I know what it feels like to be in that interview room, in front of a panel, tongue-tied, blank mind, sweaty palms, wishing – hoping – that the fire alarm would go, and I could just disappear.
But I want the job. I need the job. I want to go back to work and I want to do it with confidence and poise.
Many of the women that I work with haven’t attended a job interview in years. That’s without even taking the career break into account. When you’re well-established in your career, and you get regular promotions, well you just don’t get the practice.
If you haven’t attended a job interview for a long time, preparing for that first interview after a career break, can seem pretty daunting. And although many of us feel we perform better under pressure, it’s sensible and smart to prepare for your job interview so that you make the best of the opportunity available and present yourself in a positive light.
There are four key elements you need to focus on in your preparations:
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- Positive mindset
- Before the job interview
- During the job interview
- After the job interview
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The one important thing to bear in mind is that if you’ve get a job interview that means that your CV is doing its job and it’s working for you. You might not get this job however even if you don’t, it’s valuable experience and preparation for the next interview that does get you a job.
Interview skills is something we cover in depth in my Career Confidence programmes. And it’s one of the most popular topics when women book a Career Power Hour with me. So I know you’ll love my Job Interview Checklist, your ultimate practical guide to pass your job interview with flying colours.
Pop your details in below and I’ll send you a copy straight to your inbox.
p.s. if you have a job interview coming up and you’d like some help in getting ready, let’s talk.
Thanks you so much! It really is so daunting to start all over again. Specially when all you’ve done in 2 years in looked after and mainly had conversations with your toddler.lol..first telephone interview this evening…cannot even remember the details of thousand things that I was responsible for in previous job…but like you said if the CV gets you this far, means it IS working:)
Yay! Exactly. The interview is the first step.
>Finally think about it from the recruiter’s perspective. The recruiter wants to fill the role and she wants you to do well (quite frankly that makes her life easier).
This one thing made interviews as a whole so much easier for me. I’d never thought about it like that before. When you’re going in for an interview it’s easy to feel like you’re so small and the company is this great monolith, but in reality you’re a person and the person interviewing you is just that – a person. Trying to hire someone can be just as stressful as trying to get hired!
Great one to add Alex, thank you.
I hate starting all over again, but sometimes life gets in the way, and it just happens. Thank you for sharing an insight. I have a similar strategy to Alex when I first stepped into an interview after a year-long career-break. The recruiters want this over as much as I do.