scotlandHiring.com Career Centre - Jobs in Scotland.

Internal Interviews

Great! You have an internal interview for a change of job, a new role or for a promotion. There are e few applicants and you have been asked to meet with the project leader or a new boss to discuss the job and be interviewed. "This will be a strange one!" you think to yourself. These guys know me, how can they interview me. How can I do a good interview with people I meet for coffee or for lunch or have been golfing with? Internal interviews can be more daunting because they depend on your performance within a specific job in the company and on your overall achievements within the company. You will know the interviewers and they will know you. You may get on with them and you may not have a good relationship with them. This type of interview is totally different to the normal one of applying for a new job with a new company where there are unknowns. However, with internal interviews you can be in a stronger position. You will know the company and perhaps the job. You will know the people applying and can rate yourself against the job. You may be invited to interview or may have applied. There will be little room for "puffery"- you are known. Though not advised, some candidates at new interviews do tend to portray themselves a slightly better than they are (truth is we all tend to do it, if we didn't who else will). It is important not to stray too far from reality - internal interviews leave little room for it.

As with any interview, preparation is the key. Here you have considerable knowledge and understanding of the company, the job and the people. You will also be aware of the politics and the pitfalls. You can weigh all these up and can prepare your approach accordingly. What's important, as with most situations, is that you are true to yourself when preparing.

Prepare what we call a "T" account around key questions. A "T" account is simply a sheet of paper with a header and two columns, one for the positive and one for the negative. List key questions concentrating on yourself (e.g. Why do I want this job? Is this good for me? What are the personal benefits? Etc), the job, the future benefit and the effect on your situation. You can prepare a "T" account for almost anything including; your key achievements in the company, your past performance, your roles, your technical or functional ability and so forth. You don't have to make it a huge exercise; we only suggest this as a method to assist you. If you are comfortable working it out as a thought process, do so.

When you have thoroughly thought out the match between yourself and the job and your past achievements against the expectations or demands in the job, etc, you will be armed with a databank of information. Internal interviews are about projecting yourself and your achievements and showing how past performance is an indication of future potential. They are also an opportunity to gain exposure and to show the human side, the planning side, the fit between you and the company today and in the future. It is an opportunity for you to show how you might influence the future, how you might contribute to the future well being of the company, its people and its processes. It is not an opportunity to go in with all guns blazing with enthusiastic plans for change or for telling people how you think they should do it. This is an opportunity to show yourself as balanced, approachable and focused on delivering the needs of the new position and through it the needs of the company. It is not an opportunity to offend the interviewers or the company, remember that you will have to work with this company after the interview. Don't burn any bridges; build the foundations of future ones!

It's a great opportunity for you. An internal interview is an opportunity to impress your company, to do yourself proud... It's an opportunity to take on a new project and excel, to demonstrate that you are really capable and ready for promotion or that next project. At the very least, it is an opportunity to gain recognition within the company

And remember; "better to have tried and failed than not to have tried at all". Don't worry if you are not successful (though we believe you will be since you are taking the interest to prepare by reading our comments and those of others), by applying for internal positions you demonstrate your confidence in your ability to contribute and your willingness to take on new challenges.

Best of luck from scotlandHiring.com!