writing your cv & preparing for interview - information for tax professionals

FOR TAX & TREASURY PROFESSIONALS

CV & iNTERVIEW gUIDE

2 BREWER MORRIS @BrewerMorris

CV ADVICE

Q How should I organise my CV and what content should I include?

It is a good idea to split your CV into four

sections: personal information, qualifications,

employment history and interests.

Personal information

• Full name

• Full address

• Telephone numbers (day/evening/mobile

- as appropriate)

• Email address

• If relevant, state whether you are eligible

to work or need a work permit

• Always include any language

capability and state your proficiency

(do not exaggerate your fluency, as an

interviewer may decide to interview you

in the language concerned).

Qualifications

If educated to degree level (or have a higher

qualification) it is only necessary to briefly

list earlier academic qualifications with

appropriate grades. Any degree should have

the name of the establishment from which

it was gained from and the level/grade

obtained.

This section should also include any

professional qualifications. Additionally,

employers often look for any work related

training - especially if it has led to a particular

qualification.

The objective of your CV is to gain you an interview either with a potential employer or a

recruitment consultant, and to create a positive impression about you in the mind of the

interviewer before you meet.

3 /company/brewer-morris CV & INTERVIEW GUIDE

CV ADVICE

Q How should I organise my CV and what

content should I include?

Employment history

It is generally accepted practice to put your

employment history in reverse chronological

order and this section should include dates,

company size and scope of responsibilities

and achievements.

Remember at all times that potential

employers are looking for evidence that you

can add value to the job and the organisation.

• Give most space to your most recent job

• If you do not work for a well-known

organisation it might be appropriate to

insert a brief description of the company

and its business

• Dates – it is only necessary to put the

month and year of joining and leaving any

employer. Your current position should be

‘to date’

• State your title

• Group your experience according to type

of work

• Use sub-headings

• Value of deal, brief details of transaction/

key points of matter

• List specific project responsibilities/

involvement in matter

• Do not leave out any period of

employment for whatever reason - ensure

that your time is accountable

• Do not give reasons for leaving any of the

jobs on your CV – it is far better to explain

your moves in person at interview

• Do not embellish your CV or be

economical with the truth (i.e. overstating

your experience or accomplishments) –

you will be found out at interview

• Salary information should be left off the

CV but you should be prepared to discuss

your salary with recruitment consultants

at an early stage, so they know you are in

the right range

• Try not to use technical/professional

jargon.

Interests

The key here is that if you are in doubt, leave

them out. Be prepared to elaborate on any of

your interests such as the last play you saw,

the last book you read, the last place that

you visited on a scuba diving holiday. If you

have any interests that might, in any way, be

controversial then leave them off the CV. In any

event this section should be no longer than

one or two lines.


INTERVIEW PREPARATION

Q What is thebest way to prepare for an interview?

Interviewing can be a pretty daunting

experience, but with some good preparation

you can make things an awful lot easier for

yourself. The following tips may seem obvious

but it is always worthwhile checking them off

in advance.

Do you know where you are going? Check the

address. If you don’t know the area, call your

consultant for directions. Give yourself lots of

time and aim to arrive 10 minutes early.

Have you called your recruitment consultant,

at least the day before, and got a briefing on

the job including who you are seeing, and going

through any job description? They should also

be able to help you with the type of interview,

the personality of the interviewer or with any

other information that you may need.

Have you checked out the organisation’s

website? This will tell you about the business

and should give you some useful background

information. Check if they have a careers

section which may give you information about

their values and culture. It will certainly tell

you how they want to be seen by prospective

employees.

Make sure you know what is in your CV. Think

about why you have moved in the past, why you

have made certain career decisions, what you

enjoyed about certain jobs. Think clearly about

what you are looking to do now and why.

Make sure you know what information you

want to get out of the interview and you have

a good list of questions to ask. It doesn’t do

any harm to write them down; it shows you

have prepared and you are much more likely to

remember them.

Organisations interview in many different ways both in terms of style as well as process. As

an interviewee you should never assume that each interview will be structured in exactly the

same way and you should always aim to improve your interview style through better preparation

and understanding of the interview process. Of course, your greatest ally is the recruitment

consultant you are working with who will be able to prepare you based on their knowledge of the

organisation and role in question.


