The Purpose, Types and The Process of Preparation for an Interview

Introduction

An interview is detailed as a discussion that is a good structure where one person or more asks questions and the other person answers them. In simple terms an interview is also defined as a one on one discussion that involves two or more parties however for an interview took take place it needs two or more parties to come together and these parties are called the interviewer and an interviewee.

In another explanation of an interview, is also defined as a twofold conversation that involves an employer of the company and the candidate. However, in an interview, both parties pay attention to every detail that is taking place. In addition to that the whole concept of an interview is to get to know the candidate if he/she is capable of handling or conducting the job in question, (Crawford, I.M. (1997).

The purpose of an interview

According to McNamara, C. (1999), he explains in more detail the purposes of having an interview however he starts by saying that the purpose of the interview of having interview is to get to the understanding of what the candidate will contribute to the company if he/she is given the opportunity in the company as their employee, however, an interview looks deep into the candidate and assess him if he is well qualified for the job and it also looks into the career ambitions of the candidate if it is in line with the post in question.

Types of interviews

According to Crawford, I.M. (1997), he said that there are at list four types of interviews and he said these are;

• Competency test
• Phone call interview
• The panel interview
• The assessment interview

According to Gubrium, J.F & Holstein, J.A. (2001), he said that in each and every interview the candidate needs to be prepared as most of the time the candidate cannot be sure and cannot know as to which types of interview will he/she going to have, however, it is very important for the candidate to be fully equipped more especially in preparation for the interview this because there is no interview that is simple almost every interview is tough. In addition to that, he said that in an interview a person is required to have his CV at hand but that does not really matter because the interviewers will press you had this makes most of the candidates fail due to tension he further said it's not all that easy to convince the interviewers because managers are the ones to decide whether you’re the right fit for the role in a number of different ways, all of which are designed to test your suitability for different aspects of the job. However, it is the duty of the candidate to try as much as they can to give their level ton show and demonstrate how competent your and how suitable and qualified are they to that particular job.

• Phone call

 According to Gubrium, J.F & Holstein, J.A. (2001) he said that a phone call is none important type in conducting the interview, he further said that in today’s technology people are communicating through face-time Skype ad a mere phone call, he continues by saying that phone or Skype call is one of the best means of contacting the candidate, however, this is done before inviting them for a face-to-face interview. He further said that this does not make the phone call interview of less value but it’s a process of making the candidate be comfortable and it also acts as a tool of highlighting the description of the job so that the candidate should be more prepared as to what he/she is going to be interviewed for.

• The competency test

According to McNamara, C. (1999), he said that it’s not an easy thing to venture into the job market as you will meet with a lot of barriers however an individual must always make sure that he/she knows what managers or companies are looking for, this is because the competency requires the candidate to demonstrate relevant experience to employers, furthermore he said that companies use competency when hiring staffs because it’s the same way as a means of vetting the candidate, furthermore he said that competency test is structured to test traits like teamwork, responsibility, leadership, problem-solving and communication skills, rather than any specific job experience you might have, you will be set a series of tasks to test how you will react in certain situations. This could take the form of giving a presentation, describing a scenario and what your reaction would be to it or demonstrating your written skills by writing a short article this whole process makes the candidate be more creative and more focused and at the same time innovative.

• The panel interview

According to McNamara, C. (1999), he said that a panel interview is that which focuses much on the candidate to build up what is called the rapport these helps in accelerating up the interview, this makes the interview much fast as the candidate deals with more than one interviewer at the same time as they ask you questions however this process may look hard but it helps that candidate with not much knowledge on things as they deal with tailor the responses to different interviewers at the same time.

In addition to that, he said that it’s easy to panic in an interview but panic results in failure, however when facing a barrage of queries or comments, as this will only confuse your response in dealing with this the candidate must always a deep breath and evaluating each and every bit at the moment this will help the candidate to get a good impression from the panel.

• The assessment center

According to Gubrium, J.F & Holstein, J.A. (2001) they said that an assessment center is kind of an interview where the candidate applies for the graduation schemes he further said that graduate schemes focuses much on testing a variety of skills, and can comprise interviews, presentations, group exercises, role play, in addition to that he said that as long as the candidate is fully prepared he/she has nothing to worry about, however, they said before going for an interview the candidate to prepare themselves, these preparation involves and require the candidate to do their research and finding on which skills, interests or experiences of their employers are looking for, the better to know what to say or do on the day itself. Lastly, they said that candidates must make sure that they are friendly and work together with their fellow interviewees, rather than against them he added by saying that it is very important to arrive at the interview as early as possible so as to get ready and finalize everything that was left to be done.

Interview Preparation

People all over the world find the interview to be one of worse nightmares that could happen to an individual this is so because most of them do not prepare advance for the interview, here is the key to all the problems faced by many people, according to (J Smith 2009) he said that for an individual to have the best results in an interview he/she must always think positive and make sure that the CV is well prepared as to convince the employer this means that you should know and understand your CV from inside out in simple terms the candidate needs to practice what’s in the CV, he further said that the candidate must always make sure they have research the company that includes to find out everything that has to been known as far as possible, this may also take a form of press coverage on recent developments for examples the introduction of new products and kind of job announcements, in addition to that the candidate must make sure that he shows abilities of having an insight into their background, this might give you an idea of the potential questions they might ask. Furthermore, a candidate must always make sure that they know the directions of the venue to avoid any delays or being late for the interview. The type of clothes that you wear on your interview will definitely portray the kind of person you, however, it is very important to dress to impress with clean neatly pressed clothes. It is easy most of the time to identify what you should depend on the company you are interviewing with will determine what you should wear, for example, if you are interviewing in a professional services company such as a law firm or an accountancy practice it would be usual for employees to wear suits and you would be expected to dress formally for this interview process

During the interview process, it is very important you calm yourself and your body language is also the most important thing interview, in addition to that the candidate must make sure that he/she is paying much attention when being introduced to the interviewers, however, it is also very important to maintain eye contact with the interviewers at all times. Being nervous is a natural thing to each and every person at the beginning of an interview but good interview preparation will keep these nerves at bay.

Lastly is it very important to be doing the following things in an interview, the candidate must make sure that they listening properly to each and every question they are being asked, the candidate must make that they are not talking much as to avoid saying things that are irrelevant, maintain your posture, keep in mind that body language is very important in an interview.

Conclusion

In summary, an interview needs to be taken very seriously because the candidate does not know the people whom he is going to meet with, as such a very good preparation is important and practice before the interview is a very important addition to that, having a good a research about the company you're going for the interviewing is also very important, preparing a good and clear CV is also very important as the CV reflects who you are during the interview, candidate must make sure they listen very well to each and every question being asked, make sure that your not talking too much, give the interviewers simple clear answers and far most important make sure to attempt to answer each and every question asked, lastly look smart and neat depending on the company you're going for the interview for.

References

• J. Smith, communication, May 17, 2008
• Gubrium, J.F & Holstein, J.A. (2001). Handbook of interview research
• Crawford, I.M. (1997). Marketing Research
• McNamara, C. (1999). General Guidelines for Conducting Interviews,