1. Turn up on time with a portfolio. Arranged in chronological order most recent samples first.
2. Have detail in the portfolio as to what your role was on projects, explain size of team, dollar value and size of project. Too many times I hear back from clients that the candidate was presenting an overall body of work of the practice that they worked for, and not enough about their actual role in each project.
3. Practice the pitch. Yes you are pitching for a role, just as if you were pitching for a project with a client. Be clear concise and to the point. Again focus on your role on the project, in the team, your day to day responsibilities.
4. Be proactive, research the practice, see what you can find out about their design philosophy. I always encourage candidates to view projects and in the interview, reference the projects the practice has done that where most interesting to them. Reference what is relevant to you and interesting to you and matches either the sector you want to work in or have worked in or both.
5. Have a very clear picture of what you can bring to the firm. Always demonstrate your value add, your strengths, and what you can bring to a practice/studio.
6. Demonstrate your value add with real life examples. For the senior roles, it may be delivering projects on time and budget, managing a tricky client relationship, or mentoring junior candidates. Always use examples, make it real.
7. Be clear on why you are in the interview. As a rule of thumb it isn’t always a great idea to bemoan and destroy your current or last employer, instead focus on what you learnt from this experience.
8. Demonstrate progression. Analyse your experience, and be able to talk about each role and how it has added to your experience, whether it be as simple as gaining more experience on a software platform than to working on a different project, or more construction site based experience. Demonstrate how your career has progressed, and take them on a journey through your experience
9. Be clear on where you want to go. For example, if you are a graduate Architect and you need more construction based experience to get registered then cover this in the interview.
10. Leave salary to the end. Demonstrate your worth, your experience and expertise, and then once potential employers understand your value, you can discuss your worth.
Hope this helps and remember:
Go where you are celebrated, not tolerated. If they can’t see the real value of you, it’s time for a new start……