CAREER MINI-GUIDE
CAREER PLANNING MINI-GUIDE
Preparing for Interviews
LJMU CAREERS TEAM 0151 231 2048/3719 ❚ careers@ljmu.ac.uk
www2.ljmu.ac.uk/careers
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You’re hired! Top tips for interviews Preparation is the key to a successful interview - discover what you can do to make a good impression and boost your chances of success. Congratulations - being invited to an interview means the employer thinks you could be the right person for the job! While you should feel great about reaching this stage, you will be one of several candidates vying for the position so you need to ensure you make the most of the opportunity and sell yourself effectively. An interview is basically a structured conversation with a purpose. It gives an employer the opportunity to find out more about you, assess whether you are suitable for the job and see if you will fit into their team or department. But remember interviews are also a two-way process ... you are also deciding whether the job, recruiter and work environment is right for you. Interviews can be nerve-wracking and stressful situations - but don’t panic. A few simple techniques, good preparation and some positive thinking can do wonders to reduce your stress levels and help you shine.
Top interview tactics ❙❙ ❙❙ ❙❙ ❙❙ ❙❙ ❙❙ ❙❙ ❙❙ ❙❙
Be positive in your answers Be prepared to talk and avoid yes/no answers Be yourself Be honest Answer the question asked! If a question confuses you, ask for clarification If you need a moment’s thinking time, ask for it Use examples from several different experiences Try to relax and remember to breathe!
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What to do before, during and after the interview… Before the interview... Preparation Thorough preparation is the key to a successful interview. One of the main ways to prepare is to research. You need to research the recruiter, the job role and yourself.
Research the organisation This demonstrates how interested and enthusiastic you are about working for the organisation and will help you prepare some questions to ask them at the end. All employers will expect you to display some understanding of what they do and the sector in which they operate. So update your current affairs/commercial awareness! Ask yourself: ❙❙ What do I know about the organisation? ❙❙ What attracts me to the organisation? ❙❙ What are the major trends in the sector in which they operate? ❙❙ What are its current priorities and developments?
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Research the job It is important that you know as much as possible about the job you are applying for: ❙❙ Read the job advert and/or the person specification. ❙❙ Look at the organisation’s website / recruiter brochure to see which skills or attributes are mentioned. ❙❙ Read employee profiles or case studies – you may find these on company websites. ❙❙ Use any opportunity to meet the recruiter at career fairs, on placement and other events, such as open days.
Research yourself It is important to remind yourself of the messages you have conveyed through your application form and be prepared to discuss anything you have included. Think about your strengths and demonstrate self-awareness. What makes you the best candidate for the post? Look at the job description and/or person specification and make sure you can give at least one positive example (preferably more) for each of the skills and attributes the employer is seeking. Clarify your own ideas about some of the things you may be asked. Ask yourself: ❙❙ ❙❙ ❙❙ ❙❙ ❙❙ ❙❙ ❙❙
Why do I want this job? Why should this organisation select me? What have I got to offer over other candidates? Why am I applying to this organisation? What are my ambitions? What are my strengths and weaknesses? What have I gained from my degree?
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Anticipate the questions It is often possible to predict the kind of questions you may get by looking at the Job Description and/or Person Specification. These provide the selection criteria for the job and they will ask you questions in order to determine whether or not you have the skills listed to do the job effectively. So look at the job description and/or the person specification and write down the skills and qualities required. There are however, some common interview questions which will often come up…..
Common Interview Questions ❙❙ ❙❙ ❙❙ ❙❙ ❙❙
Tell me about yourself Why have you applied for this particular role? Why do you want to work for this organisation? What skills can you bring to the job? What do you consider to be your greatest achievement and why? ❙❙ What are your views on...? (current issue related to the industry/sector)
Practical issues Practical preparation can often be overlooked but don’t forget this when preparing for your interview too. Plan your day so that you arrive as calm, collected and professional as you can be! Find out what the format of the interview is. Where will it be? Do you need to take anything? What are you going to wear? Do you need over night accommodation? Where will you park? Etc.
