Matthew was interviewed by the HR Department of a large Telecoms firm based in West Dublin for a GIS Specialist role. He saw the job vacancy advertised in a local newspaper and applied immediately for the role. Within a week he was called in for an interview by one of the HR Consultants. (for a professionally written CV click here) After a 40 minute interview, Matthew came out thinking that he 'won over' the interviewees and felt very confident that he would be getting the job.

However, 4 days later, Matthew got the dreaded call to say that he was unfortunately unsuccessful at the interview. The telecoms firm would not be inviting him back for a second interview and they wished him luck in his future career.

Matthew saw an advertisement posted by Sole Recruitment for a GIS Specialist in another telecoms firm based in South County Dublin and applied for the role. We immediately contacted Matthew, had a telephone interview with him for approximately 20 minutes, then arranged to meet him for a face to face interview the following day. We e-mailed Matthew a pack containing a more detailed job description, an overview of the client, their website and a specially constructed interview pack filled with interview skills, tips and techniques. We requested that Matthew read over this before the meeting the following day.

Upon meeting Matthew, it came to light that he had already been for an interview for a similar role and was very concerned that he didn't get a second interview - especially considering that he had high hopes of 'having it in the bag'.

Justine immediately assessed the situation, using her specially designed portfolio of frameworks and techniques and within one consultation was able to pinpoint the problem area.

Many people have told us that they have no issues going into an interview, no nervous jitters or feelings of anxiety, but later tell us that they must be doing something wrong at the interview because they are not getting offers for jobs they know they should be getting.

Some people say they are very confident and articulate well at an interview and don’t need help. However, while confidence is necessary, it is not sufficient. It can also be a cause of failure. We have feedback from employers who thought candidates were confident and articulate and handled themselves well, but they did things during the interview which turned them off. The problem is that the candidate didn’t know that’s what they were doing.

This was the issue with Matthew. We went through all the basic factors necessary for the presentation of an interview (dress code; time management; preparation etc) but found that Matthew did not seem to err in any of these areas. However, after meeting with him personally, we were able to establish that he did have a very annoying habit of answering every question with one word answers, always looking away when answering the questions and not suggesting any potential weaknesses or flaws to his character or previous work experience.

After the hour long interview with Matthew we were able to establish and confirm that we would need to make him more aware of his reactions and responses in demanding situations like interviews. In confidence, we spoke to Matthew and advised him that we would be able to assist coaching and preparing him for the next interview with our client in South County Dublin. After two 1-hour consultations with Matthew, we felt he was more than prepared for the interview and we are now happy to report that he got the job!

a) It provides a framework for preparation. Doing the right things before the interview is the key to success

b) Coaching provides techniques which enable you to control the process rather than letting the process control you

c) It teaches you methods and skills which don’t require a personality shift. It’s a farce, that putting people in front of cameras for a couple of hours and providing them with feedback will remedy their performance at interviews. If you really need to change entrenched habits or behaviours, it will require professional coaching, as well as concerted practice and a lot of determination and discipline from the individual

d) Coaching enables you to immediately apply these new methods and techniques because they are not add-ons or replacements: they are integrated into who you are and work with whatever personality or style you currently have. It takes a professional coach to distinguish and establish these replacements and help you incorporate this into your character