TOP TIPS Any questions?
You should have plenty up your sleeve, and three at the least. Try:
What is the most important thing I will have to get to grips with during my first three months in the job? This says to the interviewer you’re already in the role.
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What is your communication style? Translation: I want to be in the right company with the right boss.
2 3
What are your family plans? It’s 2013, nobody should be asking you this. So, be polite, but firm when you answer: I think this interview should be about my capabilities to do the job.
1
2 3
ctics for PAs
world, I duly rocked up in a black suit and pin stripe shirt. Lit- erally everyone else in the office was wearing jeans and flip flops. I gave off the wrong impression and it was my fault entirely – the company had alluded to the fact it was a casual workplace.” But while strong colours are fine below the neck, it’s best to
avoid them on your face. “Less is definitely more with make- up,” says Sarah. Victoria concurs: “don’t cake it on or, while you’re talking the client will be concentrating on the make-up marks around your neck, and not the words coming out of your mouth.” When it comes to perfume, Jason thinks the ‘less is more’
maxim applies even more urgently. “Scent is very personal, so don’t wear any in case the interviewer severely dislikes yours.” Victoria thinks that’s a little hardline. “It’s fine to wear a dab
or two, but don’t go overboard. I’ll never forget the candidate who wore so much that we had to put the air conditioning on full whack after she’d left the room. Thereafter, the only thing we could recall about her interview was her overpowering perfume.”
EXUDE CONFIDENCE Meanwhile, if the scent is mint and it is coming from your mouth, that’s a definite plus. “I always advise PAs to suck a mint before they enter the room,” says Sarah. And when you enter said room, where do you sit? Often, it
is obvious, but if you are faced with a big board room, plonk your- self close to the head of the table. When your interviewer and potential boss enters the room, he or she will sit there – and you want to look like the right-hand person from the outset. You will also want to sound confident from the outset which,
Sell me this pen. Your (smiling) riposte? I am not a seller of pens!
What are your salary expectations? Don’t be too coy and British: we all need to pay
our bills. Think of what you want, and increase it by 10%: that way, you will hopefully get the actual figure you’re after.
Weird and not-so-wonderful questions:
Why did your last PA leave, and after how long? Yes, your interviewer might look
flummoxed, but you’ll appear utterly in control.
it hardly needs stating, is not always easy in the interview room. “However good you are at the job of being a PA, selling your- self to a client doesn’t come naturally to many of us. So, do lots of practice interviews at home in front of the mirror, or your fam- ily. It might sounds silly, but it always pays dividends on the day,” says Jason. And if you have a tendency to talk quickly when you are nerv-
ous, use that practice time to learn the art of speaking slowly. “Train yourself to take a quick breather before you answer a ques- tion,” says Victoria.
GET INVOLVED And don’t just answer them – ask questions, too. “The more the better – nothing shows engagement and passion like questions,” notes Victoria. What’s more, provided you do so politely and with proper eye contact, it is fine to interrupt your interviewer to pose them. That way the interview becomes more of a con- versation, than an interrogation. When you leave the room, hold your head up high, shake your
interviewer’s hand, and wish him or her well in finding the right candidate for the post. And if you really want to stand out from the madding crowd?
Conclude by handing over a piece of paper with two or three handwritten bullet points that you have jotted down during the course of the interview setting out what you would deliver to the company, if appointed. “Our CEO’s PA calls it ‘the killer hand- written powerpoint slide’ and it has worked for her every sin- gle time,” says Victoria. E
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