Winning that Interview

Taking the next step in your professional architectural or manufacturing career and landing that dream job can be challenging , why? How do you stand out in such a competitive environment and what can you do to advance your chances of winning that interview.

Ana Ferreira, Recruitment Manager with more than 10 years’ recruitment and training experience across architecture, engineering and construction is very familiar with the common behaviours candidates adopt in resume preparation and interview prepping. Ana offers some insights and tips that could help make the difference between receiving an offer and someone offering to keep your resume on file “if something comes up”.

Invest in yourself. “Successful job seekers prepare and invest in themselves, this simply means understanding and defining exactly what you want from your next role, other than money” says Ana. With an increased number of job seekers prying on the same job it pays to prepare your resume with your chosen career path in mind. Do your own industry research, are there growing trends?  There is growing demand with a niche trend developing in robotics and a growing demand for those with the practical skills is increasing. Seek to understand what technical or soft skills are necessary, is it time to update your skills? As an advantage evaluate your skills set every 5 years so that you are always prepared for industry change and be an asset for a company. It takes time to understand what your career goals are both short and long term. To start ask yourself, what did I like in my previous role? What is it I am hoping to achieve in my next role?

Invest in the position. Once your career goals are established be selective with the roles you choose and focus on them. Too many job seekers still believe it is a numbers game and think an interview opportunity will appear if the same resume is sent to every company within a selected location. Numbers game is detrimental and Ana offers a word of caution, “the industry isn’t as big as you think so there is potential for your resume to spread to all the recruitment agencies for the wrong reasons”.   It is important to focus on the selected roles and take the time to ensure your resume shows the potential employer that you have exactly what it takes to be successful in the position you are applying for. “A common habit of job seekers is to simply list skills and their work history without trying to engage the person reading” says Ana. The number one purpose of a resume is to get an interview so aim to create a resume that the employer won’t overlook or discard.  Ask yourself, would I keep this?

Invest in the interview. There is an old saying that opportunities belong to those who are prepared. “First impressions matter and are important so take the time to invest in yourself, the company and the interview”. Knowing how to dress for the role, have the ability to pitch your achievements and career goals and drive conversation around industry knowledge at interviews could be crucial in landing yourself that dream role. So take some time to hone your introduction, and then tweak it depending upon the audience. Don’t forget to also evaluate your weaknesses, this is common topic during interviews and is what many job seekers ignore so prepare for it.

The unknown advantage. There can be many advantages from engaging an industry trained consultant when trying to take the next step in your professional architectural or manufacturing career. There are a few selected industry based recruitment agencies that are at the forefront of industry news, trends and skill demands that are gathered directly from working closely with their customer database and affiliate organisations. A lot of job seekers don’t consider recruitment agencies directly when seeking new job opportunities however you may discover this could be a hidden advantage as in most cases it is free to join. Recruitment agencies are tasked to deliver a level of service to various sized and elite industry clientele that don’t advertise on regular job sites, so having this type of exposure may be an advantage. There are also a limited number that operate in conjunction with a training academy to ensure that candidates are site-ready and have the appropriate training and qualifications. These specialised agencies have the capacity to deliver a course that may give you the competitive edge to answer when opportunity knocks on the door.