You’ve impressed us with your application and telephone conversation, and now it’s your time to shine with an interview, so don’t take your foot off the gas when you’ve got this far
Most of our interviews are face-to face, we love candidates coming to our offices and depots, seeing what we’re all about and getting to experience the culture first hand!
Our Talent Acquisition team have put together some handy tips on how to help you best prepare before your interview!
First up; get organised!
- You’ll have an email from us with all the details, so you can plan your journey to make sure you get here in plenty of time.
- We have a smart casual take on dress code. Think about the role you are applying for and put your best self forward, if you’re unsure, ask us!
- You may have prepared some notes and questions so bring them along, if you want to write anything down during the interview, feel free to do so. We’ll have your CV so don’t worry about that.
- We need to check you have the right to work in the UK, you’ll have been sent what we need you to bring, so make sure you bring along your ID as it’s super important.
Do your research;
- Set aside some time to get to know us! It’ll give you so much more confidence going into the interview knowing your stuff! It really shows how much the opportunity means.
- There’s loads of brilliant content on our careers site, how we started, our mission and values and our social media pages are great to give you a glimpse into the culture of AO and what we get up to. It’s a great place to see what a day at AO could look like!
- Revisit the job advert. How do your skills and qualifications match the role. You’ll want to show us that you really understand it and are the right person for the role!
- Your interview invite will tell you who will be meeting. Take a look and see if they are on LinkedIn, understand their experience and professional interests, it can help create a positive conversation during the interview.
- Think of any questions you might have for us from your research, an interview is a two-way street and it’s about the right move for you as well as us, so ask away!
Make a good impression
- Positivity goes a long way (we have a smile in our logo after all), so show a genuine interest in AO and the role
- We understand an interview can be a little daunting and you may feel nervous, were here to support and help you be your best.
- We understand things don’t always go to plan, so if you are going to be late, let your recruiter know so they can tell the hiring manager.
- Let us know if you need some support or adjustments on the day and we will do everything we can to help and get you settled.
The interview
- It’s always a good idea to have examples from your previous and current work experience that match up to the role you are interviewing for. Be prepared to discuss your work experiences and achievements!
- With any answer you give make sure it’s clear and concise – What’s the example? What were the challenges you faced? What was the result? and what did you learn?
- Don’t assume the interviewer knows everything about you, this will probably be their first time meeting you, so be your true self and always be honest with your answer
- It’s absolutely fine to take a minute before answering, look over your notes or ask us to repeat the question.
- Think about the questions you may get asked and get practicing your answers, it can really help. Why not do this with someone else, you’ll be able to get their feedback too!
After the interview
We are committed to giving feedback and an outcome after every interview, so you’ll always hear back from us. There are 3 potential outcomes;
- A job offer– if you’re successful we’ll offer you the role and confirm the details – remember you will receive confirmation of a job offer in writing, never via a text or Whatsapp!
- Unsuccessful– if you’re unsuccessful, we will always give you feedback as to why so this can help you in the future.
- Further steps – for some of our roles there will be more people for you to meet, so if we loved speaking to you we may invite you in for another chat before reaching a final decision.
These are a few of our tips in helping you best prepare for your interview at AO – best of luck!