Bi-monthly, the Financial Services Skills Council ask employers, professional bodies and trade organisations to respond to a question which has been asked by careers practitioners.

If you are interested in the finance sector..these hints and tips from the likes of HSBC, ACCA, and Citi may well be worth a read!

There really is one mistake that candidates make: insufficient preparation. These can be broken down into: 1. Lack of preparation; Interviewers want to know how well you are going to fit in to an organisation. Applicants need to think of examples which demonstrate this. 2. Prepare examples which are in 3 parts – describe the situation you were dealing with, what you did and what the results were (try to quantify results in terms of task, team and individual). 3. Candidates should think of examples where what you did didn’t go so well; the key thing is what you learnt from the process. John Morewood, Senior Graduate Recruitment & Development Manager, HSBC BANK PLC, www.jobs.hsbc.co.uk/14-en/HSBC.aspx

Applying for jobs is hard work, so once you get that first interview it’s really important that you make the most of the opportunity to show how capable you are in person. Unfortunately, some candidates let themselves down at interview. There are many reasons why this happens, but the top three mistakes made in interviews – and how to avoid them – are: 1. Failure to Prepare – you must undertake some research before the interview and show an awareness of the organisation, the business sector and current issues, and the role you are applying for. 2. Poor Communication – you need to answer questions concisely and succinctly, prepare for the difficult questions and respond to them in a positive way, and ask your own questions to find out more. 3. Lack of Personal Branding – you should be smartly dressed, use appropriate body language, and ensure that everything you say and do is individual to you, authentic and consistent. Once you build up experience and confidence in these areas, the standard of your interviews will improve and so will your chances of getting that job. Laura Murphy, Head of Student Business Relationships, ACCA UK – www.uk.accaglobal.com

The three key mistakes which candidates make in an interview situation are: 1. Insufficient preparation – not researching the organisation in any depth. Company websites make doing this research easy. 2. Not being sufficiently business focused – in dress and in approach to the interview conversations – there’s a need to show enthusiasm, engagement and drive. 3. Having no questions when it comes to “do you have any questions” time or having ones which are only focused on career advancement possibilities for themselves or the social side of work. Gillian King, Director of Education & Trustee Development, The Pensions Management Institute – www.pensions-pmi.org.uk

The three key mistakes which candidates make in an interview situation are: 1. Lack of knowledge of the organisation as a whole and in particular the role; little if any research undertaken which would assist preparation for the interview 2. Inability to provide specific answers to competency based questions. Prior to the interview, thought requires to be given to their existing skills /experience and occasions when they have displayed the behaviours required for the position 3. Arriving with incomplete application form/documentation – for successful individual this can delay the recruitment process. Tricia Crooks, Resourcing Consultant, Royal Bank of Scotland Group, www.rbs.co.uk

The three key mistakes which candidates make in an interview situation are: 1. Lack of preparation for the interview: Look at the job advertisement and make sure you understanding what the key requirements of the role are. These could be building relationships, planning and multi-tasking, producing reports etc. Having notes and examples from your experiences ready to draw on in these key areas if asked by interviewer will make a positive difference. 2. Poor or lack of candidate questions: This is the time for you to show off. The type of questions you ask the interviewer indicate not only the level at which you operate but your understanding and research that you’ve done into the role or the business. 3. Poor timekeeping – lateness! Make sure you know the route, and even do a trial run and be sure of where you need to get to! So many candidates get lost or arrive late. Of course employers are sympathetic to those who have genuine problems and don’t make it on time, but it always pays to check the route! Jo Hussey, Nationwide, www.nationwide.co.uk

From a Citi perspective, the most common mistakes that we see are: 1. Candidate’s lack of research regarding the position they are applying for or about the organisation to which they have applied. 2. Little preparation for competency based interviews. Candidates often struggle to come up with examples of situations they previously dealt with that show their competency in a particular area. 3. A general lack of preparation for questions that they themselves want to ask the hiring manager 4. Negative comments of previous employers and why they left the organisation 5. There have also been occasions when some candidates have been inappropriately dressed for an interview. Michelle McManus, Assistant Vice President, HR Site Head, Citi – www.citi.com

As you can see – many of the mistakes made are picked up by each different companyand in most instances it’s down to basic common sense; good luck for your next interview!