The Secret to Interviewing With Impact

In this episode of the Work it Like a Mum Podcast, we’re sharing the sixth session from Smash 26, our two-day virtual event designed to help women start the year with confidence, clarity and momentum in their careers.

We’re joined by Adele, Recruitment Manager at Investing in Women, who brings nearly 20 years of recruitment experience. Having worked with both candidates and employers, Adele has seen thousands of interviews from both sides of the table and shares practical insight into what really helps candidates stand out in today’s competitive job market. 

What We Cover:

• Why preparation is one of the biggest differentiators in interviews
• How to research a company properly before you meet them
• Structuring interview answers using clear examples and results
• How to build confidence and manage interview nerves
• The importance of asking good questions in interviews
• Common interview mistakes that can cost candidates the role
• Why building a relationship with recruiters can influence hiring decisions

Key Takeaways:

• Preparation gives you a competitive advantage – most candidates underestimate how much research matters
• You were shortlisted for a reason – employers already see your potential
• Examples matter – clear stories and measurable results help demonstrate your value
• Interviews are conversations – the best interviews feel like discussions, not interrogations
• Follow up professionally – a thoughtful follow-up reinforces interest and professionalism

Why Listen:

The job market is competitive, and interviews are often the moment where strong candidates either stand out or miss the opportunity. This session gives you practical advice from the recruitment side of the table so you can approach interviews with confidence, communicate your value clearly and give yourself the best chance of securing the role. 

Show Notes:

Connect with  Elizabeth Willetts on LinkedIn here

Connect with Adele here

Find out more about our career coaching services here

Boost your career with Investing in Women's Career Coaching! Get expert CV, interview, and LinkedIn guidance tailored for all career stages. Navigate transitions, discover strengths, and reach goals with our personalised approach. Book now for your dream job! Use 'workitlikeamum' for a 10% discount.

Transcript

Welcome And Sponsor Message

SPEAKER_01 0:04

Helping as many women as possible achievement all the strings after kids. Okay, and I'm okay. This must be an magical season of life. I'm a woman with 17 years of experience. This is the Work It Like a Mum podcast. This episode is brought to you by Investing in Women. Investing in Women is a job board and recruitment agency helping you find your dream part-time or flexible job with the UK's most family-friendly and forward-thinking employers. Their site can help you find a professional and rewarding job that works for you. They're proud to partner with the UK's most family-friendly employers across a range of professional industries. Ready to find your perfect job? Search their website at investinginwomen.co.uk to find your next part-time or flexible job opportunity. Now, back to the show. Hello and welcome to the next session of Smash, which is a two-day virtual event brought to you by Investing Women to help you make your job search the best it can be this year. I know that you know a lot of people have been looking for work sometimes for some time. And um we've had loads of brilliant practical sessions with some amazing coaches as well as Adele, our recruitment manager, to help you get confident, more bold, and make it happen this year. Get the job that you want. As people are logging on, let us know if you can hear us all okay. Is this your first session of Smash or is it I'm trying to think what session we're on now? Is this number six for you? How many sessions have you viewed? What has been your biggest takeaway as well so far from all the events that we've held? What have you um what are you gonna take away? What is your next action step if you've attended a few of the sessions? Let us know. Pop it in the comments. Um, this session is all about interviewing. We've got the amazing Adele, who's our recruitment manager, who um who helps all our candidates and that we get interviews, prepare for their interviews so they're more likely to get the job. So she is gonna be coming on today and giving us some tips about how we can interview with impact. Brilliant. I uh um Eileen says the daily wins list was a good tip. Love it. Um, yeah, let's know what has resonated with you the most, what are you gonna take away? Um, Leslie, brutal job market at the moment. I think we all know that. Um, and recruitment, we can definitely feel that it's not been the easiest of job markets either. Brilliant. Adele, over to you, my love.

Why Shortlisting Should Boost Your Confidence

SPEAKER_00 3:41

So yeah, hi everyone. Um, just a little bit about me. Um, so I've been in recruitment for nearly 20 years now. I started working for a Deco and then moved on to a smaller boutique agency. And so over time, I've just built up so much knowledge really with candidates and with clients and seeing both sides of interviews, of how candidates are going into interviews and then getting obviously all the feedback from clients after. Um, I've always loved what I do, love very much speaking to candidates and being able to pass this on. So it might not have been relevant for you at this time, but in your next interview, there are there are feedback that you can work on. And I think it's so important to pass um all of that on. So let me just jump back to the first slide. So are you fine for me to absolutely make a start? Yeah. Um, and obviously, just to say, obviously, I've been working with with Liz now at investing in women for just over three years. So again, as recruitment manager, helping, helping, like you say, all the candidates. Um, so I think going into an interview, the the first thing to remember is look, you've been shortlisted for a reason. They've read your CV, they love what they see, and they feel you're relevant and have got the skills for the role. They wouldn't waste their time on inviting you for an interview at the end of the day. They're busy, they've got things to do. They've had, like you've spoken about in other sessions, there's so many people applying for jobs. So celebrate the fact you've got an interview and you've got that on.

