What on earth are you wearing? Dealing with interview questions that make PR candidates sweat

A new year might not mean a new you, but for many it may mean a new job. As PR professionals plan their next career move, recruiters start working on interview strategies, including compiling challenging questions. PRmoment asked expert communicators what questions they like to confront interviewees with, the questions they have faced themselves, and how best to answer them.

It is usually the trickier questions that get the most revealing answers, such as “what are your failings?”. Mark Knight, director of financial services PR specialists Broadgate Mainland, is astounded at some of the answers he has had after asking candidates to describe what they are bad at. He says: “The worst answer was probably ‘spelling’, but several have said they get bored with repetitive tasks or they don’t like administrative work. The latter may be an honest answer, but for a PR person it should be put in a more acceptable context.”

Knight’s advice is to turn the question into a positive. Something like: “working with people who don’t share my sense of urgency.” And it is probably best to avoid the rather pat response of claiming to be a perfectionist. Knight also underlines the importance of doing research before the interview: “I am always surprised how many candidates don’t bother to look at your company website to find out about the company prior to the interview. I often ask candidates to tell me what they know about us and the answers are often sketchy.”

As well as understanding the company and its market, it is also important that PROs are savvy about current affairs. For example, Knight asks about topics in the news to see if candidates are well-read and can explain potentially complicated scenarios in a simple way.

He describes how one person, when asked how the Likud party was going to keep a fragmented government coalition together in Israel, replied she didn’t have a clue and asked if she could talk about something closer to home. But her answer was not her downfall, as Knight explains: “She did it in such a charming and disarming way that she impressed me with her honesty and endearing approach.”

They say that interviewers make up their minds in the first few minutes of meeting the candidate, so appearances are important. This does not mean putting on a suit necessarily, but dressing appropriately. For example, you may be facing someone like Steve Earl, managing director of PR agency Speed who is not afraid to comment on dress sense. He says the worst interview question he has asked someone is: “You look like a salesman, you sound like a salesman. Are you here for the right job vacancy?”

But Earl has also had his share of dealing with tricky interview questions. He says the worst one was when applying for his first job as a reporter on a local weekly paper in the Midlands. The interviewer said: “You have travelled 100 miles to be here and you're telling me you really want the job. Yet you have brought no examples of work with you, you have no prior experience and given that I'm a few years from retirement it would be a huge risk for me to take you on. Would you like to make some form of comment at this stage or shall we end the interview early?”. Earl explains that he succeeded in winning over the interviewer by saying that his portfolio at that stage was all coursework and doubtless of little interest, so it would be more fruitful if he talked through how he would approach some of the current stories being worked on by the newspaper. He explains that this succeeded in demonstrating that he could do the job.

The interview process has its faults, but it is the vital last hurdle before landing any
job, so it needs to be treated with respect. PRmoment wishes all those who are thinking of changing jobs in 2010, good luck. And good luck and lots of patience too, to all those who are having to carry out the interviews.

Corinne Mills, managing director of career specialists Personal Career Management and author of You're Hired! How to Write a Brilliant CV, gives these tips for approaching interviews:

1. Research the company beforehand so that you know more about its culture and the key personalities involved
2. Find out who its key clients are and show off some knowledge about these organisations
3. Name-drop. Make sure you mention the names of any prestigious brands or individuals you have worked with
4. Be careful what you wear as the dress code will be very sensitive, If you are going to represent the agency and their clients, you need to look the part
5. Give examples where you demonstrated your professionalism, flexibility and creativity, such as working with a demanding client, on a delicate media issue or on an innovative campaign.