How can I ensure my face-to-face interview is successful?

1. Use your face to face communication skills 2. Do your research 3. Use real-world examples in your answers to interview questions 4. Ask the employer questions 5. Wear a smart interview outfit 6. Be yourself in a face to face interview 7. Always smile!

26th May 2022

Face to face interviews: Top tips for a successful interview 🤝

Q: Preparing for a face to face interview checklist:

•Make sure you know what type of interview it is - There are many different types of face to face interviews, and although it will usually be a sit down chat through your CV, it could be that you have to prepare a presentation, task, or interview with a panel. Ensure that you know how to master different types of interviews. • Prepare your answers to interview questions - Make sure you've gone through all types of questions that could be asked, including thinking up questions to ask employers in a job interview • Brush up on your graduate CV - It might seem obvious, but you need to know exactly what's on your graduate CV in order to talk about your skills & experience. For every thing you've written on your CV, make sure you're able to speak in more detail about it in the interview • Dress for success - Pick out your interview outfit beforehand, so you're not stressing on the day. There are slightly different ways to dress depending on the type of interview - so again, do your research • Plan your commute - The last thing you want to be doing on the day of the face to face interview is stressing about being late; so plan how you're going to get to the interview well in advance, and remember to account for rush hour!

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Congratulations! You’ve got over the first hurdle and made it through to a face to face interview.

That means your potential employer already likes the look of your graduate CV, so you can go into your face to face interview relatively confident.

But how do you best prepare, and make sure that you stand out from the crowd in a good way?

Your CV will only get you so far – you need to impress them with your conversation, your face to face communication skills, and personality.

My background is in science PR and I’m currently a Comms Consultant on the STEM team at TopLine Comms, a B2B PR agency.

I’ve been on both sides of the interview process – so thought I would share with you some top tips for an interview and what employers are looking for in your face to face interview.

Video tips for successful face-to-face interviews

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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 will often follow a successful telephone interview.

In a face to face interview, you could be speaking with the Hiring Manager, CEO, MD, or the person who might be your Line Manager.

Often, when you interview face to face, it will be more than one person who interviews you; in a graduate job interview it’s often the team leader, and the Hiring Manager.

Though sometimes there might be a presentation involved, usually a F2F interview means running through your graduate CV, discussing your skills and experience, and finding out 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 interviews - Top tips for a successful interview

The face to face interview is when the employer will decide if they think you’re right for the job, and the right fit within 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 the perfect opportunity for you to show off your communication skills.

Employers will be looking out for what you say, but also how well you answer their questions and how you communicate your response.

Make sure you speak clearly and try not to go off on tangents about things that aren’t relevant.

You want to convey enthusiasm, sound upbeat and keen on the job role that’s being offered.

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.
This one sounds obvious; but it’s surprising how many people neglect to do this when they are preparing for a face to face interview.

Make sure you’ve read through the company’s website and have a few snippets of information about it ready to drop into the conversation – this might be case studies that you really liked, or a particular blog that resonated with you.

Not only does this show that you’re proactive, but it also shows that you really are interested in what the company does (and you’re not just applying to any graduate job).

It’s also a good idea to research the employer, so don’t be scared 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.
You can almost guarantee that you’ll be given some situation-based competency interview questions, like ‘tell me about a time you had to deal with a stressful situation’.

These questions are your chance to shine and prove that you are suitable for the job, based on experience and skills you have gained in previous graduate jobs or through your education.

Make sure you prepare some examples for these sorts of interview questions and have some experiences to hand that you can talk about.

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.

As a rule, don’t ever say ‘I don’t know’ or ‘pass’.

One of the best tips for an interview is to ensure you’re ready for all types of interview questions, and know how to prepare for an in person interview early on.
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. According to Lensa, this is an opportunity to turn the balance, and avoid the process feeling like a one-way interview (which it isn’t!)

Some good questions to keep in your back pocket include:
- ‘What are the next steps?’
- ‘What’s your most and least favourite part of your job’
- ‘What’s your company culture like?’.
As a general rule, avoid asking basic questions like ‘Can I wear what I want to work?’, ‘What does your company do?’ and ‘How long until I’m promoted?’.

Top tips for interview success, especially in a face to face interview, is to show you are engaged and interested; asking the employer interview questions is a great way to demonstrate this.

Read the full guide to answering the question ‘Do you have any questions for me?’ here.
What should you wear for an interview?

Unless an interviewer tells you that it’s okay to dress casually for an interview, you should always make sure that you’re dressed smartly.

This is the first time that an interviewer will see you, and you want to make the right impression.

Looking sloppy or like you haven’t made any effort will give the wrong impression straight away.

It doesn’t have to be expensive, just an outfit that looks clean, smart and tidy.

You only need one outfit that you can wear to any graduate job interview.

This is one of my top tips for interviews – never underestimate the power of a first impression!
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.

Then, if you don’t get on, you know it’s not going to be the right job for you anyway – and there are plenty of other graduate jobs out there.

Going into a face to face interview with this knowledge should help to reassure you that you don’t have to try and be someone you’re not; this is one of the most important tips for a job interview.

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 although it will usually be a sit-down chat through your CV, it could be that you have to prepare a presentation, task, or interview with a panel. Ensure that you know how to master different types of interviews.
Prepare your answers to interview questions – Make sure you’ve gone through all types of questions that could be asked, including thinking up questions to ask employers in a job interview.
Brush up on your graduate CV – It might seem obvious, but you need to know exactly what’s on your graduate CV in order to talk about your skills & experience. If you need some help to get started, you can always try out some CV templates. For every thing you’ve written on your CV, make sure you’re able to speak in more detail about it in the interview.
Dress for success – Pick out your interview outfit beforehand, so you’re not stressing on the day. There are slightly different ways to dress depending on the type of interview – so again, do your research.
Plan your commute – The last thing you want to be doing on the day of the face to face interview is stressing about being late; so plan how you’re going to get to the interview well in advance, and remember to account for rush hour!