I had a candidate recently who came back to me after “nailing an interview”. When I gave her a call, she was ecstatic: “I really nailed the interview on this one. I’m pretty sure I have it!” she exclaimed over the phone. As much as I loved hearing the good news, I had to respond with “ok great, now for round 2”.

It would be amazing (and make our jobs as recruiters far easier) if organisations could take people from a single interview. Most organisations usually take several interviews before being able to reach a final decision. Like anything worthwhile, interviewing is a process. Here’s how to master it.

To get an interview and even to be considered as a candidate you’ll need to give your C.V. Now just to be clear, this document is not just a collection of your work history. It’s much more than that. For many companies this document shows how you organise and present yourself. It’s not just about showing what you’ve done, but also about how you can distil it into information that they need to make their decision.

Add in a bit of due diligence from LinkedIn, and more than half of the hiring decision has already been made. Understanding this, you’ll want to start yourself off on the right foot by having a solid social presence and LinkedIn profile, and use your C.V. as the supporting argument. This is the start of the process.

One of my favourite stories of hiring comes from a friend of mine. He turned up to his first job interview in jeans and a tee, not knowing what to expect. As soon as he saw everyone else in the interview was in their best attire, he knew something was up. During the interview, he struggled to talk about himself, providing only a few sentences here and there about his skills and experiences. When asked what his biggest weakness was, he replied “I’m shy, but I’m working on it in this interview”. He got the job. Interviewing well isn’t just about talking about yourself. It’s about being likable and relatable. If you can do that above all else, it goes a long way.

Post interviews are such a hard time for candidates. Unless you have a recruiter, you’ll usually be left in the dark straight after the interview, and just be left with a “we’ll call you” type response. As disheartening as this can be, it’s important to understand the process that goes on in the background. The second interview isn’t about finding out what you can do for a business, but what showing what the business can do for you.

Interviewing is a process. For clients, there is almost no easy way to sort or differentiate between candidates. For candidates, understanding and trusting the process is the only way you can really “nail the interview”.