1 Interviews

Robert Donovan and Mark De Freitas

2 Introduction

• Different stages / types

• Employer’s perspective

• Preparation

• Types of questions

• Making an Impact

• Interaction

3 Different stages / types of interviews

Association of Graduate Recruiters survey of their 900 members

• Preliminary telephone interview (used by 46% of AGR members)

– graduate recruitment staff

– outsourced to specialist agencies

• 1st round interviews (61%)

– On campus / regional centres / head office

• Assessment centres (90%)

– Further interviews / case studies/ group tasks / presentations/ written exercises

• One to one or panel?

4 The Employer’s agenda • To verify the claims in your application form and to dig

deeper…

• Can you do the job?

– qualifications, experience, skills…

• Do you want to do the job?

– knowledge of organisation / department, job knowledge, motivation, enthusiasm

• Will you fit in?

– values, attitude, personality

5 Types of Questions

• biographical

• motivational

• behavioural/ competency

• brainteasers/ hypothetical

• technical

See example interview questions handout

6 Practise interview scenario 1

• group yourself into 3’s and assign following roles:

interviewer, candidate and observer

• STAY IN THE SAME ROLE FOR ALL QUESTIONS

Observer’s feedback:

• focus on ‘first impressions’

• other: structure, length/ clarity of answer

7 Making an impact

• what we say

• how we say it

•unspoken

signals

• walk confidently into the

interview and shake hands.

• make eye contact and smile

• use mirroring techniques

– e.g. leaning forward,

laughing

• stay alert

– sit upright, nod

• don’t stare or look down

• slow your movements

• breathe

8 Competency Question Strategy

Can you do the job..?

– behavioural / competency

• You need to prepare evidence of the personal qualities that are required for the role

– eg teamwork, interpersonal communication, research etc

• STAR

– Situation 10%

– Task 10%

– Action (What you did) 70%

– Result (& Reflection) 10%

9 ‘Tell me about a time when you showed good organisational skills and the ability to plan effectively.’

Scoring between 1 and 4

• planning and anticipating problems in advance

• prioritising in order of importance

• scheduling time/ resources eg – project status documentation, rdaily activity lists

• delegating/ assigning tasks

• taking timely decisions

• supervising/ overseeing

• reviewing performance - eg milestones, progress meetings

• supervising and overseeing

• coping/ persevering in face of obstacles

• meeting deadlines

10 Provide evidence from a range of sources

Evidence required by employer:

• research ability, an analytical

approach to work and problem-

solving skills

• communication skills including

presentation, persuasion and

diplomacy skills

• team working and interpersonal

skills

• organisational skills

• commercial awareness

Examples:

– Degree/ thesis/ tutorial

presentations

– student society/ part-time &

voluntary work/ careers

workshops

– Summer internship

– elected Postgraduate rep

– Fund raising for local charity

– Student football team captain

11 Interviews preparation Evidence required:

• research ability, an analytical

approach to work and problem-

solving skills

• Communication skills including

presentation, persuasional and

diplomacy skills

• team working and interpersonal

skills

• organisational skills to meet

deadlines and work under

pressure

• Commercial awareness

Examples

– Degree/ thesis/ tutorial

presentations

– student society/ part-time &

voluntary work/ careers

workshops

– Summer internship

– elected Postgraduate rep

– Fund raising for local charity

– Student football team

12 Practice interview 2

13 Difficult questions • Tell me about yourself

• What are your weaknesses?

• How many hairs are there on a dog?

• What is the angle between the clock hands at 4.30?

• Are you applying to our competitors?

• Why should we employ you?

• What are your salary expectations?

14 Practice interview 3

15 Your questions.....

• Can you give me a fuller picture of your training programme?

• Can you tell me what roles the graduates recruited in the last 3 years are now doing?

• I understand your firm operates appraisals – can you tell me more?

• What are the possibilities of using my xyz skills?

• I read that your company is going to do abc, but I do have a further question…

• In your annual report I notice that…

16 Hints and tips - preparation

• re-read your application

– what might interest/ worry an interviewer

• familiarise yourself with job description/ person specification

– what skills, qualities and experience are they looking for? what examples can you give?

– plan key points you want to make

• research the company and the sector

– what: usp’s, customers, competitors, ‘swot’, values

– where: website, annual report; industry press presentations, fairs, alumni

17 Hints and tips - general

if it seems to be going wrong

• keep calm if interviewer is aggressive / doesn’t seem to like you

• ask for a question to be rephrased if necessary

• don’t know the answer? offer sensible guess / ask for a clue

• try not to panic – you are unlikely to fail because of one answer

closing the sale

• Ask them questions, thank them, know what the next step is

afterwards

• review your performance and ask for feedback

18 Further resources and

Careers service support • 1:1 practice interviews with a careers adviser

– on confirmation of ‘real employer interview’

• The Careers Group: ‘How to succeed at interviews’ booklet

• video guides:

– how to succeed in interviews and assessment centres

• ‘Top answers to tough questions’

– Matthew J Deluca/ John Lees

• employer/ CA led interview skills workshops