Most people know that before any interview or assessment event it is necessary to prepare.

Most good organisations will send you a Candidate Support Pack which should you give you the definitions of the competencies against which you are being assessed either at interview or through assessment centre. In this way, you can match your experience to the type of behaviours for which the organisation is looking. This is all sensible advice and I am sure most of you would do this kind of preparation without thinking.

This week I interviewed a candidate who had prepared for our interview extremely thoroughly. He came in with his notes which, I could see, were sectioned into specific competencies. To my disappointment, I could also see that he prepared one answer to what he thought the question was going to be - and prepared his notes accordingly. Inevitably, the questions I asked did not match those which he anticipated. Despite this, the candidate continued to read from his notes although his answer did not match my question. This made us both feel bad and the candidate was not invited back for the next stage of the interview process.

The tip here is that good preparation is about anticipating what you might be asked at interview and ensuring that you have a number of examples ready and have thought through which you could use. Or, if you have anticipated incorrectly and your notes don't help you - take a moment - write the question down and think on your feet. There is no point in sticking to your notes - no matter how good you feel they are if they don't match the questions you have been asked.