SPEAKER_01 5:17

Because there'll be single digits now, you're competing against it.

Dress Code And First Impressions That Stick

SPEAKER_00 5:20

Exactly, exactly. I mean, you know, for the hundred of applications that we'll get coming in, if we're doing a pre-screen or if we've got clients interviewing, they will usually interview up to six candidates, maybe. Yeah, yeah. So, you know, feel confident and congratulate yourself at that point as well that you've got that far. Like I said, they don't have time to interview everybody or even chat to everybody. And this is your chance now, so it's your golden opportunity, if you like. So to illustrate your enthusiasm and passion, because that's what's important now. Um, obviously, we've said dress smart as well. And this is information for interviews, whether it's online or face-to-face, because we're going back to a mixture now, I think, on interviews. So even with an online interview, treat it as the same as a face-to-face interview. Dress smart. You know, you can never be overdressed for an interview. I've had clients come back to me and say, Oh, you know, they were in a sweatshirt or you know, they had jeans on and they were, you know, nice jeans, but they had jeans on. And it's always a bit of a negative. Whereas I've never had anybody say, Oh my god, I had somebody turn up in a suit, they look really smart. I wouldn't hire them. You just don't know.

SPEAKER_01 6:33

No, no, you're right. I left someone that was turned down um or corporate because they didn't wear a tie. I mean, obviously it's a male thing, but you know, it's a show. You can never not, you can never be too smart, can you?

Preparation Gaps And How To Close Them

SPEAKER_00 6:47

No, you know, you're not going to get offered the role on that, you know. And and at the end of the day, like I said, you know, even if you're doing it online, it gives you a power as well. Wear the whole suit to the online interview. It doesn't matter that they can't see you're not in your heels or you know, whatever, it'll make you feel more confident as well.

SPEAKER_01 7:08

Yeah.

Researching The Company And Interviewers

SPEAKER_00 7:09

So the next slide. So preparation, obviously, a bit of stats here. 80% of candidates don't prepare enough for interviews. It's crazy, but it's true. Yeah. So that if you're doing all that preparation, you are sending yourself right up here immediately. All of that will make the effort. Um, you know, candidates who don't apply. I've had so many clients feedback to me, one particular who had um a very specific role they were uh um recruiting for, they invited for for interview. They said, Oh, you know, number one, really, we don't need to see anybody else because I know they've done the job, they're doing the job, they've used all the systems we use. It's identical. So, you know, they're pretty much we're gonna hire them. But you know, you've still got to see other people. So they saw the other people, but that person didn't prepare too much. The person who was last on their list went above and beyond, did all the preparation, and they were offered the role because again, going for the interview, you're all pretty much level pegging in the way that you've got the experience for the role, but it's at interview what's going to make you stand out, and your knowledge is gonna make you stand out, and it's also gonna make you feel more confident because you've done all that work beforehand, you know, the night before an interview, oh, it sounds crazy. But do a rehearsal, get a family friend, your partner, and just ask them, get them to ask you interview questions because you'll sound, you know, you'll sound embarrassed answering in front of them, but saying the words out loud, it helps, it helps you think about everything in your in your mind as well. And obviously, for the interview itself, if you're going there, make sure you know where it is. Do a run beforehand, so you know there's not unexpected traffic lights that you weren't aware of or lots of traffic, and always get there slightly early as well.

SPEAKER_01 9:14

Yeah, yeah, yeah. We do it, don't we? Do interviews for our clients and the amount of times we say so. Why do you want to wait for them? And they'll be like, um, I haven't done any.

SPEAKER_00 9:22

They look a great company.

SPEAKER_01 9:23

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 9:24

Sometimes they'll be like, I haven't really done any research, and you're like, Oh, when people say that out loud, I don't, I don't understand why you'd say that. You know, you in a in a way, it's like a first date, a blind date going for an interview, you know.

SPEAKER_01 9:36

Yeah.

