To truly understand what it takes to be successful at the presentation exercise at an assessment centre, you need to understand WHY it is included in the day. This should then enable you to understand what to focus on when trying to give the best presentation you can.
Firstly, the basics. There are a number of ways that a presentation exercise can be included in an assessment centre. It can be an individual presentation that you prepare in advance, an individual presentation that you prepare on the day, or a presentation that you prepare and deliver as a group, or a presentation that you prepare as a group and deliver individually using the same material. But no matter what option you face, most of the fundamentals remain the same.
Most people acknowledge that presentation skills can be 'taught'. Most of you will go through some sort of Presentation Skills training on your graduate programme, or shortly thereafter. So why assess you on something they are going to teach you later on?!
Why? Reason Number 1: Put you under pressure
At least 75% of the population hate giving presentations. The remaining 25% probably used to hate it once, but are so used to doing it now that they actually enjoy it. Thus, including a presentation as part of the day is an almost guaranteed way to make you feel extra nervous, put you under time pressure and see whether you crack.
To pass this part of the test: Hold your nerve. Much easier said than done, but take a couple of deep breaths before you go in to the room; tell yourself "I CAN do this", think positive. Final tip - smile pleasantly at your audience before you start. This says "I'm ready, I'm confident, I can put on a brave face when I'm under pressure - I can hold it together".
Why? Reason Number 2: Can you analyse information?
Most of the time you will be provided with far more information than you need for the presentation exercise. Or you will be preparing on a topic where you are being asked to come up with the information - which can often have the same result. So what you are being tested on is the ability to pull out the key points of information for delivery.
To pass this part of the test: Most presentations should take broadly the same outline. Objectives/Agenda/Intro (depending on the topic); 2-3 slides with the key messages; and a summary/conclusion/next steps slide. Make sure you include the key messages; sometimes in the rush to get everything out, grads can forget a major point and that alone can be enough to fail the exercise. Don't try to get too much on your slides. If you need to, make detailed notes on separate paper to take in with you, but don't try to include everything on the slides.
Why? Reason Number 3: Can you empathise your audience?
This part of the presentation is key and in my experience, overlooked by at least 60% of graduates in the rush to get their presentation ready and delivered. Many companies have the audience - which could be one or more people - play a role. Somewhere in your brief it will say "You are presenting to the M.D./the Sales team/the Project Manager...etc etc". You must pitch your presentation to that audience and not just generically present back the information that you've been given.
To pass this test: Before you even begin to think about slides/flipcharts, take a moment to think about what is important to that person or team. Can you empathise with them? Your presentation could potentially take a number of forms e.g. if it's a P.M., you'll want to focus on the plan, the risks/issues, the budget, reporting, etc. If it's a M.D. sponsoring the project, you'll talk more about the deliverables, the implementation and the changes that will result to the business.
The main point I want you to note with the above 3 reasons is they are nothing to do with presenting in itself.
Some other points to keep in mind when presenting:
- First impressions count as always - make a strong start
- Introduce yourself and welcome when you begin
- Don't read from the slides, 'talk to' the information on them, but phrase it differently.
- Take care of your body-language - don't sway from side to side or move your weight from one foot to the other
- Decide if you want to take questions throughout or at the end, and say that up front to your audience (keeping in mind who the 'are' and what is appropriate for them)
- Close with a strong summary and thank you
When considering your presentation exercise, think about the whole exercise - the preparation, the presenting of yourself, the smile, the opening, the closing, the slides. Don't get too pre-occupied with the 5-10mins where you are actually talking. If you get all the other stuff right, you will feel more confident and this will result in better presentation content and delivery.
All you need to do is convince them that you have the potential to be a good presenter - make them want to invest in you. So do the best you can but don't despair if it doesn't go well - it is relatively unusual for a whole decision on a graduate to be dependent on their presentation skills. Don't fall into the trap of letting a "bad" presentation exercise affect you for the rest of the day... move onto the next exercise without giving it a second thought.
