Author: Ruti Frankel

Congratulations, you are near the end of the interview, the tunnel truly does have a light at the end of it and you have done fabulously! You have made the interviewer chuckle, you have tooted your own horn more than once. Colors seem brighter and now, now the tables have turned! You are deemed conqueror in the little cubicle room as you are granted freedom to ask ANYTHING your heart contents about your interviewer, the company and what truly lies behind door 666 on floor 66. The possibilities are endless, yet the question remains, where do you begin?

Clichés exist. Clichés exist in stories, on the telly, in daily communication – even in the corner of Aunt Millie’s cupboard, (behind that moldy thing she insists is an antique). So, what are the clichés in an interview setting? There’s a bunch! But one particular phrase that is used a considerably amount of times is: ‘How did you hear about us?’ This can be answered in an array of ways – so long as you leave the ray gun at home.

Core competencies are skills, attributes and knowledge … essentially it’s a way of combining activities, resources and operations to help distinguish one company from the next. Yes, it is agreed, this is irrelevant to you – or it will be until the light bulb turns on over your head and you realise that you can bend this information to its knees and place it on a CV and cover letter. Now you may be thinking, ‘Great! But what exactly are they?’