Selling Your Skills at Interview

No matter how well-qualified you are for your health & safety job, your presentation and personality will play a crucial part during an interview. Whatever your confidence levels, you can develop and work on the skills required to make the interview process more bearable.

Please consider the following tips below before your next career move:

Be organised

• Find out who it is you are meeting – health & safety director or HR?
• Ensure you are clear on location of interview and how to get there.
• Bring your contact details, spare CV, pen and notepad.
• Have information ready to impress the interviewer with your research. Are you aware of any health & safety awards this company has won?
• Do your homework – find out about the company, read SHP for any coverage on their health & safety practices and visit their website.
• Absorb the job specification, match it to your CV so you can offer evidence that you meet the criteria for any h&s jobs.

First impressions count

• You're making an impression as soon as you walk through the door.
• Be courteous to all, from the Receptionist to the MD – you never know who might influence the final selection of candidates for the current health & safety jobs.
• Turn up to your interview smart but comfortable. 
• Talk to at all interviewers (if a panel). When introducing yourself, smile and try to remember their names so you can address them throughout the interview.
• If the sun is in your eyes or the chair is wobbly causing you to be distracted, say something.

Your approach

• Imagine you're having a conversation with a friend and relax.
• Remember to listen to the questions. Slowing the pace will help you hear the questions and answer them correctly.
• Before you respond to more difficult questions, consider your response and how you want to express them. This will help you speak more confidently.
• Practice talking slowly beforehand.
• Body language demonstrates how comfortable you are with your subject matter. If you're enthusiastic about what you are saying, smile and let your hands do the talking.
• Be factual and honest about your strengths and weaknesses. Show that you recognise your weaknesses and that you are striving to improve them.
• If you get stuck on a question, do not dwell on it for too long but politely ask if you can come back to it later.

Possible questions for the interviewer

• What are the other people in the health & safety team like and how big is it?
• What would my core responsibilities be?
• What training or induction is given?
• What sort of one-off projects might I be given?
• Will I have to train others in the health & safety team?
• How much interaction would I have with other departments, or with clients/suppliers?
• What plans do you have for expansion and how would this impact on my role?
• Where are the opportunities to progress within the company?  

Towards the end of the interview

• There may be an explanation of how the process will continue. If not, ask.
• Find out when you should hear back but do not be pushy as some recruiters will not want to commit themselves to timescales until they have had time to consider all candidates.
• Make sure the appropriate people know where you can be reached.
• At the end, thank your interviewer for his or her time and shake hands.
• Always say goodbye to each person you talked to.
• Acknowledge the receptionist as you leave.