3 Interview Tips You Heard in Your Teens

When you were still at school or college, do you remember getting advice on those first job interviews from teachers, careers advisors or your parents? That may feel like a long time ago, and of course, now you work in recruitment you are pretty well versed in interviewing. However, some of those basic tips actually stay relevant, even though industries have changed and the people you are trying to place probably aren’t awkward 17 year olds who’ve borrowed a suit off of their dad!Here are three interview tips you might have heard before you even started your career, that could still benefit your candidates today:

1. Always Thank the Interviewers
One very simple tip that tends to finish the interview with a good impression is to thank the interviewers for seeing you before you leave. It is respectful, it makes you seem humble, no matter how much you have had to blow your own trumpet in the preceding conversation, and it is just good manners. Under pressure, people often forget to treat their interviewers like normal people who appreciate simple things like to be thanked for giving up their time, and doing this can also end an interview that may have gone a little off track on a positive note. This tip is useful whether you are applying for your very first part time job, or something on the board of a blue chip company.

2. Dress to Impress
While in our parents’ day every interview required the absolute smartest of dress, now some companies are a little more casual. Some tech and creative companies even prefer candidates not to wear suits, because they don’t have a dress code in the office and it can feel a bit weird interviewing someone who is far more professionally dressed than you are! However, no matter what the dress code for the business, you want to wear the smartest version of what is acceptable, and make sure you look generally clean and well groomed. Even if the people in the office are wearing their most tired jeans and have hair that looks like it has never seen a comb, looking tidy and appealing for your first meeting leaves a good impression.

3. Ask Questions
There comes a point in almost every interview where the interviewers ask if you have any questions. You may feel you know everything you need to know from what they’ve already told you or what is on their website, but asking a couple of brief questions gives the impression you are interested and, if you have seemed nervous, stops you looking like you are simply desperate for the interview to be over. If you don’t have any genuine questions, you can always ask things like what the next stage of the interview process will be if you have been successful.

These three simple tips are some of the first most people ever hear, but are ones that still apply no matter how far into a career somebody is.