Job Interview Assessment Task

Course

Subject

Year Level Third year

Weighting

Learning outcomes

Students will learn how to:

1. Conduct a discipline-specific job search.2. Deconstruct a position description into required tasks, skills, knowledge and experience and

match against own.3. Identify and demonstrate appropriate verbal and non-verbal interview behaviours.

4. Justify your suitability in an interview.

Task description

You will conduct a job search to source a job vacancy that is relevant to your chosen field. You will then deconstruct this job using the advertisement and any supporting documents to identify the requirements specified, and detail how your own skills, knowledge and experience match, using the table provided. This table will be submitted via LearnJCU or PebblePad, along with any additional documentation such as position descriptions or applicant packs (additional documents will vary between employers).

The interview component of this assessment task will be undertaken and recorded via Big Interview. Instructions on how to use Big Interview are provided to assist you to practice and prepare for the interview, and a short multiple choice quiz will need to be completed in LearnJCU.

You will record a practice interview and share it with two peers for their review. You will reciprocate by reviewing their interviews. You should consider the feedback that you receive from your peers to produce a final interview recording for assessment. Further details are provided below.

Learning Outcome Learning Activity Assessment Due Date

1 Discipline-specific job searchJob advertisement and any additional

documents

2

Prepare using the Big Interview Fast Track video lessons, completing up to and including ‘Analyzing Job Descriptions’.

-

Identify skills, knowledge and experience in position description. Demonstrate alignment of your skills and experience.

Table of skills, knowledge and

experience

3 Complete the Big Interview Fast Track video lessons and the Practice Interview Questions

LearnJCU Quiz

Prepared by JCU Careers and EmployabilityLearning, Teaching and Student Engagement (December 2019) Page 1 of 10

Job Interview Assessment Task

Learning Outcome Learning Activity Assessment Due Date

for your subject.

Record your practice interview using Big Interview. Review your practice video. Re-record as many times as you wish.

-

Review your interview and the interviews of two peers and provide feedback to them, via Big Interview.

-

Summarise feedback from your peers: - What did you do well?- What did you need to improve?- What did you learn from your peers’

interviews?

Summary, 200 words

4Record final interview for assessment via Assignments menu in Big Interview (code will be forwarded by email).

Interview

Discipline-specific job search

Your lecturer may post links to discipline-specific job search sites on LearnJCU. In addition to these, you may wish to refer to the job search tips from JCU Careers and Employment and relevant Career Snapshots.

The job you choose must mention at least three tasks or areas of skill, knowledge or experience required by the employer. You should consider what you have gained from part-time and casual work, previous careers, industry-relevant or general volunteering, involvement with clubs etc, as well as from your university study. Watch this short video from JCU Careers and Employability to get some tips on how to do this and read this skills summary for further detail on common skills that employers recruit for.

Table of employability skills, knowledge and experience

Before you start this task, ensure you have watched the Big Interview Fast Track up to and including ‘Analyzing Job Descriptions’:

1. Register with Big Interview via this link . This will ensure it recognises your JCU access.2. Click Start Here to familiarise yourself with the platform.3. Choose the Fast Track option to learn how to deconstruct your job description and to

prepare for your interview (can be completed in less than two hours).

You will use the following table to:

Identify the tasks, skills, knowledge and experience mentioned in the position description; Demonstrate your suitability for the position by tabling your skills, knowledge and

experience.

Once completed, submit your table via LearnJCU along with your chosen job vacancy and any additional documents the employer provides, such as position description or applicant pack.

Prepared by JCU Careers and EmployabilityLearning, Teaching and Student Engagement (December 2019) Page 2 of 10

Job Interview Assessment Task

Sample job advertisementField Ecologist – Cape York mining industryScience students (3 positions) required to complete a government-funded fauna survey program. Suitable applicants will be employed on a casual basis until the end of the year. The position will involve 6 x one week fieldtrips within the undisturbed areas of mining leases in the Cape York area. Suitable applicants will have the following capabilities and attributes:

Experience in undertaking fauna field surveys and, as a minimum, a good working knowledge of NQ birds;

Experience in navigating and mapping the bush to enable safe work practices; Experience in vegetation survey and a demonstrated understanding of vegetation descriptors;

High level of fitness to walk up to 20km per day in hot and humid conditions; A desire to work towards the company goals of maximising positive environmental outcomes

within an active mine site; Ability to work in a zero alcohol/drug environment with the possibility of random drug and

alcohol testing.

