interview advice for Interim & Change Management jobs
At Randstad Financial & Professional, we’ve helped hundreds of candidates secure their ideal
interim job or
change management position thanks to our market knowledge and recruitment expertise.
This specialist interview advice, specifically for our candidates within the interim and change management space, is designed to help you prepare for the tougher interview processes in the current market.
On the back of your CV application, your interviewer will quiz you to assess if you have the right knowledge, skills and experience needed for the position. Your interviewer will also want to make sure that you’re the right cultural fit for the company and team, while determining if you’ll be a valued and productive addition. Therefore, you need to sell yourself according to the requirements of your potential employer – and meet what they’re looking for in a successful applicant. Concentrate your answers towards their needs, rather then focusing on your own.
Show your interviewer that you’re better than the other applicants interviewing for the position - that you can bring more and give more to the role, team/department and company than your competition. Focus on the interview, don’t worry about any external factors that are out of your control (e.g. the number of applicants being interviewed).
Typically, as the interview closes, you’ll be asked a few questions on the company and the position in question. Research the company and be prepared, the more you know about the company, the greater your interest and enthusiasm for working there will seem. Be aware of their products, services, reputation, business principles, mission statement, competitors, culture and history. Look up the countries that they operate in, divisions and news on deals they’ve recently closed.
your interviewer
Your potential employer will want to find out if you’re technically competent and able to perform within the position, how you’ll be of benefit to them and the team. Most of these questions will revolve around the job spec and your experience as you’ve described it on your CV, focusing on projects you’ve worked on and led, products, processes and systems that you’ve used and your level of experience with that particular software. They will also want to see if you’re a good personality fit.
Questions that you may be asked include –
• Give an example of when you’ve improved a process or implemented a new procedure in any of your previous jobs? Does the company still use this process now?
• Tell me about a decision that you’ve made that has affected processes and your colleagues? What was the benefit to your colleagues and your company?
• Tell me some examples of important recommendations or decisions you’ve recently made
• What would you do if a member of the project team was performing below the required standard? What actions would you take?
• Describe how you would improve the performance or productivity of a team
• Have you ever made any changes to procedure that was met with resistance?
• Tell me about a client relationship you’ve recently developed
• If we hired you for this position, on which areas would you make an immediate impact?
• Describe a significant risk that you have taken
• What financial products have you worked with?
• Give an example of a project you’ve worked on where you had to assess, make a recommendation and then implement the changes. How did you influence others to see that these changes would be of benefit?
• Give an example of a time when you’ve had to advise the senior management team?
• Have you ever reorganised a department including the role of the team members?
• You made considerable organisational changes in your last role. How did you lead and implement this?
• In your last job, what impact did your decisions have on company goals?
• In what ways do you think you could make a contribution to this company and our goals?
• Why have you chosen to apply for this position?
• Tell me about the last time that you worked under pressure. How do you manage stress?
• Tell me about a time when you’ve had to deliver information of a difficult or sensitive nature to others
• Describe a time when you’ve had a problem that you couldn’t solve
• Have you ever failed in meeting a project goal/objective?
• Tell me about a project you’ve managed that was met with problems. How were these issues resolved?
• Tell me about a time when you’ve had to persuade others to think or do what you wanted them to
• Describe a time when a miscommunication has created problems on a project or within a team
• What are you most proud of professionally?
• What is your biggest professional disappointment?
• What are your strengths?
• What are your weaknesses?
• What motivates you?
• How do you define success?
• What are your thoughts on the current market situation?
• What do you think are the main issues facing investment banking over the next year?
tips on answering questions
Always make sure that you understand the question that you’re being asked. If not, there’s nothing wrong with asking your interviewer to clarify what they’re asking you. Don’t rush to reply. Take a few moments to think over the question and formulate your answer.
When responding, always use examples. Examples will answer your interviewer’s questions, while also proving that you can do the job and have the skills, knowledge and experience to do so, highlighting your suitability for the position. When using an example to highlight your answer, explain the situation and what needed to be done. Let your interviewer know what actions you took and conclude with the end result and what was achieved.
Use specific work related examples that are relevant to the question being asked. Think of times when you’ve gone the extra mile or done anything out of the ordinary to really stand out from the crowd. Have at least 5 or 6 examples ready to use and pick these examples from a variety of projects that you’ve worked on. Try to keep your examples as recent as possible and talk about them from your point of view – what your involvement was and what you did.
When using your examples, don’t forget to tell your interviewer what the end result was. Use situations where the result was measurable – explain how this affected you/your team/the company. Try to remember rough dates and stats to back these up.
Tailor every answer to the job that you’re interviewing for. Take, for example, the question “Tell me about yourself” – your answer should relate back to the role – your experience, responsibilities held and projects that you’ve worked on that will qualify you for this position. Finish off by briefly talking about your goals.
If you’re asked a negative question, always try to answer with a positive response. For example if your contract was terminated in your last position, say that this has given you the opportunity to look for a new and challenging role, with the prospect of expanding your experience while learning different skills and meeting new people. If the question is concerning any weaknesses that you might have, respond with a weakness that you’ve overcome and explain how you did this.
Sometimes an interview can become quite conversational. Always try to stay on track, still relating everything you say back to the position that you’re interviewing for. An interview is never just a general chat, you’re always being assessed. Never discuss controversial subjects like politics or religion, if you feel the conversation could be heading down this route, try to steer it back on course.
While it’s tempting, don’t talk about pay. Save these conversations to have with your recruitment consultant. Your consultant will work hard on your behalf to negotiate the most competitive rate possible.
Towards the end of the interview, you’ll usually have the option to ask your interviewer a question. You can use this opportunity to address any concerns that the interviewer might have about your suitability for the position. “Do you have any concerns about my ability to do the job?”. This will give you the chance to tackle their concerns and sell your skills and experience more. Here you could also mention any achievements that you wanted to mention during the interview but didn’t have the chance too.
Other questions that you could ask your interviewer include -
• Why does this vacancy exist? Are you at the planning stage or has the project already started?
• What about timelines, project phases and planned date of completion?
• Do you follow any specific project methodology, or a variation of one?
• What would be the biggest challenge facing someone coming in to this role?
• Who are the project sponsors and major stakeholders I would be facing off to?
• What are the team like, how is it structured?
• Is there sufficient buy-in from the business including the teams likely to be affected by any change?
• Are there any challenging political relationships I should know about?
• Assuming project delivery is on time, are there any future projects in the pipeline?
• What are the short/long term goals for this position/department?
• What do you enjoy about working for this company?
• When can I expect to hear your response? Are you seeing many other candidates?
after your interview
Make sure to ring your consultant as soon as possible to let them know how you found the interview, if you’re interested in the position and if you’d like to work at the company. Let your consultant know how this role ranks against others that you’ve interviewed for, if there was anything about this job that you wouldn’t want to do and if there was anything that you wanted to ask your interviewer, but didn’t get the chance to. Your interviewer will often call your recruitment consultant after the interview to find out your feedback. With your feedback your consultant will be able to reinforce your interest in the position and keenness to start. Your consultant will also be able to answer any queries that your interviewer might have that were possibly not addressed fully during the interview.
Try to tell your consultant your feedback as soon as possible – any delay might be looked upon negatively by your potential employer.
Finally, good luck!