Smashing the interview

Philip Ireland
Monday 21 February 2022

Very few people would say they enjoy going to a job interview – an environment that is designed to put the spotlight on you! But, with the right preparation, you can succeed.

Your CV and initial application have done their job and got you to the shortlisting stage, and now the employer is trying to figure out if you are who you said you are on your CV. As a result, it’s entirely natural to have feelings of nerves in the lead-up to any interview, especially if you don’t have much experience of them.

While it can be extremely difficult to predict exactly how the interview will go or the exact questions you will be asked, this doesn’t mean that you should just turn up and see what happens – interview preparation plays a vital role in helping to relieve some of the uncertainty that you may be feeling.

Below, I’ve tried to give a brief overview of what good interview preparation looks like, what a possible interview structure could be, and my top tip for feeling more confident about your future interviews.

Interview preparation

  • Find out all you can about the type and format of the interview – how long it lasts, location (if in-person), and platform (if online). Make sure you give yourself enough time for travel to in-person interviews, and try to test out any relevant technology (like your camera, headphones and microphone) ahead of virtual interviews.
  • Fully familiarise yourself with the job or internship description, as well as any essential or desirable requirements – this is what the employer will be assessing and is very much your clue to what the focus of the interview will be.
  • Research the employer online and, where applicable, the wider sector in which they operate.
  • Match your experiences – prepare and develop your answers to the skills or competencies that the employer will be wanting to hear about.
  • Know yourself – what are your own key strengths and values, and how well do these align to what the employer is looking for?
  • Prepare your own questions for the employer – it can be easily forgotten, but interviews are fundamentally a two-way process. You have the opportunity to find out if you truly want to work for them! Be curious – what do you want to know more about regarding the role you’ve applied for?

What to expect at interview

  1. Introductions and overview – the employer has a role in helping each candidate to feel settled and able to perform at their best in any interview scenario. Usually, this begins with a brief welcome and introductions from each panel member (if being interviewed by more than one person), and is often followed by an overview of the day’s interview structure.
  2. Opening or motivational questions – as mentioned, the employer will want to make sure each candidate feels as settled as possible early on. The opening interview question is very much provided with this in mind, with the goal of getting you talking and settled into the interview. Questions often take the form “Can you explain why you have applied for a position with us?”, and these types of question are designed to ensure you’ve the right motivations for the role you’ve applied for.
  3. Competency-based questions – this type of questioning is very popular in the UK. In fact, it’s so popular that there is a recommended structure to use when providing your answer to competency questions, and many employers will be on the look-out for use of this structure in your answer.
  4. Technical questions or task (if applicable) – this depends on the nature of the role. Usually candidates are notified beforehand if there is a task to be completed either before or during the interview that might relate to certain technical skills an employer wants to assess.
  5. Questions for the panel – as mentioned above, I strongly encourage people to prepare a couple of questions in advance to ask the interview panel.

It is especially important to understand how to answer competency-based questions. These are designed to test one or more skills, or competencies. They work on the principle that past behaviour is the best indicator of future performance.

This means that if the role you have applied for emphasises working effectively as part of a team, the employer will want to hear a real example of how you have worked as part of a team before. Depending on your answer, the employer will then judge what that might mean for how you would cope with the role. As well as teamwork, other popular competencies assessed at interview include communication, organisational, and problem-solving skills.

STAR technique

To help structure your answer to these types of question, practise using the four-point framework known as the STAR technique:

Situation – introduce the situation to the employer and set the context.

Task – describe the task you had to complete, including any expectations or challenges.

Action – Explain what you did, how you did it, and what you had to take into account.

Result – what happened as a result of the actions you previously described?

If you stick with the above structure, you’ll find you’re better able to stay on-track and you’ll avoid unnecessary pauses or tangents that detract from your answer.

 

Top tip

My final piece of advice is simply:

Research the role and employer thoroughly

  Reflect on your skills and experiences

 Rehearse your answers to possible questions

For more information on interviews, check out our webpage on interview skills and remember you have the option of booking a practice interview appointment with a careers adviser. Good luck with your interviews!

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