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During the interview ... First impressions First impressions are crucial. Studies have shown that someone forms judgements about you within four minutes of meeting you and that these judgements affect their subsequent impressions. So give a good impression to your interviewer from the very first moment you meet. Be on time, shake hands confidently, smile and introduce yourself. Walk tall, maintain eye contact, sit upright, talk clearly and be enthusiastic and positive.
Their questions With thorough preparation, you are in a good position to respond effectively to questions and display knowledge of yourself, the job and the organisation. When answering avoid yes/no answers, seek clarification if you need it, listen to the questions, be positive and use examples from different experiences. To give structure to your answers and give evidence of your skills the STAR technique can be very useful. This strategy will help you to focus your answers and demonstrate your competencies to the recruiter: ❙❙ Situation - what was the situation? Briefly describe the context. ❙❙ Task - describe what the problem was or what you needed to achieve. ❙❙ Action - what did you do, how did you do it and what skills did you use? ❙❙ Result - what did you achieve, what was the outcome and what did you learn? Make sure it shows you in a good light, even if the overall result was not a success. 6 PREPARING FOR INTERVIEW
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After the interview ... Learn from the experience ❙❙ Note down some of the questions they asked. Were you satisfied with your answers or could you do better next time? This will help you prepare for the next stage of the process or get ready for interviews with other employers. ❙❙ If they don’t contact you when they said they would, or if it has been more than two weeks, try ringing to check the situation. ❙❙ Get feedback from the interview if you have been unsuccessful, this can be invaluable and most recruiters are happy to provide it.
Extra support If you have an interview coming up and would like to practise your technique then you can book a one-toone mock interview at your nearest Careers Zone (at Byrom Street, Aldham Robarts Library and IM Marsh Library). Or you can attend a ‘Preparing for Interviews’ workshop or a ‘Interview Success’ webinar (online class delivered remotely). To book a place on either session visit:
https://worldofwork.ljmu.ac.uk/events
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Example interview questions Tell me about yourself: ❙❙ What are your major strengths/weaknesses? ❙❙ What experience has most influenced your development as an individual? ❙❙ What aspects of your course have you liked/disliked the most? ❙❙ Why did you choose to study your degree subject?
Competency questions: ❙❙ Describe a situation where you worked in a team ❙❙ Tell us about a time when you had to plan and organise something ❙❙ Give an example of where you had to communicate effectively ❙❙ What is your greatest achievement and why? ❙❙ Outline a situation in which you had to influence someone else to do something for you. How easy or difficult was this and why?
Questions about your projects, placements, vacation work: ❙❙ What did you learn from these? ❙❙ What did you contribute to them?
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Questions about your hobbies, interests, social life: ❙❙ What sort of responsibilities do these involve? ❙❙ What do you get out of them? ❙❙ What do you contribute to them?
What sort of careers are you considering and why: ❙❙ Why do you want to join this organisation? ❙❙ Why have you chosen to apply for...as a type of work? ❙❙ What do you think you would be able to contribute to this organisation/type of work? ❙❙ What have you got to offer us? ❙❙ How do you see your career progressing? Where do you see yourself in five years’ time?
Why I should employ you: ❙❙ How ambitious are you - where do you see yourself in 5/10 years time? ❙❙ What major problems or disappointments have you encountered and how did you deal with them? ❙❙ How would you cope if you were in disagreement with colleagues at work? ❙❙ How do you go about motivating others/yourself? ❙❙ How do you organise your time and assess your priorities?
Questions on current affairs: ❙❙ Topical questions about the company, e.g. How do you think the merger with ....will affect our high street image? ❙❙ If the company has had a recent high profile in the press, you will be expected to have an opinion. ❙❙ What do you think the United Nations should do about the situation in....? PREPARING FOR INTERVIEWS 9
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Notes
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www2.ljmu.ac.uk/careers LJMU CAREERS WORLD OF WORK CAREERSTEAM CENTRE 0151 231 2048/3719 ❚ careers@ljmu.ac.uk || worldofwork@ljmu.ac.uk 0151 231 2048/3719
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