Video Transcript:
Making a connection (Koonie)
Hello, my name’s Koonie Karinsen. I’m the Volunteer Recruitment & Training Coordinator at AMES Australia. Today I’m going to talk about making a connection in the interview. As well as providing solid, relevant examples of your demonstrated skills, which can be done using the CAR method, as discussed in a previous video, one of your key objectives during the interview is to develop a genuine, authentic connection with your interviewer/s. They will be evaluating your competence as best they can, but they will also try to get a feeling for how you’ll fit in their team. If you are providing robotic answers your interviewer will not have confidence in your ability to integrate well in their team. If your preparation is sufficient, and you have spent plenty of time practicing interviews and networking, you should reach a point where you’re relatively comfortable with putting your “interview mode” on autopilot and focusing instead on the people communicating directly with you, who are trying to get to know you, and you should try to get to know them in return. Be yourself, be confident, and try to smile! Thank you for your time, and all the best for your interview.
Interview follow-up (Sophie)
Hi, my name is Sophie Tzelepis and I’m a HR Officer in the People and Development team. In this video we will go through how to professionally follow up after an interview.
Make sure during the interview that you ask the interview panel what their timeline is for appointing the role and providing you with feedback. Often they will offer the information, but sometimes you may need to ask. A simple and polite way of asking could be, “Can I please ask what your process is moving forward?” or “Can I please ask what the next stage is of the process?” You may also ask “Do you have a target date in mind for offering the position to the successful candidate and providing feedback?” Usually these types of questions would prompt everything you need to know.
Make sure you take notes of these steps and dates. It can either be done at the end of the interview or as soon as you get home or back to the office, however it is important that you put these dates into your diary.
Also send a polite follow up email thanking the interviewers for their time. Make sure to use their names and spell their names correctly!
If the date for feedback passes and you haven’t heard anything, it is fine to send a polite follow up email. It is important that this email is perceived as “politely checking in”, so consider your tone carefully. Remember that hiring managers are usually busy so be thankful for any of their time that you utilise.
If you still don’t receive a response after a few days, you should contact the Manager Recruitment or HR team, to ask if they can provide an update for you.
Just a reminder that if you do reach the interview stage, that you should review our video on interview preparation, and read through the resources provided.
Thank you for listening, and best of luck!
Be contactable (Louise)
Hi, my name is Louise Ainscough, and I’m a Youth Pathways Counsellor with AMES Australia’s Youth Services team.
A 2017 Recruiter Sentiment Study by the MRI Network found that 42% of responding recruiters identified that candidates failing to respond to calls and emails was a barrier to them identifying qualified talent. With that in mind, it’s very important to set up your voice mail message, set up an email signature, manage your inbox and spam folders, and make sure you stay on top of all your correspondence, or you might miss your big breakthrough. It may even be beneficial to set up a new, professional email address which you only use for job applications – then your casual email and spam can’t bury any important emails related to your job searching.
As well as being readily contactable, you also need to stay active. Applications submitted between 2-4 days after a job is posted have the highest chance of getting an interview. Not only is there a difference, there’s a big difference: you have up to an 8x higher chance of getting an interview during this period, compared to submitting the exact same application outside that timeframe.*
So, stay active, stay contactable, and you’ll give yourself the best chance of breaking through to employment. Good luck!
This update is produced and reviewed by AMES Australia Employment Team.
Producer: Drue Vickery
Content Production: Arthur Chan
If you have any questions or wish to get in touch with AMES Australia to see how we can help you in your career journey, call 13 2637 during business hours.
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