Two-Way Street: You Assess Them Too

Using STAR And Metrics In Answers

SPEAKER_00 9:37

Why are you on a blind date? Oh, I don't know. Yeah, you just don't do that. But preparations, everything research in the company, yeah. You know, any blank can see, you know, okay, it's a property company. Yeah, oh, I know you're a property company. Well, you know, your two-year-old could probably tell you that if you looked at a picture of a house and they said, Oh, yeah, you're property. Yeah, you need to go into the depths of it. So go on the website. What's their mission? Does you know what are their values? What are your values? How do they align the two values together? Go go, uh, you know, obviously, Google anything in the news, their achievements. Have they won any awards recently? Have any of their members of staff won some awards? You know, look at the LinkedIn profiles as well. So obviously, you'll know who's going to be interviewing you. So you want to go on their profile, have a look, how long have they been there, just get an understanding, but also actually seeing their picture as well beforehand, mentally, in your mind, you'll already feel like you've met them. So when you go to meet them at an interview, again, if you're sat in the reception area, you're waiting for someone to come through, door opens, you're like, oh, this is them, no, it's not. Next door, oh, this is them, no, it's not. And whether you believe it or not, you you're getting yourself more anxious because you don't know who you're meeting. You've seen the picture of them, you know that's not come them coming through the door, but when they do, your mind will think, okay, yeah, I recognise you, I know you already, even though you don't. So again, it's just things to help you relax more, meeting them. Um, also, it's it's so important. On the other foot, the whole thing about interviews is it's a two-way street. And if you imagine, if you were sat there and they said, Oh, hi there, um, uh, uh, it's Liz, isn't it? Yeah, Liz, sorry, Liz. You'd be a bit like, okay, you know, why can't you remember me immediately? Um, you know, or or if they say, you know, right, I know you're going, you're here for a project manager role. I know you've done a bit of project management. I've not read deeply into it. So, you know, tell me. And you'd think, why have you not read my CV? Again, you're thinking, how interested are you in that? So the same way that you research them, they'll be researching you. It's a two-way street. You need to flatter them in a way, the same way that they need to say, Liz, read through your CV, you've got some brilliant skills of companies you've worked for, it's really relevant to what we're looking for. How does that make you feel? Yeah, you you know, you're sitting up straight, you're thinking, okay, that's nice. The same way, how do we know about you? What do we know about you? You've looked on the LinkedIn profile, you're automatically, you're really stating your interest there. You're not just rolling out of bed, rocking up for an interview. You're there, you've done your work beforehand. Um, your CV, I know you did yesterday, you you know, the CV, um, making your CV relevant is so, so important. And it has to be relevant to the job you're applying for. So know your CV inside out. Make sure you know what's on there that's relevant, and by reading the job spec carefully, you'll know what they're looking for. The job spec, in a way, it's a bit of a cheat sheet. Because if you're saying and talking about, oh, they're looking for this, this, and this, I'm gonna talk about this, this, and this. You're relevant. It's not about talking stuff on your CV that they're not looking for because you're wasting interview time. And you want to match your skills to the ones that they're looking for. I always say taking a notebook, um, you know, beforehand, you can bullet point. I mean, what you don't want to do is take in a notebook and be writing paragraphs and paragraphs and pages, because it just looks disorganized. But what I always do is bullet point. So I will bullet point a couple of my key strengths, bullet point a couple of examples, and maybe bullet point a couple of big achievements that I've done, but also that the company have done as well. Because an interview is not a memory test, you know, they're not expecting you to remember absolutely everything because you're in an interview, you know, it's it is going to be slightly stressful and nervous for a lot of people. So just looking at your notes every so often, not reading, but glancing down. And what that does is the person on the other side of the table can see that you've done this, that you've done your research, that you've made notes, that you've fully prepared, which again makes them think, okay, they've not just rolled out of bed, they do seem interested in this position. Um, a client's never, like I said, never turned around and said, Oh my gosh, the candidate had a notebook. You know, I wouldn't want to interview them because of that. They'll always think, Yeah, I've done your research, and it's and it's backing all of that up. And make notes as well. They'll be making notes on you. Make notes. There could be something that you want to ask further down the line of the interview. Um, you know, so again, don't be don't be scared to write down notes and note things down. Um first impressions count, so yeah, the first five minutes are everything, aren't they? And I think an interview is definitely about your mindset. The word interview in itself makes you a bit nervous. But at the end of the day, it's a meeting. It's a meeting of two parties, isn't it?

SPEAKER_01 15:06

It's a conversation, isn't it?