Prepared by JCU Careers and EmployabilityLearning, Teaching and Student Engagement (December 2019) Page 3 of 10

Job Interview Assessment Task

Table of skills, knowledge and experience – with examples

Requirements from the job vacancy and/or additional documents

My relevant experience, knowledge, skills outside of university

Subjects where I have developed this experience, knowledge, skills

Other transferrable skills/experience

Strength or Weakness

Other ways I can develop this

Experience in navigating and mapping the bush to enable safe work practices

Three parts:

1. Experience in navigating 2. and mapping the bush 3. to enable safe work

practices

Member of Townsville Bushwalkers since 2017, walk leader for 6 off-track walks of 10-20 participants

Navigation course through Townsville Orienteering Club

Current Apply First Aid

Fieldwork experience through subjects BS2000, BZ2000, EV1000, including risk assessment

Mapping skills developed in two GIS subjects

Follow occupational health and safety procedures at casual hospitality job

Strength Volunteer with Coastal Dry Tropics Landcare to do seed collection – off-track hiking and GPS data collection, plus boost flora identification skills

Provide First Aid in Remote Situations course

4WD Off-road Skills course

A desire to work towards the company goals of maximising positive environmental outcomes within an active mine site

Three parts:

1. A desire to work towards company goals

2. of maximizing positive environmental outcomes

3. within an active mine site

Occasional Landcare volunteering

Zoology and Ecology major is geared towards positive environmental outcomes

Rehabilitation project in BZ2002

Adhere to the company customer service standards at casual hospitality job

Weakness Seek out placement with environmental consultancy to develop organisational awareness and experience with service delivery to clients, possible exposure to mining

Further involvement with Landcare to build experience with project work with specific environmental outcomes, accountability to clients/government and commitment to organisation goals

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Job Interview Assessment Task

Prepare for the interview

Now that you have identified your suitability for the position, you can prepare for your interview. Learn how to construct interview responses and practice articulating them by doing the following:

1. Read the Interviews information sheet prepared by JCU Careers and Employment.

2. Register with Big Interview via this link . This will ensure it recognises your JCU access.

3. Complete the Big Interview Fast Track to continue your preparation for your interview.

NOTE: When preparing for a real job interview you will generally not know the questions ahead of time as you will in this assessment. Prepare by practicing additional questions using the Question Library, found under the Practice menu. It is recommended that you choose the General, Top 10 questions, which cover the most common topics.

4. Complete the Quiz in LearnJCU.

Record the practice interview

1. Select Practice>Practice Interviews from the top menu bar.2. Choose General Start Here OR your lecturer might direct you to use a Custom Set. 3. To see all your completed recordings, go to My Videos (in the top menu bar). Click on the ‘…’

under Actions for reviewing, sharing and other options.

You may practise interviewing as many times as you wish, and view interview recordings to rate and improve your performance each time. It is recommended that you practice because it is much more difficult to verbally articulate your responses in an interview than it is to think through examples in your head.

Review your interview and the interviews of two peers

1. Click on a recording to open the self-review window. The review page requires you to use a 5-star rating system to review verbal and non-verbal aspects of your interview, as well as adding comments.

2. After reviewing your best interview, select Share from the ‘…’ menu to email your recording to two peers for review.

3. Once you have completed reviews for your two peers and you have received your reviews in return, submit a 200 word summary on LearnJCU or PebblePad of the feedback you’ve received, covering what you did well and what you can improve, and what you learned from your peers and their recordings.

IMPORTANT: Your lecturer will tell you which interview question set to use for assessment purposes. It may be a Custom Set or a particular Standard Set.

Record your final interview

1. Go to Assignments in the top menu, enter the assignment code [enter here once created in Big Interview].

2. Work your way through the assignment questions. You may re-record individual questions before finalising your interview.