Monday, 8 November 2010
Friday, 5 November 2010
Conducting Useful Research for Interviews
Thanks for voting in the poll everyone... this was the winning article, so here it goes. I will try to get around to writing the other ones too in the weeks ahead as they all got quite a few votes.
Just to clarify before we kick off that this article is about research... but you also need to do preparation (competency answers, explaining everything on your CV, why you want the job, etc). Both are essential to be truly ready for an interview. I'll cover preparation in a future blog if it's of interest to you.
I'm going to have to start with the painful truth about conducting useful research for interviews... it's all about being organised and not just aimlessly surfing on the web (hands up who already knew this?...). We all do it (believe me, I procrastinate endlessly on Facebook/TSR/Twitter/Blogger/etc before I force myself to sit down and actually write these entries). You need to be really disciplined to really make the most of your valuable time. There is so much on the web these days that it is easy to waste a lot of time doing research for your interview without ever actually feeling like you are fully equipped. There is always the worry that something else obvious out there that you've missed that they will bring up at the interview.
The research approach you take will be slightly different depending on the industry and the company that you are applying to, but broadly speaking for "Top 100" type companies, there are 4 categories to consider:
1-the programme/role
2-the company
3-the industry
4-the current landscape/news
Let's take them one at a time:
The Programme/Role
You need to understand everything that is already on the website about the programme or role that you are applying to. This shows your high level of interest, but more important allows you to speak intelligently with your interviewers about the programme and make the right statements about why it is right for you. As an interviewer, if someone asks you a question to which the answer is readily available on the site, it is very off-putting. So, devour the grad website - everything on it.
The Company
You need to understand the company structure - the different departments/divisions/areas (everyone calls them something different). Understand their global structure - where was the company founded (geographically) and what is their presence now. Understand their make-up - there have been a lot of major mergers and divestments in the last couple of years - make sure you are aware of any that have happened affecting the company.
Make sure you understand how they are performing and where the profit is being generated in the company. Have a look at the communications / investor relations / news sections of the site - be aware of what the company is saying to the market about themselves and their work. If applicable, take a look at the high Exec Summary of the annual report. This will usually outline where the company is at (although beware how long it has been since the report was released.... if it was 11months ago, the picture could be significantly different now).
The Industry
Some of this information is quite 'fixed', so some people find it easier to read the information from a book, rather than the web (e.g. "All you need to know about the City" book). Research who their competitors are (and how they are performing relative to them.)
The Landscape
This is about demonstrating your knowledge of current affairs in the industry and that affect the industry. You also need to understand the current landscape of the industry - what is the current market for their products / offering? There is lots of readily-available information on this - blogs, Google News, the FT - but this is also one of the areas where it is easy to spend a lot of time surfing aimlessly. Try to undertake this type of research in careful 30min blocks. Pick a topic, and then research that and only that for that period. If something else springs to mind that you need to look into during that research, make a note on a piece of paper to add it to your plan, but don't go off on a tangent researching the new topic there and then (even if you think it might be more important.
Overall on this last one, it is not really something that you can research in a week before your interview - it is one that you need to be building your knowledge on over a period of weeks and months. Find the blogs / subscriptions that work for you and sign-up as soon as you can. RSS Feeds can also be useful from certain sites. It might even be worth setting up a separate email address rather than cluttering up your own personal address. Check out CNBC, MoneyWeek, Yahoo! Finance, hereisthecity, etc.
Keep all your notes well organised, and bookmark sites that you visit that are useful, storing them all in a folder.
I've put together a checklist for you if you are interviewing for an Investment Bank and are planning your research approach - it can be downloaded here. I'll try to put one together for Consulting too in the next few weeks - I've run out of time tonight - but it should not be that different to the IB one, just tailored slightly more towards that industry.
Above all, be organised and be disciplined with your time. Ultimately it's unlikely that you'll go into an interview feeling 100% confident that you have everything covered, but if you've covered a reasonable spread of research across the above topics, you should be able to talk to a good amount of what might come up.
Just to clarify before we kick off that this article is about research... but you also need to do preparation (competency answers, explaining everything on your CV, why you want the job, etc). Both are essential to be truly ready for an interview. I'll cover preparation in a future blog if it's of interest to you.
