Here we have another high quality guest article from Fay Libman, who has experience in working with government, corporate and private clients through her private practice Flair Careers. She assists people in building their lives by stepping up and moving forwards in their careers. Fay can help guide and support you through the interview process.  Call her now 0412 129 140 for an obligation free chat!!

“It is highly likely that a potential employer will contact applicants to discuss, interview and assess “best fit”.  This is where a lot of students may get unstuck. Whether you are preparing for a face-to-face or telephone interview, the pressure is still the same.  However, this is a great opportunity for you to really stand out in the crowd and shine! To help you achieve this, I’ve prepared my 5 “must-do” tips to help you get noticed and get that health industry job!

1.    X-Factor and YOU
What is it that differentiates you from the next applicant? What are your unique strengths and abilities?  Do you speak another language?  Do you have a special skill set that might be useful to a particular hospital or private practice? What do you know about the community where the job is, whether it is rural, remote or metropolitan?  What additional value do you bring to the table?   To help you be the star you are, remember to smile, even if you have a phone interview! That relaxes you as well as your audience.

2.    Achievement Stories
The best way to prepare for an interview is to come up with specific stories to highlight a particular competency or employability skill that you know your prospective employer is actually seeking. There are several frameworks to help you develop these. Such frameworks are intended to keep you focussed, on track with a logical beginning, middle and conclusion to your story. For example.
(1)    CARS = Challenge, Action, Results (my personal Favorite)
(2)    PARS = Problem, Action Results (for the golfers amongst you)
(3)    STARS = Situation, Task, Action Results (for the star gazers)
(4)     SAO = Situation, Action Outcome (used extensively by government departments to help job-seekers develop responses to selection criteria.

To demonstrate how this works, let’s use my favorite acronym – (CARS). Imagine your interviewer has asked… “Walk us through a difficult situation you recently encountered in a practical placement or hospital setting?”  So – you would start by setting the scene by describing the backdrop and the actual CHALLENGE in as much detail as possible. You then move to talk about the ACTION you took to overcome that particular challenge. Finish off by detailing the RESULT or outcome that eventuated as a consequence of your actions.  Then – (and this is the crunch line) SO WHAT is the whole point of your story?  Spell it out to your interviewer. Ideally you will be able to provide either a quantitative or qualitative conclusion proving your ability to handle any future difficult situations that may arise in a practice/hospital setting.

This is what differentiates you from other candidates – your personal stories!  How you tell and sell yourself through your stories, can make or break your chances of success at interview.

3.    Possible Questions
•    Tell us 3 things about yourself that are not already included in your resume
•    What do you know about this private practice/hospital?
•    Why do you want to work here?
•    What do you consider to be your top 4 strengths?
•    How do you handle work /life balance?
•    Can you share an example of a problem, created for you by someone else?  How did you handle the situation?  What was the result?
•    Tell us about a time when you took the initiative?
•    Tell us about a time when your team failed and what you would have done differently?
•    Tell us about a time when communication skills let you down?

4.    Rehearse – Practice makes perfect
Grab a friend and practice your responses and your delivery. Isn’t this what all the great actors do?!?!  After all, life’s a stage and we are all but players.  So – rehearse your part until you get it right!

5.    One last thing!
Many elite athletes practice a process known as “creative visualization”.  Here’s how it works. Imagine your mind is a camera.  Through this camera, see yourself walking into the interview room.  Confident, positive happy.  Smile!  Set the stage and play out the scene exactly as you would like to see it go.  Perfectly!  See the interviewers smiling in approval at your responses. Visualize everything – in exact detail. Play this scene over and over exactly as you would like it to go.  Own it!

So, these are my tips to get you through any interview situation whether it’s over the phone, Skype or face-to-face. Good luck!!”