Q What form can

I expect the interview to

take?

Generally, interviews will take the form of one

of the following formats:

The CV-based Interview

What it means

This interview style follows the more traditional

question and answer format.

How it works

This will normally entail a chronological run

through of your background and experience.

Typical questions might include ‘How would

you describe yourself ’ or ‘Why did you leave

X organisation for Y’ or ‘What do you not like

about your current role’ or ‘What are your

career objectives’.

How you can prepare

It is important to know the content of your

answers to the standard interview questions,

particularly if there are obvious issues in your

CV – such as a period of unemployment or a

quick move from job to job. However, try not

to over rehearse and appear formulaic or not

genuine in your answers.

The Behavioural Interview

What it means

The thinking behind behavioural interviewing

is that it provides the most accurate prediction

of future performance through analysis of past

performance in similar types of situations. The

company has already identified job-related

experiences, behaviours, knowledge, skills

and abilities (competencies) that they feel

are desirable in the position and these are

sometimes hinted at in the job description.

How it works

The employer will ask very specific questions

which they hope will elicit a response which

will determine if you (the candidate) possess

the desired characteristics. Candidates who

tell the interviewer about specific situations

that relate to each question will be far more

effective and successful than those who

respond in general terms.

How you can prepare

Read the job description in detail and then

think about 6-12 past situations in which you

have exhibited strong job-related behaviours.

Additionally, look at the careers section of

the company and see whether they have any

reference to behaviours that they look for

when hiring.


THE TEAM INTERVIEWWhat it means

In an effort to get a well-rounded perspective

on candidates, many companies ask more

than one team member to take part in the

interview and selection process. Using pre-

agreed criteria, job descriptions and personal

impressions, they assess the feedback

following the individual sessions and discuss

their reaction.

How it works

Generally they are either an interview

conducted by more than one interviewer at the

same time, or a series of one-on-one interviews

with a number of different team members.

How you can prepare

Whatever the format, you should expect

team interviews to be challenging. The initial

exchanges with the interview team are the

most difficult and you will need to be able to

interact with different people from different

backgrounds. Be prepared to cover the same

ground with a number of different interviewers

because they may want to see if your answers

change; however, at all times remain patient

and composed.

TECHNICAL INTERVIEWSThe goal of the technical interview is to get to

understand your technical skill set. By sharing

the thought processes with your interviewer

you demonstrate your communication skills

and analytical ability. Interviewers are looking

to assess not only your technical ability but

also your ability to think critically, to solve

problems.

You are not going to be expected to know

everything so, if you are asked a question you

just don’t know the answer to, then don’t try

to talk your way around it. This can also be a

good opportunity to tell the interviewer how

you would research that particular question.

It’s not about knowing everything, it’s about

being able to find out anything.

Because there are an infinite number of

technical interview questions that interviewers

can throw at you, and many may consist of

hypothetical scenarios with no single correct

answer, there is not a perfect way to prepare.

That is precisely what technical interviews

are all about. Just make sure that you are

comfortable talking through the technical

areas on your CV and you are not thrown by the

obvious simple questions.


COMPETENCY BASED INTERVIEWSCompetency-based interviews are becoming an

increasingly common part of the recruitment

process with many organisations attaching a

high level of importance to their outcome. To

help you through these we have identified 16

typical competencies that employers seek to

explore.

Competency interviews can sometimes

be quite daunting, but with an element of

preparation and a broad range of examples,

they can actually run quite smoothly and be an

opportunity to stand out from the crowd.

Competency-based interviewing is a structured

interview approach which aims to gather

evidence of how well a candidate will perform

in a particular role. This is achieved by asking

candidates to describe past experiences of

when they have demonstrated particular

competencies (or job relevant behaviours).

Employers will want to explore your past

experiences as a large amount of research

suggests that past behaviour is a strong

predictor of future behaviour. For each

particular competency, you will usually be

asked a number of questions, to give you more

than one opportunity to demonstrate your

abilities.

In order for an organisation to assess whether

you are appropriate for a role it is important

that you talk about specific past experiences,

rather than your general way of working. It

is also important that you describe what you

actually did, rather than talking about the

performance of a team you were a member of.