I'm going to have to start with the painful truth about conducting useful research for interviews... it's all about being organised and not just aimlessly surfing on the web (hands up who already knew this?...). We all do it (believe me, I procrastinate endlessly on Facebook/TSR/Twitter/Blogger/etc before I force myself to sit down and actually write these entries). You need to be really disciplined to really make the most of your valuable time. There is so much on the web these days that it is easy to waste a lot of time doing research for your interview without ever actually feeling like you are fully equipped. There is always the worry that something else obvious out there that you've missed that they will bring up at the interview.
The research approach you take will be slightly different depending on the industry and the company that you are applying to, but broadly speaking for "Top 100" type companies, there are 4 categories to consider:
1-the programme/role
2-the company
3-the industry
4-the current landscape/news
Let's take them one at a time:
The Programme/Role
You need to understand everything that is already on the website about the programme or role that you are applying to. This shows your high level of interest, but more important allows you to speak intelligently with your interviewers about the programme and make the right statements about why it is right for you. As an interviewer, if someone asks you a question to which the answer is readily available on the site, it is very off-putting. So, devour the grad website - everything on it.
The Company
You need to understand the company structure - the different departments/divisions/areas (everyone calls them something different). Understand their global structure - where was the company founded (geographically) and what is their presence now. Understand their make-up - there have been a lot of major mergers and divestments in the last couple of years - make sure you are aware of any that have happened affecting the company.
Make sure you understand how they are performing and where the profit is being generated in the company. Have a look at the communications / investor relations / news sections of the site - be aware of what the company is saying to the market about themselves and their work. If applicable, take a look at the high Exec Summary of the annual report. This will usually outline where the company is at (although beware how long it has been since the report was released.... if it was 11months ago, the picture could be significantly different now).
The Industry
Some of this information is quite 'fixed', so some people find it easier to read the information from a book, rather than the web (e.g. "All you need to know about the City" book). Research who their competitors are (and how they are performing relative to them.)
The Landscape
This is about demonstrating your knowledge of current affairs in the industry and that affect the industry. You also need to understand the current landscape of the industry - what is the current market for their products / offering? There is lots of readily-available information on this - blogs, Google News, the FT - but this is also one of the areas where it is easy to spend a lot of time surfing aimlessly. Try to undertake this type of research in careful 30min blocks. Pick a topic, and then research that and only that for that period. If something else springs to mind that you need to look into during that research, make a note on a piece of paper to add it to your plan, but don't go off on a tangent researching the new topic there and then (even if you think it might be more important.
Overall on this last one, it is not really something that you can research in a week before your interview - it is one that you need to be building your knowledge on over a period of weeks and months. Find the blogs / subscriptions that work for you and sign-up as soon as you can. RSS Feeds can also be useful from certain sites. It might even be worth setting up a separate email address rather than cluttering up your own personal address. Check out CNBC, MoneyWeek, Yahoo! Finance, hereisthecity, etc.
Keep all your notes well organised, and bookmark sites that you visit that are useful, storing them all in a folder.
I've put together a checklist for you if you are interviewing for an Investment Bank and are planning your research approach - it can be downloaded here. I'll try to put one together for Consulting too in the next few weeks - I've run out of time tonight - but it should not be that different to the IB one, just tailored slightly more towards that industry.
Above all, be organised and be disciplined with your time. Ultimately it's unlikely that you'll go into an interview feeling 100% confident that you have everything covered, but if you've covered a reasonable spread of research across the above topics, you should be able to talk to a good amount of what might come up.
Tuesday, 2 November 2010
My Top 5 Interview Tips
Use "I" NOT "We"
All over the IB and Consultancy websites, you will see talk of the requirement to be a team player and be able to function well with working in groups. And that is 100% true.
BUT, and its a big BUT, during the application and interview process, you MUST get into the habit of using 'I' when speaking about your achievements. A lot of grads use "We did this... and we did that...." and the problem is that at the end of the answer, the interviewer is not clear on what you achieved versus what the team achieved - and that can result in them marking you as having 'failed' the question. So structure you answer by saying up front what the team structure was, what your role was (briefly) and from then on, use 'I' so that they are totally clear that the achievements were yours and no one elses.
