Interview Skills

Careers and Student Employability

Overview

• Interviews – the facts• Types of interviews• Interview questions• Contacts• Questions

Question time

What is an interview? How do we feel about interviews? What percentage of applicants reach the

interview stage?

The Interview: facts

If you reach the interview stage of an application process you are there for one reason – the employer believes you have the potential to do the job!

It remains for them to decide if you are the best candidate

Selection = prediction. It is not an exact science!

Interview facts

• Employers judge prospective employees in the first few minutes as follows:-

• 55% on how we look• 38% on how we sound• Only 7% on what we say

Presentation

• Look good– clean clothes, hair, shoes, nails

• Wear appropriate clothes• Positive body language• Turn off your mobile phone• Don’t panic!• Sell yourself

Planning

• Plan your route www.tfl.gov.uk• Remember the name of your

interviewer(s) and their contact number• Take a copy of your application and a pen

& pad• Arrive early (at least 30 minutes)• If you take a newspaper – make sure it is

a quality one

Types of interviews

Telephone - before- during – after http://employability.uelconnect.org.uk/page

s/interviews_and_assessment_centre/0/interviews_and_assessment_centres.html

Face to face – before – during – after http://employability.uelconnect.org.uk/page

s/interviews_and_assessment_centre/65/face_to_face_interviews.html

Interview questions

Typical questions

• Motivational Questions• Competency Questions• Scenario questions• Random Questions

Motivational Questions

These are questions designed to assess your level of interest in the job/role/company/sector.

Examples: “Why have you applied for this role”? “Why are you interested in working for us”?

Motivational questions/responses illustrate very well the 93/7% split

Competency Questions

Most jobs – including trainee graduate roles- are built around a specific set of competencies e.g. communication, interpersonal, problem solving

Questions will be asked to assess your potential in regard to these competencies

Typical structure – “Can you tell us about a time when…..”

The CAR approach

CAR can be used to respond to competency questions

Context: describe the context in which you are deriving your answer

Action: the steps you took to resolve the given situation (Most important!)

Result: the result of your actions and any reflections you can make on them

Scenario Questions

Similar to competency but more hypothetical e.g. “How would you handle this situation”?

Responses can either be based on previous experience or how you imagine you might respond in the given situation

Random Questions

In certain environments e.g. non public sector the employer may ask more random questions either based on your application or simply to assess how you react to unpredictable questions

Useful websites

http://www.uel.ac.uk/employability/index.htm

http://www.uelconnect.org.uk/employability/

http://www.uelconnect.org.uk/employability/interviews/index.html

http://www.prospects.ac.uk

Further Support

Book a mock interview with a CaSE Careers Consultant

Attend CaSE’s Career Development Workshops

Attend our “Day in the Life” programme to hear from employers about how they work

Attend our annual Careers Fair – 5th June Go online to our website -Interview

Simulator!