SPEAKER_00 15:07

Yeah, exactly. I mean, they're interviewing you to see if you're right for them, but you're actually interviewing them as well to see if they're right for you, because you may have been in a role a couple of years looking for something new, but what you don't want to do is jump into something that's not right. So you are there to question them, to understand, to read their body language, to get a feeling of the atmosphere. You know, even when you're waiting beforehand in the reception area, you know, and you might see the receptionist talking on the phone, or the colleagues in and out, you're building an impression there yourself. You know, that reception, those, you know, those uh colleagues that are coming in and out, that's your first impression on the business. The same way that, you know, that first initial meeting. So make good eye contact. Um, obviously, positive energy, be engaged, be present, but most important, relax. Like we said, you know, look at the end of the day, you want to be yourself. You don't want to go in there and be somebody that you're not. You want to be relaxed about it. Um, and and remember it's a two-way street, you know. This is as much for you as it is for them. I and I always tell candidates, don't you, as well? You know, you've got to be relaxed, you've got to look at it. You know, you have meetings every day at work. Why is this any different? You know, exactly the same.

SPEAKER_01 16:32

You feel more confident if you've done some of that work. So we did a session yesterday with Leanne about building confidence, and she had loads of tips in that. So if you've um not watched that, then um make sure you check that out. And that was really simple tips on how to build confidence, and actually, that is all gonna feed in to uh performing well at interview. If you spend a lot of time as well on your CV and you feel really confident in what you've done before, again, that's gonna build into that confidence. And then when you go for interview, it's conversation and the conversation. I always think those interviews go better when you actually feel like you're more on an even level with the um interviewer and you view it a bit more as like a consultant type thing, and it's like this is what I would be able to do for you in this role. And I think those interviews always do really well as well.

Show Commitment And Long-Term Fit

SPEAKER_00 18:10

Definitely, and that and that's the feedback we get all the time from candidates, you know. Oh, it just felt like a chat, you know. And that's how it should be. You know, at the end of the day, it is it's a chat between two people, isn't it? You know, finding that you've got that connection with that person as well. Yeah, but it's just it is relaxing. Yeah, it is like you say, thinking of all those things beforehand that will make you think, okay, relax. You've got your notes, you're fully prepared, you're feeling great, you know. Start method. I know you brushed on this yesterday and the C B as well. Um, yeah, I mean, obviously, you all your answers you need to be backing up with examples. I think previous to this session, you were talking about figures, you know, have figures there. You know, if you're asked a question, you know, you want to be able to back things up. If especially if you're in a sales position, you're going for a, I don't know, a sales or account manager role, something like that. You want to have some figures. You want to situation, talk about the task, what the action was, and what the result is. They want to know if you're going into a sales role, how much revenue you brought in. So you need those figures there. You know, I always, you know, helping a candidate, I was helping a recruiter who was who was looking for another role. They were talking about what, you know, how can they back things up and what examples and can they use. And we we talked through the different things that they did in their role, you know, what made the impact and and and what made such a difference to both the candidates that they were recruiting for, but also the clients. So they were keeping that business there. And that's what you want to do. You want to think about situations where you've gone off, you've looked at a situation and thought, right, that's not working. How can we amend this? And and then obviously what the end result is. Um, so the next questions tell me about yourself, you know, questions that they're going to be asking you. Um always prepare a brief overview beforehand. Um, and again, be ready to talk about different examples. I mean, you know how important examples are, Liz, don't you? I mean, you know, we're pre-screening our candidates, we're looking for examples, you know. How do you sort of, you know, are you looking for that star method? You know, you're wanting a couple of examples. And I also think sometimes your examples can can answer different questions, can't they?

SPEAKER_01 20:46

Oh, the your tell me about yourself, that's your elevator pitch, isn't it? That's probably like the two-minute elevator pitch on who you are and why you're relevant. And I guess it's all about that relevance to the role as well.

Smart Questions To Ask Employers

SPEAKER_00 20:57

It's why you're selling yourself, like you said before. It's like why you're selling yourself for this role, why this role, why this company. The employer, they want to hear why you're there today for them. They want to know that you want to work for them, you want their job, yeah, not a job. Yeah, and that's so much that's so much feedback we get from clients is yeah, you know, okay, they they've got the skills for the role, you know, they they're enthusiastic, but they're not giving the impression that this is the role for them, that they're looking for a job at the moment. This could be the one, but there could be another one. They just want a job at the moment.

SPEAKER_01 21:37

Yeah, and we and we spoke about it with Laurie in the previous session. Employers are quite nervous at the moment, they want a safe, they want a safe pair of hands, really. They want to feel safe and secure when hiring somebody that that person is going to be there pretty long term.

SPEAKER_00 21:51

And again, it's like we've talked about that two-way street. You know, you want to know that they're hiring you with the intention of hiring you long term, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 22:01

Or if it's a contract that you're going to stay to the end of the contract.

SPEAKER_00 22:04

Yeah, you don't want them thinking, oh, yeah, okay, this role might just be six months. It's a we'll say it's permanent, but it might just be for six to twelve months. Yeah, you want honesty from them, and that's what they want from you. So again, you need to state your interest in this this particular role.

