How to Ace an Interview with Niamh Bailie

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Tmany moments in life more typically nervewracking than sitting in an office you’ve never been to, surrounded by people you’ve never met, waiting for a job interview. For some reason it’s the exact instant your brain decides to bring up all the useless information you’ve ever learned (and never forgotten), or, even worse, it’s when your brain decides not to work at all.

“We’re not necessarily interested in what a piece of paper says about you”, says Office and Recruitment Manage Niamh Bailie, who herself has sat across from dozens of interviewees, “We want to know what your natural core values are and who you are as a person. Our interviews are a lot more relaxed, they often just feel like a chat.”

Sounds good, right? But it’s one thing to give a good interview and another thing to give a great one. We sat down with Niamh and asked her to tell us her top five tips for acing an interview.

1. Always arrive five minutes early.

Our motto at Redline is, “If you are on time, you’re late”. The very first thing we want to know about you is if you’re reliable. If you’re keen and eager, you’ve got a much better chance of succeeding. A lot of the interview process is about discovering who you are and a lot of that happens right at the beginning, before we’ve even talked. This is the foundation of the business we run because we deal in direct sales; so first impressions are important.

2. Dress to Impress

They say that you make a decision on someone in the first seven seconds. Whether this is true or not I don’t know, but we are all about presentation. So if you come to an interview and we can see that you’re dressed well, that you are relaxed, smiling and confident, immediately you have a better chance. It’s true that our interviews are relaxed but this is still a workplace, so if you’re in jeans and a hoodie, we might think you’re not ready to start working with us.

3. Talk to everyone

We want people on this team who can talk to anyone and, more importantly, we want people who are curious and engaged. If you’ve turned up five minutes early and are smartly presented, but you sit in the corner with your eyes on the floor, then it might give us pause for thought. The best way to think about it is that your interview is with everyone in the office - the people at reception, the cleaners, everyone. We’re all part of the same team and I will often ask other people’s opinions. So if you come in and spend time with the girls at reception, if you ask them how their day has been, we’ll be able to see that you’re interested in other people and can hold a natural conversation. But if you’re only friendly with the people interviewing you, it might make us wonder if we’ve seen the real you.

4. Do your research

This is the most important. We want you to demonstrate that you have spent the time trying to find out about the work and the company. There are so many easy ways to do this - we have loads of information on our website and on Instagram. We want to know that you have an independent working mentality, that you interested in learning and that you prepared. If you have those three things—and you’re a team player—you should fit right in. And if you have put the work in before the interview, you’ll naturally be much more confident when you get here.

5. Be honest to yourself

This one covers a lot of areas. We want to see the best version of yourself and you’ll want to show it too. People who do this tend to be more personable, more confident and better prepared. But no-one is perfect and if you have questions—or there are things you don’t understand about the business— then we want you to ask! Personally, I would prefer to spend ten minutes at the end of the interview clarifying our business model than for someone to pretend they have totally understood it. People are sometimes afraid to ask something, in case they sound underprepared, but more often than not, the best way to show you’re eager to learn is to ask the question.

'We want people on this team who can talk to anyone and, more importantly, we want people who are curious and engaged. The best way to think about it is that your interview is with everyone in the office’