You receive an email from your recruiters that you made it to the Final Interview which will be conducted either via a video interview or at the hotel venue. You now realise that you are nearly there in the recruitment process and very close to getting your dreams fulfilled. So, how do you ace it?

I want to discuss with you today how you should prepare for the final interview. Yes, you do have to prepare for it. You can’t just show up and be yourself. It would not work. The recruiter may be nice but he or she isn’t your friend. They play God and will make a judgement call on you. It is a marketing performance and you do have to make an impression to the recruiters whether it is on video or in person at the hotel venue.

Let me provide you with some useful tips to get you started in your preparation.

Learn your CV at your fingertips. The recruiters only have your CV based on what you have told them about you so rest assured the interview questions will be based on this document. Tear your CV apart and I don’t mean literally. What I am trying to say is stand back and look at your CV from another person’s point of view and start thinking on the areas where you would be challenged.

If you have mentioned that you are an effective team player and get along well with team members on tasks assigned to you, that’s great! Where is the catch? That statement itself does make you vulnerable to areas not covered such as how do you deal with a difficult team member, tell me an instance when you have a conflict with a team member, what happens when a team member is not putting in much effort, or how do you deal with a team member who has decided to do things in her own way or what would your team members say about you etc.? Think about the answers to these questions and relate them to your own work experience.

You mentioned on your CV that you provide customers with an excellent 5 star service and show attention to details, and go out of your way to please them. That’s a great asset but there are again gaps to that statement. They will now start asking you questions like how you would deal with an angry customer, how would you deal with a customer who isn’t happy with the product , tell me a time when you had to break a procedure to please a customer, tell me about a time when you disagreed with the customer and how you turn a negative feedback from customer into a positive sentiment, give me an instance where you exceeded expectations etc.

On operational matters, you mention that you adhere to procedures and ensure that you adapt to changes in new situations and procedures. Again, an excellent statement on your CV but it gives rise to the following questions. Tell me about a time when you came across s situation when you are unable to relate to a tried and tested procedure, what would you do? Your team leader decides to waive or not follow a procedure, what would you do? You come across a conflict between team members on a procedure, what would you do. Finally, talk to me about a time when you disagreed with your manager, what did you do?

You may buy a book with a few hundred questions but in all honesty, if you divide your CV skills to team working, customer service, operational procedures and management of conflicts, you would have covered the final interview in good depth. Then, start analysing in terms of your own work experience and relate some good examples. All other questions would be a subset of these topics. You can either work hard or work smart. I prefer focussing on working smart.