Women in Financial Services Blog

Women Boosting Women - Lasting Impressions

Rhian Bowler / 15 Sep 2017

As a leadership coach I read many career based articles, but a recent article by a friend and Executive Coach Zena Everett on the impression you make at interview really struck a chord with me. 

When we approach an interview, we often focus a great deal of time and effort on the ‘front-end’ piece of preparation, the preparation that gets us through the door and towards a successful meeting:  Can we really do the job? Do we have the necessary skills? What do we need to know about the organisation?

In Zena’s article, the importance of creating a lasting impression is highlighted as an important part of the interview process, and makes perfect sense to me.  Many of my coaching conversations at E2W centre around understanding value and worth, and positioning skills and experience appropriately towards the new opportunity.  Working closely with our E2W Resourcing team, the conversations are about the new opportunity and details about the vacancy.  

I would like to share Zena’s advice and encourage you to think about how you would like to be remembered and consider the impression you leave after the meeting.  Many women don’t feel comfortable about connecting on LinkedIn, or contacting interviewers directly, even if it’s to thank them for their time.  It’s time to be bold and reach out confidently!

Here are a few tips to think about when preparing for your next interview: 

• Be confident in your skills, but also the ones you are offering the new company
• Think about the impact you want to make and prepare to follow through on that; 
• Think about the ending – how are you going to seal your impact? 
• Reflect on what you need to know about the company – the interview is an opportunity to demonstrate insights and interest; by asking insightful questions and putting yourself in the shoes of the ‘vacancy’, you will subtly influence the interviewers towards your suitability for the role;
• Be confident and engage with those you meet.  Don’t be afraid to leave confidently, and follow up with the interviewers by making contact.

To read Zena’s article, and her tips on how to make a lasting impression, please follow this link.  

If you think that you could benefit from some coaching, please contact me  at E2W, Rhian.bowler@e2w.co, or 01732 897733.
 

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