UK Job Interviews: The 'enemy' At The Gate

After winning the fifth series of The Apprentice, Yasmina Siadatan has possibly perfected the art of interviews and might not even break a sweat when things get tough in the future.

With her calm and creative stature she has learned to express herself in the correct manner to reflect herself as the best person for the job.

"I worked so hard and I kept my head down and just kept going. I do feel that I deserved to win," she said.

The Apprentice is known for gruelling boardroom sessions and 12 weeks of exciting and nail biting tasks where several candidates compete against each other for the grand prize of becoming Sir Alan Sugar's apprentice.

Although The Apprentice is a reality show its main focus remains to be set on entertaining an audience and therefore the stern, robot-like and tight atmosphere in the boardroom could be exaggerated to some extent.

Surely ‘normal’ people have ‘normal’ straight forward question-and-answer interviews where the interviewer slips in simple questions to make the candidate feel at ease?

Or maybe interviews like these, if they even exist, are few and far between.

The business world is tough. If you don’t hack it there is someone else eager to take your place because here the ‘replaceable’ sticky-note taped to your forehead is not a myth but a standard.

The truth is an interview is more commonly associated with cotton mouth and clammy hands than anything else.

Warren (26) from West Surrey realised this the hard way after a friend promised him a relaxed interview at a Law firm where he was working.

“My friend organised me an interview at his firm and promised an easy 5 minute meeting with his boss followed with a few drinks afterwards to secure a lucrative job opportunity.

“At the day of the ‘social meeting’ I was told by the receptionist to fill out a questionnaire. This turned out to be a complete IQ test, personality test as well as work compatibility test and kept me busy for over an hour and a half.

“Afterwards I was led to the boardroom where three men proceeded to ask me dozens of extremely difficult questions as well as flipping through the test forms I filled out,” he said shamed face.

Warren didn’t get the job but learned a valuable lesson that day and that is to always be prepared for the worst case scenario when it comes to job interviews.

Sometimes an interview can turn into your most embarrassing moment like when Julie (35) from Berkshire fell of her chair during an interview.

“I was busy writing a difficult language test that formed part of the interview and while I was lost in thought, I accidentally fell off my chair to the amusement of a room full of potential colleagues. I was so embarrassed that I just stayed there until someone offered to help me to my feet,” she said.

Luckily for Julie, despite her clumsiness she ended up getting the job but Nicola (23) from London wasn’t so fortunate when she missed an interview due to logistics.

“I found it odd that the lady who invited me for the interview wasn’t there that day and thought my chances were fairly high when two, embarrassed gentlemen proceeded to interview me although they admitted they weren’t aware of any new openings in the company. Only when I received a call the following day enquiring why I didn’t show for my interview did I realise that I went to the wrong building and company altogether. Needless to say, I didn’t get the job,” she admits.

Several job sites list the following as things to do to have more success in interviews: research, dress-up, greeting your interviewer with a firm handshake, keeping eye-contact and focusing on your strengths but also being honest about your weaknesses when asked about them.

Things not do during an interview include sitting down before being asked to do so, fiddling, babbling, talking negatively about your previous job or employer, asking inappropriate questions or bringing up the money subject.

Michelle (28) HR manager from London gives the following advice: “On average I interview around 7 people daily and I have noticed that people forget to market themselves. If a person isn’t impressed by their own work how will I be?”

With the current economic situation, employment has declined immensely turning the UK jobs sector into a circus of redundancies and job losses making it even harder to make an impression.

According to the Office for National Statistics, the UK’s unemployment rate rose from 6.5% to 7.1% in the last three months.

Individuals, who fall victim to the chaos need to rethink their strategies, get back into the game or learn new skills to try a different sector because even though jobs are being lost, companies are still recruiting.

Recent developments in the UK have led to the apprentice not only being a show on telly but being a foot in the door for many.
Caterpillar, the truck manufacturer has teamed up with South West Durham in order to incorporate several apprentices within their work force of 800 people.

“Although the make-up of apprenticeships has changed over the years, Caterpillar sees the value of this type of high quality training programme in keeping traditional skills, such as fabrication and welding alive,” said Fred Felton, apprentice manager at Caterpillar Peterlee.

Hampshire Borough Council will be giving grants of up to £4,000 to companies in the county who makes apprenticeships available and even Prime Minister Gordon Brown, guarantees a job or an apprenticeship to the country’s youth.

"Starting from January, everyone under 25 who has been unemployed for a year or more will receive a guaranteed job, work experience or training place,” he said.

With good news like this everyone should start updating their CVs and prepare to impress at interviews.

A stunning CV might get you noticed but if you muddle up the interview, a job that had your name written all over it could be lost forever.