Ace a job interview

INTERVIEWS can be intimidating, but they are a crucial hurdle to clear before getting the dreamt-for letter of appointment.

“Anxiety often trips up otherwise deserving candidates,” says Wonga Ntshinga, the senior head of programme in the ICT faculty at The Independent Institute of Education, a private higher education institution.

Preparation is key. “If you have all your ducks in a row by the time you go and sit in front of the panel, you will be the master of your destiny — not your fear and anxiety.” Ntshinga has the following advice:

Research the position you have applied for and see how your career highlights relate to the requirements of the job, focusing on what you are doing, what you have done, and what you expect to contribute in future;

Show that throughout your life — even in school — you have demonstrated the types of skills the company is looking for. “Prove that you have successfully worked with various kinds of teams, for instance,” he says;

If you have something in your past that you know will look bad, be prepared to show what you learnt from this;

Don’t busk your way through an interview — it will be obvious to anyone in the room;

You may not have got the best marks at university, but you can demonstrate that the skills you have since acquired put you ahead of other candidates; and

Make sure your online life does not eclipse the way you want to present yourself at an interview. Employers do check your social media profiles, so think before posting anything. —