3. Hit submit to finalise the assessment.

Job Interview Assessment Task

Implementation Guide for Staff

Learning Outcom

eLearning Activity Delivery Mode Assessment type:

title

1 Discipline-specific job search Independent study or during a tutorial

Formative: Job vacancy and

additional documents

2 Identify skills, knowledge and experience in job description

Demonstrate alignment of your skills and experience

Tutorial to provide instruction followed

by independent study

Formative: Table of skills, knowledge and

experience

3 Prepare for the interview Independent study Formative: LearnJCU Quiz

Participate in and record the interview using Big Interview Independent study

Review your interview and the interviews of two peers

Self-review: independent study

Peer-review: collaborative online

Formative: Review of own

interview

Formative (for reviewee):

Review of interviews of two peers

200 word summary – reflection of feedback

Independent study Formative:

Identify strengths and areas for improvement

4 Record final interview via Big Interview assignments feature Independent study Summative:

Interview(s)

Job Interview Assessment Task

Start here

Register with Big Interview via this link . This will ensure it recognises your JCU access. Contact JCU Careers and Employability to be set up as an administrator.

Yellow highlights in the student instructions indicate parts that you need to tailor to your preferences.

Key terms

Graduate employability

A “set of achievements – skills, understandings and personal attributes – that makes graduates more likely to gain employment and be successful in their chosen occupations, which benefits themselves, the workforce, the community and the economy.” (Yorke, 2006, p. 8).

Evidenced by the application of a mix of personal qualities and beliefs, understandings, skillful practices and the ability to reflect productively on experience (Yorke, 2006), graduate employability goes beyond the simplistic notion of the university providing graduates with skills to get a job. In the context of a rapidly changing and unpredictable future labour market, to remain employable, individuals need “skills, knowledge, resilience, focus and tenacity to stay marketable and be the equivalent of a desired commodity.” (Kinash, et al., 2014, p. 8)

Skills

Competencies needed to perform the job or certain tasks, e.g. communication skills, teamwork, analytical and problem solving skills, personal management skills, interpersonal effectiveness, digital literacy, leadership or management skills, learning skills, academic competence in reading and math, strong work values.

Knowledge

Facts, information or skills, acquired through experience and/or education, required for the job – not always mentioned in a position description.

Experience

Practical contact with a situation or subject gained through involvement or exposure; may be either accumulated over time or gained through exposure to a single and specific momentary event.

Big Interview practice question set up

As previously mentioned, you will need to decide on which question set you will require your students to interview. You have three options:

1. Select a Standard Set (ten questions) 2. Design a Custom Set for your subject, using questions from the Big Interview library (choose as

many/few questions as you wish)

3. Design a Custom Set for your subject, recording your own interview questions and tips.

Option 2 can be the most time efficient as you choose existing questions from the library and can limit the number to two or three to mark.

If you choose Option 3 Design a Custom Set, the staff at JCU Careers and Employability can assist.

Job Interview Assessment Task

Whichever option you choose, keep in mind that your final assessment questions should match the practice set. The aim is for students to learn and practice the preparation processes and delivery, as such having the questions known ahead of time best supports this learning.

Big Interview assignment set up

Setting up an assignment is simple, full instructions can be found here.

LearnJCU quiz

These questions are taken from Big Interview’s Fast Track, from the videos listed below. These videos have the most important points for students to undertake this assignment. So, even if they choose not to do the whole Fast Track, the questions should guide them to watch the most important videos. The questions are hurdle tasks only, they aren’t designed to thoroughly test understanding. The videos have transcripts, making it easier to refer back to them and to find the answers to questions. The quiz questions are drawn from the following videos:

1. Best practices2. Types of interviews3. Mastering Nonverbal Communication 4. Analyzing Job Descriptions

Add the following questions into LearnJCU (answers in bold):

1. What are the four job interview best practices outlines in Big Interview? a. Be authentic; sell yourself; be concise; show enthusiasmb. Fit in with the organisation; sell yourself; be concise; show enthusiasmc. Be authentic; talk up your achievements; be concise; show enthusiasmd. Be manipulative; exaggerate yourself; keep talking; be measured in your

enthusiasm2. What sets apart candidates who get hired versus those who don’t?

a. A great outfitb. Preparationc. A winning smile and a firm handshaked. Confidence

3. Which of the following are important reasons to get comfortable with maintaining good eye contact?

a. It conveys confidenceb. It shows you are not intimidatedc. It helps establish a meaningful connection with your interviewerd. Both a and c

4. What are the five steps to breaking down a job description? a. Identify competencies; identify salary bracket; identify strengths, identify

competitors; anticipate questionsb. Identify competencies; identify themes; identify strengths; identify gaps;

anticipate questions. c. Identify company; identify job title; identify hours; identify tasks; anticipate questions.d. Identify competencies; identify themes; identify strengths; ignore weaknesses;

anticipate questions.

