Interviews can be nerve wracking no matter what stage of your career. It’s important to be prepared to not only sell yourself but ask the right questions.

I believe setting goals for your job search is essential so you can bring questions and ensure the organisation aligns with your lifestyle, values and requirements. Some key questions to consider for a goal oriented job search are:

• Do you want to be client facing?

• How many days do you want to work in the office?

• What responsibilities do you have outside work?

• What are your salary expectations?

• What is your notice period?

• What company culture and practices do you value?

With clear goals and requirements you’ll then be able to prepare questions for the interview.

Practice makes perfect. The more you can practice responding to questions and asking questions the better. We recommend the STAR (Situation, Task, Action, Result) method to answering questions. You can find our Guide to Interview Preparation here.

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Our team of expert recruiters have been interviewing candidates for agency and client-side roles for over three decades collectively. Alongside a wealth of industry experience, our recruiters understand agency and client-side life. Their goal is to ensure success in the next step of your career, whether that’s finding a role with more flexibility, one with leadership responsibilities or a new role when you move to Sydney.

Take a look at Team Stopgap’s top interview tips.

Hilary Williams

“Be yourself and true to yourself but have an idea of your own personal brand and how you would like to be portrayed! How do you want to be remembered?”

Hilary loves to understand what candidates personality and point of difference, the goals for the next stage of their career and what type of organisation they’d like to work at.

Larisa Todd

“To always have questions ready to ask e.g. “describe the company culture?”, “what’s great about working here?”, “why has the role come about?”, “what’s the average tenure of your employees?””

Larisa is a natural people person and can tell if the candidate is well-suited to the role based on the questions they ask. Her advice is definitely applicable to all industries and candidate-focused. You must find out if the organisation’s culture and management style suits you!

Laura Brisdion

“Be prepared! Do your homework on the company and come with questions that you want to know about the company and the role - it’s your interview too!”

With years of experience in client-side marketing, Laura knows what it takes to find the right role. Interviews always work both ways so ask recruiters and hiring managers as much as possible about the company and the role.

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All in all, a good interview comes down to preparation and good communication. It’s a skill that can be practised so that you feel confident and find a role that suits your goals. We have a range of Job Hunting Advice from creating a winning CV, updating your LinkedIn profile to answering interview questions.​