It’s the moment every contestant on The Apprentice hates – the dreaded “interview stage”.
Lord Sugar’s trusted aides go through the contenders’ CVs with a fine tooth comb on Wednesday (December 17th) and strike fear through the heart of anyone with an up and coming job interview.
But recruitment agency Search Consultancy has given hope to jobseekers that it doesn’t have to be such a gruelling process.
The leading recruitment agency - which has handled campaigns including recruiting the Glasgow 2014 Organising Committee workforce - says the secret is to be ready for competency-based questions.
Grahame Caswell, CEO of Search believes there’s a simple reason candidates on the hit TV show often have disastrous interviews – lack of preparation for the line of questioning.
He explains: “Lord Sugar’s interview team always put candidates through their paces, and audiences love watching them squirm when they get tripped up.
“As entertaining as it is, on a serious note it really highlights how essential it is to go into an interview with your homework done. Knowing the details on your CV inside out is simply not enough, and if you’re thinking about getting creative with some of your previous experience and qualifications, remember that you can easily be found out!”
“These days competency-based interviews are used widely by employers to test potential candidates’ skills and abilities, so it pays to familiarise yourself with this type of interview format and really be ready for it.”
Competency based interview questions generally cover a range of key areas such as adaptability, communication, creativity, decisiveness, flexibility, leadership, and teamwork.
They are often formatted in the style of “can you give an example of a time when…?”, allowing the candidate to illustrate their abilities using real-life examples.
Grahame added: “To any job hunters out there who dread the interview process, my advice would be to stop worrying and start preparing and practising. Don’t let this type of interview intimidate you - use it as an opportunity to really showcase your abilities by having lots of examples up your sleeve!”
Search is a multi-sector recruitment specialist with 13 offices across the UK.