Preparing for Interview

Preparation is key when it comes to Successful Interviews - here's some information that may help.

Research

Research the company prior to attending interview, have a good understanding of the companies origins and more recent news and accomplishments.

Mock Interviews

Do some mock Interviews to prepare and build up your confidence. Call in help from friends or family. Record yourself and listen back, amend your responses and try again until you feel confident that you have nailed it.

On line Interviews

You should treat on line interviews the same way as in person interviews. Dress professionally, be ready early and prepared in exactly the same way as you would for regular interviews. Make sure that you have a good broadband signal in advance. Ensure that you will not be disturbed by anyone in the house, give flat mates and family members the heads up that you are scheduled for an on line interview.

If you like you can put a board in front of you, behind your laptop and out of sight from the interviewer with ‘Buzz Words” and some phrases that may help you to remember the perfect answers. You can find some examples of phrases and keywords HERE.

Check out your environment behind you. It should look professional.

Interview Questions and Answers

Use the job description to make a list of possible interview questions. Search the internet for examples also, there’s lots of resources on line that will help you, or check out our prepared list of common interview questions and suggested responses below.

Behavioural Based Questions

A lot of interviewers use behavioural-based questions to allow you to effectively demonstrate your transferable skills and to give you the opportunity to describe situations where you have used your experience, skills and competencies to deal with situations.

A great method to use when responding to behavioural-based questions is the STAR method, which is a structured process of responding. It works like this;

Situation: Describe the situation that you were in or the task that you needed to accomplish.

Task: What goal were you working toward?

Action: Describe the actions you took to address the situation with an appropriate amount of detail and keep the focus on YOU. What specific steps did you take and what was your particular contribution? Be careful that you don’t describe what the team or group did when talking about a project, but what you actually did. Use the word “I,” not “we” when describing actions.

Result: Describe the outcome of your actions and don’t be shy about taking credit for your behavior. What happened? How did the event end? What did you accomplish? What did you learn? Make sure your answer contains multiple positive results.

Here are some questions and answers that may help you to prepare.

CAN YOU TELL US A LITTLE BIT ABOUT YOUR RELEVANT EXPERIENCE FOR THIS JOB?

When considering this question, you should showcase what you have learned both in formal settings in courses and also in on the job training and experience.

Like all questions you should be as concise as possible. If you have a lot of experience, choose only to talk about the experience and training that is relevant to this vacancy. You can mention that you have a lot of experience, but you feel that ‘xyz’ is relevant. Don’t forget to mention your technical and transferable skills and achievements.

Transferable skills are those that you can use in different industries. Also known as portable skills. Examples include communication, teamwork, organisation, leadership, and adaptability skills. They can be acquired through prior work experience, education, or even your everyday life. For example, excellent communication skills are essential whether you wish to become a teacher, lawyer, or engineer. You can find more information on Transferable Skills HERE.

CAN YOU GIVE AN EXAMPLE OF A TIME WHEN YOU HAD TO MULTITASK?

This question will give the interviewer an example of how you can cope with busy situations. It’s an opportunity to show how your productivity doesn’t suffer even when assisting several different entities or with several different tasks. Again, briefly describe a situation where you managed to stay on top of things and how you successfully got the tasks completed.

CAN YOU TELL US ABOUT A PROJECT THAT YOU REALLY ENJOYED WORKING ON?

So, a good example here could be a project that you worked on with a team. You can tell them how the project came about, the part you played and the outcome. You could explain that it gave you an opportunity to develop your team building, communication and creative skills.

HOW DO YOU MANAGE TO STAY ORGANISED?

You could talk about the many software applications that are out there to manage projects, tasks and your time. Focus on the ones that you have used recently. This is an opportunity to show that you have good technical skills also. You could also just simply say that you keep good lists of tasks that you have to complete to ensure that you stay on track.

WHAT ARE YOUR STRENGTHS?

Focus on matching your strengths with those required for the position, then give examples of how you applied these to your previous jobs.

WHERE DO YOU SEE YOURSELF IN THE FUTURE?

You could look at how the role might develop in the future and what you will do to ensure that you keep learning. You could talk about how technological developments are changing the way we work, and how you have adapted in the past and how you will adapt going forward. Of course, you could talk about moving up the ladder, but just be careful about giving the impression that you want to move roles too soon. At the interview they want to know that you will be happy doing the role that’s on offer for now, but they will be impressed that you want to keep learning.

SURPRISE QUESTIONS

There is a really good chance that a question will come up that you are not prepared for. Don’t panic, give yourself time to think about what they are asking you and if you don’t understand a question be sure to ask them what they mean. They would rather that you ask for clarification than for you to give a completely different answer to what they have asked.

ANSWERING QUESTIONS WITH EXAMPLES

Write down examples of tasks and projects that you completed or participated in that demonstrate real examples to back up the work experience that you have listed and that match the job description.

For example, if the job requires you to handle customer calls that may entail dealing with complaints. Have an example of a time when you dealt with a difficult customer situation and explain what you did to reach a successful resolution.

Elaborate on answers to show the skills that you used in previous roles. For example if asked “what type of duties did you perform at Cost Price Co?” Instead of just saying;

“I served customers”

You could say;

“I worked behind an extremely cash desk, where I had to work quickly and accurately. When the queues got very long, I would call for help from other staff members who were stacking the shelves. But during lunch breaks we just had to cope as best we could, remaining calm and courteous to customers and apologising for any delays. I carried out cash and credit card transactions for sales and also handled refunds on returns. I was promoted to the customer service desk, as my Manager identified that I was able to efficiently and successfully handle customer complaints. This gave me a great opportunity to further develop my skills.”

Summary of Interview Tips

Give yourself plenty of time to prepare. Practice, practice, practice will give you the confidence you need to succeed.

Make sure you have some good phrases and keywords at the forefront of your mind to describe your experience and skills.

Have examples of times, tasks and projects where you successfully used your skills, knowledge and experience.

Give yourself plenty of time to arrive at the interview venue. If you have time, do the journey as a trial run in the days prior to the actual interview to ensure that you know where you are going.

Dress for success, if you look good, you will feel good. Borrow a suit or some suitable professional looking clothes if you have to. If you are starting off in your career and funds are low, check out some charity shops. They normally have lots of shirts and professional suits on sale at very low prices. There are also some organisations like ‘Dress for Success’ who help with providing suitable clothing for interviews. Make sure you are well groomed.

In the interview try and make eye contact and smile. A handshake may be out of the question at the moment – acknowledge this to the interviewer.

If you’re nervous, say it – a good interviewer will make allowances and will try to make you feel at ease.

If you don’t fully understand a question, ask the interviewer to either repeat the question again or ask them if they ‘could rephrase the question”. Remember it’s better to be honest and clarify what they are asking, than to answer incorrectly.

Ask suitable questions that show you’re interested in the company and the position.

Thank the Interviewers for taking the time to see you.

We have outlined some additional more advanced scenarios in our article on Second Interviews that we'd highly recommend you to read also.

TO GO TO THE NEXT ARTICLE ON "Second Interviews" CLICK HERE

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