Answering Recruitment Interview Questions

• Be honest when being asked about experience and responsibilities within previous positions.
• Prepare your answers to potentially awkward questions to reflect the situation in the most positive light. Don't lie - you are likely to be found out.
• Don't dwell on the negativity of a previous position even if it was awful - a potential employer may get a bad impression of you as a result. Focus on the positives instead.
• Make sure you answer the question that is being asked. Although you may have prepared a brilliant answer to a slightly different question, that is not what the interviewer is looking for.
• If you don't understand the question, ask the interviewer to repeat it for you or rephrase it.
• Remember that silence is acceptable - within reason. Rather than say the first thing that comes into your head, take a little bit of time to consider what you want to say.
• Best to wait until the interviewer broaches salary. If this does not happen and salary is crucial to your situation, it is acceptable to ask for an indication of salary range. You may also want to indicate that that this is not the most important part of the job offer.
• Although an interviewer will allow for some nerves on the day, make sure to avoid rambling. If you really feel unable to answer, ask if the question can be covered again at the end.
• Maintain a formal approach at all times unless indicated otherwise.
• Where you are being interviewed by more than one interviewer at a time, you should direct your answer in the main to the interviewer who has asked the question but try to maintain eye contact with all interviews present.
• You can never be too prepared for an interview - keep your answers relevant, to the point, interesting and sell the best of your experience, skills and capabilities.