There are significant difference across the globe as to the time professionals take in preparing for job interviews, finds a survey of over 2,500 professionals by international recruiter Robert Walters.

The UK & Irish jobseekers questioned were the most proactive in interview preparation, with the full results shown below the ad:

Asked how long people spent on average preparing for a job interview, 38% globally said they did more than two hours of preparation. Figures for individual countries were:

• Ireland: 74%

• UK: 55%

• China: 50%

• Hong Kong: 42%

• Australia, US: 41%

• South Africa: 39%

• Belgium, Japan: 38%

• Singapore: 37%

• New Zealand: 32%

• Malaysia: 28%

• Germany: 24%

Globally, just over one in five (22%) of workers said they prepared for less than 30 minutes for interviews – Spain (49%), the Netherlands (44%), Germany (41%) and Brazil (40%) being the biggest offenders here, while only one in 11 (9%) of UK interviewees did the same.

Chris Hickey, managing director of UK recruitment at Robert Walters, says: “When preparing, jobseekers should explore the company website to understand precisely what the business does and its recent performance. It’s also a good idea to talk to people in the industry to gain an insight into the organisation’s culture, along with its success factors, clients and potential growth areas.

“Finally, press coverage of the company can provide a sense of its activities, strategies and its overall market presence. The ability to demonstrate an informed knowledge of all of these facets of the company during the interview can often be the distinguishing factor for employers when deciding who’s going to get the job.”