SPEAKER_01 22:18

Yeah, it's that commitment, isn't it?

Common Pitfalls And How To Avoid Them

SPEAKER_00 22:21

Yeah. Um, you know, talk about your career goals, um, you know, and and why this role fits your career goals. So again, you know, tailoring it um to that. And then, you know, questions to ask them. You may have, like we said before, you know, if you've jotted down some um as you've been going through the interview, you you'll also hopefully you'll have prepared some questions and you only need one or two, you don't have to have a load of questions. And A lot of candidates always say to, oh, but what if they answer them? You know, when they're telling me about the company beforehand and about the role, and they've answered all the questions. And that's fine, you know, if you can't think of anything or you've not got anything else there, you know, they've they've covered everything, but a couple of good roles, uh questions, sorry, is you know, why's this role come up? What could the key challenges be? Um, what does success look like? What can I expect to be involved in? You know, where do they see this position progressing to? If that's what again, it's reading what they've talked about at the start, where they've told you a bit more about the role and the company, um, and just treating it as a chat, you know, discussing, discussing everything with them.

SPEAKER_01 23:36

I think as well, at like second stage interview, when you've got that understanding what success looks like at second stage, you can present what your plan is, and this will help you stand out in the first, you know, one month enroll, 90 days enroll, six months enroll, and how that feeds in to that employer's version of success as well.

SPEAKER_00 23:55

Yeah, no, definitely. Um, and I think important, like we're we're gonna cover now the pitfalls as well to avoid just so easy, and so many, so many times over the years I've recruited, I've heard from clients where a candidate was great, and then at the last couple of minutes, it just a couple of things have gone wrong, and this is what's so important now. You know, bad-mouthing employers. We've all left roles, and main one of the reasons, or probably one of the main reasons people leave roles is because there's there's something that's not being offered there. So whether it's you know, you've been offered progression and you've not been given it, or you know, the the workload's just too much and not what you expected it to be anymore. So all sorts of leaving roles because you're unhappy with a part of it, but what you don't want to do is bad mouth, obviously, a client, and an employer or an ex-employer ever. Um, because if you're doing that about them, the chances are you could do that about them in the future. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 24:58

Um ring alarm bells, wouldn't it?

Be Concise, Own Your Impact With “I”

SPEAKER_00 25:01

Yeah, it's not good. You want to turn everything into a positive, you know. Yeah, I'm looking to leave, you know. Obviously, yeah, I want to progress into the next step up, and unfortunately, you know, there is no opportunities where I currently am. I've spoken to managers, you know, it's it's it's a just drawing out the positive, trying to find that and not speaking badly about anybody. Um, lack of enthusiasm is also a really big one. Again, because of nerves, which is fine, it's it's natural to be nervous, but again, you've got to be smiling through your interview. Sometimes you can be that worried about trying to remember everything, trying to impress, that you just forget to smile, relax, let your shoulders fall down a little bit, and again, just remembering it's a two-way meeting. Yeah. Um talking about your weaknesses as well, you know, turning those into a positive spin if you can. Um, you know, one, yeah, everybody always says it's so difficult to talk about weaknesses, but you know, have a think about where you've maybe in your role not been that great, or you don't feel as confident in an area in your role and what you've done to overcome that, what have you put into place to overcome that? You know, it could be something like, you know, when you're in a group discussion, for example, in a big meeting and you've got some ideas, but you're a bit nervous about saying anything, and then the meeting's over and you've not had that opportunity to say those things. Um, you know, what you can do there is say, you know, that's what usually happens, but now going into meetings, I make notes beforehand, I prepare a lot more so that I'm going in ready and knowing that I'm going to put my ideas forward. So it's just putting a bit of a spin on it that'll help. I don't know if you've come across many other sorts of things where people have.

SPEAKER_01 26:59

I think it's like the research, the the not being prepared, yeah, the big one, and also not being very concise. I remember this was a lot of feedback we used to get um when I was working from for Deloitte with the hiring managers that their answers were not concise or they didn't answer the question. Yeah. So they had, in a way, maybe over prepared and prepared for questions that they thought they were going to be asked. And actually, the questions that they were asked, unfortunately, were maybe not the questions that they'd prepared for. So they were answering the questions they'd prepared for, but those weren't the questions that they'd been asked.

SPEAKER_00 27:38

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 27:38

So they weren't listening, and that was a big red flag. So make sure that you are listening to the question as well. You take a breath, you listen to the question, you answer it, you answer it quite concisely as well. So you don't want to over-ramble because you'll lose their interest. And make sure you know your story has a start, beginning, and end using that star technique, always has the result. And another thing we used to get was the we did this, we did that.

unknown 28:07

Yeah.