Job Interview Assessment Task

PebblePad instructions

If you want students to keep their reflections in PebblePad, you might like to include these instructions in the subject outline.

Access PebblePad templates by following these steps:1. Go to https://v3.pebblepad.com.au/login/jcu/Login

2. Log into PebblePad3. Select Resources (see screenshot below)

4. Select the resource that your lecturer has asked you to use - What? So what? Now what? is an appropriate template choice for simple reflection.

5. Complete your reflection, saving as you go (Save is located at the top left, beside Preview)

Once completed:6. Select I want to…7. Select Share (I would like to share this) 8. Select Share asset with the web9. Select Copy this URL and paste the URL into a Microsoft Word document10. Select Update share and exit PebblePad

11. Submit the Word document with the URL via LearnJCU

If you experience trouble with PebblePad, help can be accessed within the platform or via https://www.jcu.edu.au/learning-and-teaching/learning-design/blended-learning/teaching-with-technology/pebblepad/pebblepadv5

Job Interview Assessment Task

Task Rubric

CriteriaOutstanding

(80%-100% or Upper D to HD)Sound

(65%-79% or C to mid D)Satisfactory

(50%-64% or P)Unsatisfactory(0%-49% or N)

Job Search

Experience Demonstrates a sophisticated understanding of the alignment of skills, knowledge and experience to the chosen job and identifies significant strategies for further development

Demonstrates a sound understanding of the alignment of skills, knowledge and experience to the chosen job and identifies strategies for further development

Demonstrates a basic understanding of the alignment of skills, knowledge and experience to the chosen job and identifies some strategies for further development

Demonstrates a limited understanding of the alignment of skills, knowledge and experience to the chosen job and identifies few or inaccurate strategies for further development

Interview

Content of interview responses

Insightlfully responds to questions, providing highly effective evidence of demonstrated skills, knowledge and experience in interview

Accurately responds to questions, providing strong evidence of demonstrated skills, knowledge and experience in interview

Provides surface level responses to questions with some evidence of demonstrated skills, knowledge and experience in interview

Has difficulty in responding to questions and/or inaccurately responds, providing little or no evidence of demonstrated skills, knowledge and experience in interview

Verbal communication Applies highly effective communication skills, as evidenced by clear and logical responses to interview questions and minimal or no use of verbal fillers (e.g. ‘um’ and ‘ah’)

Applies effective communication skills, as evidenced by clear responses to interview questions and minimal use of verbal fillers (e.g. ‘um’ and ‘ah’)

Applies sound communication skills, as evidenced by mostly clear responses to interview questions and occasional use of verbal fillers (e.g. ‘um’ and ‘ah’)

Applies poor communication skills, as evidenced by simplistic and/or unclear responses to interview questions and frequent use of verbal fillers (e.g. ‘um’ and ‘ah’)

Appearance and body language

Maintains positive body language throughout (e.g. steady eye contact, no fidgeting, confident demeanour)

Displays mostly positive body language (e.g. steady eye contact, avoids fidgeting)

Displays some positive body language (e.g. mostly steady eye contact, some fidgeting)

Has difficulty displaying positive body language (e.g. lack of eye contact, frequent fidgeting)

Reflection and evaluation

Reflective thinking (self) Critically reflects to identify aspects of the interview that were a success and aspects that could be improved

Reflects to identify aspects of the interview that were a success and aspects that could be improved

Reflects to identify some aspects of the interview that were a success and others that could be improved

Has difficulty reflecting on aspects of the interview that were a success or could be improved

Evaluative thinking (peer)

Insightfully analyses each response, providing appropriate and critical feedback to peers on the quality of their interviews

Accurately analyses each response, providing appropriate feedback to peers on the quality of their interviews

Superficially analyses each response, providing some feedback to peers on the quality of their interviews

Has difficulty analysing and/or inaccurately analyses responses, providing little or no feedback to peers on the quality of their interviews

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