Interviewgold: Interview skills essential for job seekers

Taking the time to work on interview skills may be the secret to securing positions and standing out from the crowd during the recruitment process, it has been suggested.

Interviewgold.com claims that job seekers, especially graduates, are having an increasingly tough time when it comes to finding work during the credit crunch.

The website believes that if people have a good interview technique and the ability to communicate effectively they are more likely to be successful.

Joe McDermott, chief executive officer at Interviewgold.com, said: Some graduates come out thinking they'll just go along and have a bit of a chat and the employer will think they're perfect for the job, but that approach rarely succeeds.

Using available resources and having adequate preparation time can help to learn the skills needed.

More demanding on quality, ClickAJob Marketing Manager Anders Jensen is not satisfied that interview skills are enough.

A good presentation of yourself is fine for social occasions, but there's a lot more to winning in interview situations, he insists.

What an employer is really hoping to see is an applicant's attitude towards the company and the job - how committed are they, how professional - that sort of thing.

You can't learn involvement or commitment, so you have to work on your state of mind more than your firm handshake and engaging smile, he says.

You're OK if you're genuine, just don't try to pretend to be something you aren't.

According to figures from the Office for National Statistics, the number of vacancies in the UK has fallen which could mean job seekers have to work even harder to be successful.