Don't express doubt or uncertainty about your direction
We all know that a LOT of people are not sure about what job they want to do, what career they want, etc... However, when you are interviewing for a job, you have to play the game. Say that THAT is the job you want and have clear reasons why. No interviewer wants to hear "To be honest, I'm not sure, but I think this is the right move for me.".... or "I think I'll do this for 3-5years and the re-evaluate". Let's be very clear here, I know that loads of you will have these thoughts, but do NOT express them at interview. Every interviewer wants to believe that you want the job that they can offer you above all others. And you need to make them think that too.
Get your best stories out early
First impressions count. Even though your interview is supposed to be evenly weighted throughout, you want to get them on your side early. For that reason, be sure that you can spin your best experiences to answer a variety of competency-based questions - e.g. problem solving, team work, flexibility. If you can put your most impressive experiences out there early, they will be on your side from the outset.
Yes, you will be asked technical questions
At some point during the interview process you are likely to get a technical question of some sort. A technical question is one which tests your educational or technical skill that you have listed on your CV. So it might be something from one of your recent modules, something on a computer skill you have listed, etc. But it is highly possible that you will get challenged on something at some point in the process to make sure what you have on your CV is all legit. Don't get all flustered about this, it's just one aspect and as long as you give it your best shot (the approach is often more important than the answer), you'll be fine..... a lot of grads seem to live in fear of "the technical question" and spend far too long studying for that part at the expense of other parts of the interview.
Questions
This old one is still true. Have a few good questions to ask at the end to make sure you leave them with a good impression. Have a few options incase some of the questions are already answered during the course of the interview.
Feedback most welcome! What do you want to hear? Email me at gradjobsuk@yahoo.co.uk. Thank you!All over the IB and Consultancy websites, you will see talk of the requirement to be a team player and be able to function well with working in groups. And that is 100% true.
BUT, and its a big BUT, during the application and interview process, you MUST get into the habit of using 'I' when speaking about your achievements. A lot of grads use "We did this... and we did that...." and the problem is that at the end of the answer, the interviewer is not clear on what you achieved versus what the team achieved - and that can result in them marking you as having 'failed' the question. So structure you answer by saying up front what the team structure was, what your role was (briefly) and from then on, use 'I' so that they are totally clear that the achievements were yours and no one elses.
Don't express doubt or uncertainty about your direction
We all know that a LOT of people are not sure about what job they want to do, what career they want, etc... However, when you are interviewing for a job, you have to play the game. Say that THAT is the job you want and have clear reasons why. No interviewer wants to hear "To be honest, I'm not sure, but I think this is the right move for me.".... or "I think I'll do this for 3-5years and the re-evaluate". Let's be very clear here, I know that loads of you will have these thoughts, but do NOT express them at interview. Every interviewer wants to believe that you want the job that they can offer you above all others. And you need to make them think that too.
Get your best stories out early
First impressions count. Even though your interview is supposed to be evenly weighted throughout, you want to get them on your side early. For that reason, be sure that you can spin your best experiences to answer a variety of competency-based questions - e.g. problem solving, team work, flexibility. If you can put your most impressive experiences out there early, they will be on your side from the outset.
Yes, you will be asked technical questions
At some point during the interview process you are likely to get a technical question of some sort. A technical question is one which tests your educational or technical skill that you have listed on your CV. So it might be something from one of your recent modules, something on a computer skill you have listed, etc. But it is highly possible that you will get challenged on something at some point in the process to make sure what you have on your CV is all legit. Don't get all flustered about this, it's just one aspect and as long as you give it your best shot (the approach is often more important than the answer), you'll be fine..... a lot of grads seem to live in fear of "the technical question" and spend far too long studying for that part at the expense of other parts of the interview.
Questions
This old one is still true. Have a few good questions to ask at the end to make sure you leave them with a good impression. Have a few options incase some of the questions are already answered during the course of the interview.
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