Confidence Builders And Follow-Up Etiquette

SPEAKER_01 28:08

And it really weakens your answer because it just shows that you're not, it looks like you're not very confident that you're not stepping up and taking ownership for something you did. And also, we're not interviewing a team, we're interviewing you. And we want to know what you did, not what a team did, where we don't quite know what your role was within that team, it's actually what impact did you make. So avoid the we. It has to be the I did this, I did that.

Recruiters’ Influence And Prescreen Power

SPEAKER_00 28:34

And I think it's difficult. You can always think, oh, you know, I think they're going to ask these questions, and you know, what if they ask this question? And preparing for certain questions makes sense. But like you say, if it throws you off, if you've prepared a couple of really good examples, really good strong examples that back up what you're saying, bullet point those down, and then really any kind of question that you're asked, you can use one of those to back it up. Um, and then you know, you're not going to be thrown off when they ask a question and you think, Oh, how do I answer that? Or you've not prepared for that one, so it gets you gets you a bit stuck. Um and then your confidence builders, uh, I think you know, know your key strengths, bullet point those down, back those up to have those three things that you think, right? These are the things that are gonna sell me into this role. They are relevant to this role, and then back them up. Why is it your strength and why is this relevant for your role? And where have you done this in your previous role and what what did you achieve from inputting that into your current role? Because that's what they're gonna achieve if they hire you. Use clear examples, you know. Again, I do believe you can have a handful of really good examples, and you can use those and show a genuine interest in the role. You know, you've covered a couple of times now in the sessions about following up after an interview, always follow up after an interview. What you don't want to be doing is hounding because there's a difference, there's a polite follow-up after an interview, and then there's hounding. What you don't want to do is that um, you know, state your interest as you're leaving the interview and let them know. You might find it strange that you know, uh once you've left, you're thinking, right, I'm really, really keen. I'm waiting to hear feedback. Well, they may be thinking, Oh, she was brilliant. I wonder what they all think of us. I wonder how they think the interview went. Your feedback matters as well. So when you're leaving the interview, thank them for the time. Let them know, you know, I'm really interested, really enjoyed meeting you today. You know, sounds like a fantastic role. I'm really looking forward to hearing back from you. And then, you know, 24 hours later, follow it up with an email. Yeah, because then you're stating your interest. And like we said, the interview itself, you've got that interview. Now you need to stand out. Yeah, the preparation's gonna make you stand out, backing up all your exam, uh, the questions with your examples that are relevant for this role, and also making sure they know you want this job.

SPEAKER_01 32:35

Yeah, you're feeling that has to be quite positive, doesn't it? It really matters at the end.

SPEAKER_00 32:40

The amount of candidates that, especially for us, you know, over the years that don't I always say, you know, after your interview, give me a call, let me know how it's gone.

SPEAKER_01 32:49

Yeah, and then we don't hear from them for 24 hours, or and you're like, Well, did they like the job?

SPEAKER_00 32:54

Well, does that mean you're not interested?

SPEAKER_01 32:56

And then we speak to the hiring manager, and we're like, we haven't heard back from this.

SPEAKER_00 32:59

Well, there's nothing worse than that, is there?

SPEAKER_01 33:01

Because then you're like, that rings a lot of alarm. Exactly. This person we've spoken to, they're really positive about the role. So, therefore, my advice would be as a recruiter, I remember how we said we, you know, we're getting paid by the employers. You know, it's in our interest to make sure that the person we're placing in these jobs are gonna like it and stay. So therefore, we're now thinking, right, well, this person seems the most keen.

SPEAKER_00 33:25

And that's still a way, you know, you're carrying on the interview stage there. You know, that's another sort of hurdle, if you like, of everybody else has wrung and given their feedback, but you haven't, unfortunately. You know, you could still be the best person for the role, but everybody else has made you look not that interesting. Yeah, and you didn't mean to, but yeah. So again, you know, definitely follow up after with the recruiter, I think, as well.

SPEAKER_01 33:56

I think I wonder if that's something as well. You see, candidates think they don't need to follow up with the recruiter, but as a recruiter, we might have everybody at that interview, and we're then speaking to the hiring manager to give them our view as well who to hire. And so we need to have confidence that the person then at that point we're pitching and helping them.

Getting Feedback Without A Recruiter

SPEAKER_00 34:15

Um, the recruit, if you think the employer's gone to the recruiter in the first place, yeah. So they've gone to them because they've got a relationship there and they trust them, you know. A lot of candidates would then think, okay, well, it's just a recruiter, you know.