Competency-based interviews are very

structured, with every candidate often being

asked the same questions. This is to ensure

that everybody gets the same opportunity and

the process is completely fair to all.


COMPETENCY BASED INTERVIEWSBefore attending the interview:

• Think about what kinds of behaviours may

be important to perform well in the job

• Think about times in the past when you

have demonstrated your abilities e.g.

successful projects, interactions with

other people, convincing a difficult

audience, analysing a large amount of

information

• Think through exactly what you did in

these scenarios and separate your own

actions from those of any team you were

a part of

• Don’t be restricted to purely job related

examples; you may also have good

examples from school/university or

hobbies.

During the interview:

• Listen carefully to the question and

make sure you provide an example of

what is being asked, not just telling the

interviewer what you want them to know

• Talk about a specific example, not about

how you generally act

• Talk about what you did e.g. “I spoke to

lots of different individuals” not “We spoke

to lots of different individuals”.

Q How can I prepare for a competency based interview?


COMPETENCY BASED INTERVIEWS

Q What kind of

attributes are employers

looking for during

competency interviews?

ATTRIBUTES Action orientation

Demonstrates a readiness to make decisions,

take the initiative and originate action.

Commercial awareness

Understands and applies commercial and

financial principles.

Views issues in terms of costs, profits,

markets and added value.

Creativity & innovation

Creates new and imaginative approaches to

work related issues.

Identifies fresh approaches and shows

a willingness to question traditional

assumptions.

Drive & resilience

Maintains effective work behaviour in the face

of setbacks or pressure.

Remains calm, stable and in control of

themselves.

Flexibility

Successfully adapts to changing demands and

conditions.

Interpersonal sensitivity

Interacts with others in a sensitive and

effective way.

Respects and works well with others.

Leadership

Motivates and empowers others to reach

organisational goals.

Oral communication

Speaks clearly, fluently and in a compelling

manner to both individuals and groups.

Personal motivation

Commits self to work hard towards goals.

Shows enthusiasm and career commitment.

Persuasiveness

Influences, convinces or impresses others in a

way that results in acceptance, agreement or

behaviour change.


ATTRIBUTES Planning & organisation

Organises and schedules events, activities and

resources.

Sets up and monitors timescales and plans.

Problem solving & analysis

Analyses issues and breaks them down into

their component parts.

Makes systematic and rational decisions

based on relevant information.

Quality orientation

Shows awareness of goals and standards.

Follows through to ensure that quality and

productivity standards are met.

Specialist knowledge

Understands technical or professional aspects

of work and continually maintains technical

knowledge.

Strategic

Demonstrates a broad based view of issues,

events and activities and a perception of their

longer-term impact or wider implications.

Written communication

Writes in a clear and concise manner, using

appropriate grammar, style and language for

the reader.


PSYCHOMETRIC TESTS

Q What should I do after the

interview?

These are a structured way of evaluating how someone behaves, acts and performs under a range

of circumstances and are often administered online. As with all forms of testing, practice can

help you improve your performance on the day but make sure that you arrive with time to spare,

well presented and calm.

Personality questionnaires are used to determine how people are likely to behave under various

conditions. There are no right or wrong answers and the best way to approach them is to answer

them as honestly and straightforwardly as you can.

Aptitude tests examine abilities such as numerical, verbal or abstract reasoning; they do not test

intelligence or general knowledge. Often presented in a multiple choice format, the questions

have definite right and wrong answers and to be successful you need to work through them as

quickly and accurately as possible.

Do remember that it may be unclear what

role or position the interviewer has within

the organisation so at all times be respectful

towards everyone you meet.

• Find out from the interviewers what the

next steps are in the process

• Let your consultant know your feedback

as soon as possible. It is important for

us to know what you thought of the

organisation, the role, the people who

interviewed you and your impression of

how you performed in the interview.

Psychometrics is the field of

study concerned with the theory

and technique of psychological

measurement, which includes

the measurement of knowledge,

abilities, attitudes, personality

traits, and educational

measurement. The field is

primarily concerned with the

construction and validation of

measurement instruments such

as questionnaires, tests, and

personality assessments.

Best of luck with your interview!

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