lack of confidence at interviews hold you back from applying for new roles or going back out to the job market. With even just one coaching session, you can conquer your interview demons and start to work towards your ideal next role.
If you would like to learn more about our interview coaching sessions, contact Leah Lambart, Director/Career & Interview Coach at leah@relaunchme.com.au to set up a time to discuss further. You can also book a session here.