SPEAKER_01 34:28

It's just a recruiter, I don't need to.

SPEAKER_00 34:30

Yeah, I don't need to, but actually, that recruiter is constantly is very influential with massively, massively, you know, and they'll always be honest. And it's not just from a for me, it's absolutely not because I just want to get my fee. It's because I want to build a relationship with that employer and work with them for years, yeah. That they can ring me and say, Adele, we've got this per we've got this job, and I can go, yep, I can fill that for you because I know who you're looking for.

SPEAKER_01 35:02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 35:03

And if that's those alarm bells are ringing, I'm not going to put my career on the line. No. I've got my reputation of working in recruitment for 20 years, and I'm not going to let it down, even if you're the best candidate. I'll let them know how I feel you're letting me down. Yeah. And also, you know, we we speak to clients. We know we've had um clients ring up and ask, say, we want this, this, and these, these four candidates to come for an interview, first stage, or you know, they've had a first stage, we want to ask them for second stage interview. And again, we can be influential there. We can say, and we have done, you know, I've done many a time, said, I know you've not asked this candidate back for a second, but you know what? The way they've behaved, the way they've prepared, the way they've spoken to me, the questions that they've asked, they've always called, they've always answered the phone, they've been there when we've had meetings. They've stood out. And it's not just about the skills, it's about your work ethic, your values, your commitments, your morals.

SPEAKER_01 36:07

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 36:07

These are so important, just as important as your physical skills.

SPEAKER_01 36:12

Yeah. Someone asked about how important the pre-screen is with the um with the recruiter, how much they push and repair. Massive, because we are the ones that are basically then shortlisting from you know a big list, and we're the ones that are then getting on the phone and saying, This person really stood out for me at this. And we've had people, like you said, that haven't been selected, but because they've stood out for us so much at the pre-screen, we've said, no, you need to interview this person, and then that person has got the job.

Notes, Pausing, And Post-Interview Emails

SPEAKER_00 36:46

Yeah, brilliant. The thing is, is again, a lot of candidates say, Oh, I don't want to go through a recruiter, you're just making a big fee. That's all you want from me. In a way, that that's that always feels like a bit of an insult because I think, well, no, I care. And also, you need to remember that the employer, the client, have gone to an agency, so they obviously respect that agency. And they're that they're an extension of that company. They could have recruited for them for years, they do all their recruitments, you know. So you want to be building a relationship with the person, whoever that may be, who's doing the pre-screen. It's so important.

SPEAKER_01 37:24

Yeah, yeah, absolutely.

SPEAKER_00 37:26

So have we got any other questions?

SPEAKER_01 37:28

I think we have, yeah. We'll go, um, we'll go through. I think we've um we have um how do you get feedback on an interview from a company if you haven't applied applied through a recruiter? I often feel like I'm being brushed off with an excuse.

SPEAKER_00 37:44

So that's where I think LinkedIn's for me personally. I think LinkedIn helps very much because I think if you're going for an interview, if it's not through a recruiter, if it's direct, you would be connecting with that person on LinkedIn before your interview because you would be going on their page, having a look about them. So hopefully they will have mess, uh they will have um connected with you. Um, and sending them if you haven't got their email from that, um, either ringing through to reception and asking if you can have an email address for them. If not, is there an email address that can be given to you? Because obviously not everybody wants their email address given out that you can send this to and they could forward it on to you. You can even um send a message through LinkedIn as well. So somehow there's a way for you to try and get through somehow if it's not through a recruiter.

SPEAKER_01 38:36

Yeah. I remember often at Deloitte, we this is the in-house recruitment team, we just wouldn't get the feedback from the hiring managers which that had done the interviews, which was frustrating. And we were chasing as much as the person they'd interviewed. Um we got interview feedback, it was could be quite brief and not very helpful. Um, and I know that that is frustrating for candidates. There is also only so much as well that often interviewers can say, um, yeah, the way employment law, everything like that. We were always taught never to email feedback. It always had to be a phone call in case you didn't want anything to come back to bite you as well.

SPEAKER_00 39:17

So I think it depends on the company, on the company's size as well. So if it is a big, big organization, it is it's gonna be a lot more tricky for you to do a follow-up to get in touch with somebody for feedback, maybe, and to maybe get helpful feedback as well. Yeah, I think if it's a smaller organization, that you then it is gonna be easier um and they're gonna be more accessible as well and open to that.

SPEAKER_01 39:42

Yeah. Um, okay, so yeah, hopefully you'll get feedback. Obviously, we can't always promise, but I always think the decent thing is to get, you know, as a recruiter, I always think CVs when people are when you're receiving thousands of CVs, you can't give feedback on that. But if you've interviewed, you know, a handful of people, then you know, you should give feedback on that.

