Hi Vead,
Mike, highlights a very important aspect of interviews- they are not all the same and the interviewers are not the same.
At the company that I worked at it was very much down to chance who did your interview and how well you would do. An interviewer may for example reject you because you wore brightly colored socks. In one instance a candidate was rejected because he said that the Q as in Q factor of an inductor stood for 'Quality'. The point is that Q does stand for Quality.
So the message is to be as conventional and normal as possible in your dress, attitude and what you say. That way you stand less chance of triggering one of the interviewer's pet hates. But, at the same time, you need to make an impact so that you stand out from the crowd- there may be many other people applying for the same position. But, whatever you do, never say anything controversial and never argue with the interviewer. As Mike says, they may be testing you anyway.
Another thing is to listen to what the interviewer says. People who listen are often judged to be intelligent. Everyone has a pet subject, it may be railway trains, mountaineering, or stamp collecting. If you can get the interviewer talking about his pet subject it is a good move.
Never, never be late for an interview. Arrive in plenty of time. If you are going to be late due to some unavoidable circumstance contact the company immediately and let them know. That way the interviewer will not be kept hanging around. Bear in mind that interviewers have a proper job too.
On the actual job function, the overriding factor is, 'What use would I be to this company?. You would be advised before the interview to thoroughly investigate what the company is and learn about the particular division you hope to work at.
The other thing is to answer questions directly and fully.
And the universal question, 'Why do you want to work for this company?'
The bad answers:
Because I want to make a lot of money
Because I want your job
Because with my skills I think that I could improve this company
The good answer:
xxx company is involved in commercial electronics, including the xxx equipment and I feel that I would like to work in this area. Although I am a student I am keen to learn and I would hope to make a valuable contribution to the company. I like the idea of working for a big company because of the wider scope, both in people and facilities. I would also be interested in working at your overseas divisions if required.
Perhaps not the best wording, but I hope it conveys the idea.
Oh, and by the way- your CV plays an important role in your interview- it will be all the interviewer has on you. So make sure you know what your CV says.
For example, if your CV says one of your hobbies is bee keeping you had better make sure you actually know about bee keeping because you may be asked.
Like Mike says, interviews are like first dates: awkward, but fun, with the potential to lead on to bigger things.
spec