SPEAKER_00 40:02

Yeah, definitely.

SPEAKER_01 40:03

Um, is it appropriate to take notes? Oh, yeah, I think we've answered that. Um, do you think emailing pre-questions to an employer is appropriate? What do you mean pre-questions that you would ask or asking what questions they are going to ask Sarah? Um she's asked, do you think emailing pre-questions to an employer is appropriate? Is that questions you think they're going to ask you or questions that you want to ask them? Maybe just to clarify that. Um I think we've covered about the notes. Yeah, eye contact. Um yeah, someone's asked, is it okay to pause or say, let me think of an example to give yourself time to think before you give them an answer?

Closing, Next Sessions, And Connections

SPEAKER_00 40:47

Yeah, I think obviously don't pause for too long. I think you know, if it's gonna be a long pause, but again, if you've prepared and you've got a couple of examples bullet pointed down, what you can do is just glance down at your notes and just take that time to think. You know, there's nothing wrong to say, oh, um, yeah, one second. Yeah, but it should be flowing. And if you've done all that preparation beforehand, you should have some things that you can talk about. So again, just glancing down, having those having examples of your achievements listed, a quick glance, they should all be there for you. So I think that's really about your preparation.

SPEAKER_01 41:35

Yeah. Should we include any additional information in our follow-up email? So if we didn't think of a good example, we have a chance to mention it.

SPEAKER_00 41:44

How do they sorry, say that?

SPEAKER_01 41:46

Well, I think uh, you know, they've asked if they in their follow-up email that's saying thank you, if they think of an example that's relevant to the job that they forgot to mention interview, should they include it?

SPEAKER_00 41:56

I I think just keep it simple, if I'm honest. Um, I think it's better to just state your interest in the role. I think at the end of the interview, um, you always have that opportunity, I suppose, don't you? And it's sort of if you're then saying it 24 hours later, there could be more things that you want to say. So you could be opening up there something.

SPEAKER_01 42:18

Yeah, baby. So if it's like an amazing one thing that you forgot, but no.

SPEAKER_00 42:22

Yeah, but then you should be, yeah, yeah. I mean, one thing, but what I wouldn't do is say go into war and peace.

SPEAKER_01 42:29

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 42:30

Because I think with your follow-up, what you want to do is is keep it quite light. Yeah.

unknown 42:36

Yeah.

Outro And Calls To Action

SPEAKER_01 42:37

Brilliant. I don't think we've got any more questions. We haven't had um the follow-up question from Sarah. Um so I think everything's been covered. Um but yeah, so thank you so much for joining us today, Adele. I know you did yesterday as well. Um, really appreciate um your time today. We've got our next session, we've got a panel discussion hosted by Gifty Enright, who's a women's leadership and wellness coach. And she is going to be interviewing um some brilliant women um that have built careers at work for them and the secret to doing it all, um, to having it all without doing it all, not doing it all, having it all without doing it all. I know that Gifty is a real advocate for that. So there's going to be some good tips about how we can have it all without doing it all, because I think that's a trap so many of us fall into. But um, thank you so much to everybody that has watched, whether this was your first session or sixth session. Thank you so much to everyone that has got involved, and thank you so much, Adele, for um coming on and helping um me with investing women because I won't be able to do it without you and oh no more. No, and I know a lot of people here do um speak to Adele quite regularly.

SPEAKER_00 43:46

And she I was gonna say if anybody is struggling or has any other questions, just connect with me on LinkedIn and send me a message. More than happy to have a quick chat with you.

SPEAKER_01 43:56

It's always worth connecting with Adele because Adele connect um manages all our candidates, and so she um we've got like she'll help, you know, then she'll know who you are, what you do, and then as soon as we get a relevant role, she'll be in touch. So it's always, always worth connecting with Adele. Yeah, on LinkedIn. Yeah, so just drop her a message, say that you send her the session, what you're looking for, and then she can let you know if we get anything. All right, brilliant, yeah. Lovely. Thank you so much. Thank you so much to everyone that's watched.

SPEAKER_00 44:24

Yeah, thank you very much, everyone.

SPEAKER_01 44:26

Bye. Bye bye, bye-bye. Thank you for listening to another episode of the Work It Like a Mum podcast. If you enjoyed this episode, please rate, review, and subscribe. And don't forget to share the link with a friend. If you're on LinkedIn, please send me a connection request at Elizabeth Willis and let me know your thoughts on this week's episode. You can also follow my recruitment site, Investing in Women, on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram. Until next time, keep on chasing your biggest dreams.