Interview skills

Bruce Woodcock University of Kent Careers and Employability Service

You can download a copy of this presentation at www.kent.ac.uk/careers/slides.htm

What makes a successful interview?

Application Process

The smaller company process is much simpler and you can apply much later (often after final exams) but salaries are usually lower and they offer less training and less chance to specialise.

Selection methods of top employers

HOW NOT TO INTERVIEW• Candidate had a fizzy drink just

before interview and spent the whole interview burping.

• Announced she hadn't had lunch and proceeded to eat burger and chips during the interview.

• When asked him about his hobbies, he stood up and started tap dancing around the office.

• Without saying a word, candidate stood up and walked out during the middle of the interview.

• Dozed off during the interview.• Said he never finished high school

because he was kidnapped and kept in a wardrobe.

Carefully research the employer and the job

Commercial Awareness• What do you know about our organisation?• What are our main products/services?• What are the problems facing our organisation?• What changes have there been in our sector recently?• Who are our clients?• What do you think the job you would be doing entails?

www.kent.ac.uk/careers/sk/commercialawareness.htm

BODY LANGUAGE

• Dress smartly• Shake hands warmly but wait to

be invited to sit down.• Smile!• Eye contact• Try to relax: don’t sit on the

edge of your chair, but don’t slouch.

• Speak clearly and not too quickly• Don’t fidget

www.kent.ac.uk/careers/interviews/nvc.htm

• What to wear www.kent.ac.uk/careers/ivdress.htm

PREPARE ANSWERS TO OBVIOUS QUESTIONS• Why are you applying to us?

• Why have you chosen IT/law etc.?

• What makes you suitable for this job?

• What other jobs are you applying for?

• Where do you see yourself in five years?

• Why did you choose your degree course?

• What have you got out of University?

• What do you do in your spare time? What do you get out of it?

COMPETENCY-BASED QUESTIONS

Describe a situation where you had to .....• show leadership • make a difficult decision • overcome a difficult obstacle • refuse to compromise • work with others to solve a problem

Person specificationExperience/Knowledge

Essential Desirable

Experience of prioritising competing demands √Experience of working with a diverse client group √

Skills/AbilitiesEssential Desirable

Ability to achieve targets within agreed timescales √Ability to work autonomously and as a team member √Ability to work with people at all levels √

Interview questions will be largely based around the competencies in the person specification e.g.“Describe a situation where you had to achieve targets within agreed timescales”

COMPETENCY-BASED QUESTIONS: STAR• Start by briefly outlining the Situation

• Keep the focus on your specific Tasks and responsibilities

• Say what Action you took, then try to summarise what you achieved. If it’s a group task, make sure you define your own role and contribution. This is the biggest part

• Give concrete Results when possible.

• (Reflection.) Say what you learned from it and what you might do differently next time.

• Situation/Tasks/Action/Result =

www.kent.ac.uk/careers/compet/skillquest.htm

Strengths InterviewsCompetencies are “what you CAN do”Strengths are “what you really ENJOY doing”.www.kent.ac.uk/careers/interviews/strength-based-interviews.htmWhen a candidate uses their strengths they demonstrate "flow": sense of energy and engagement;

• often lose a sense of time because of being so engrossed in a task;• rapidly learn new information and approaches;• demonstrate high levels of performance;

Questions you might get at strengths interviewsWARM UP • What are you good at?/What comes easily to you?• What do you learn quickly?FORCED CHOICE: • Do you prefer to lead or follow?• Do you prefer to start tasks or to finish them?• Do you prefer to work in a team or on your own?

Interview nerves• It's not that important: there will be other interviews in future.• Preparation: makes you more confident.• Dress smartly: if you look good, you feel good!• Start in a positive way and you will continue in this vein: smiling,

eye contact, a firm handshake.• Don't worry about making a mistake: everyone fluffs one question.• The day before write down everything you are worried about:

“downloads” your worries.• Visualisation: the night before, visualise yourself undergoing the

whole interview, step by step, and imagine everything going well.• Mindfulness techniques help to reducing stress.• Listen to empowering music beforehand!• Adopt power poses before (not at!!!) the interview:

standing upright with hands on hips, steepling hands.

• For more seewww.kent.ac.uk/careers/intervw.htm#nerves

HYPOTHETICAL QUESTIONS

• "How would you deal with an irate customer?”(customer service interview)

• Interviewer picks up an object from the desk. "Sell me this pen".(sales/marketing) interview

• BA pilot - asked what he would do if he met the captain wearing a dress in the hotel bar.(British Airways interview)

HYPOTHETICAL QUESTIONS

• Used because it's impossible to work out your answer beforehand.

• Test your ability to think quickly, logically, produce practical solutions.

• Don't panic! Take a few seconds to think - this shows confidence.

• Just try to think of one or two sensible things to say to start off.

• There may be many possible solutions.

PREPARE QUESTIONS TO ASK

• DON’T ASK about holidays, pensions and parking facilities.

• DO ASK about training, career development and the work itself.

PREPARE QUESTIONS TO ASK

• How is performance at work assessed?

• What is a typical career path in this job?

• Can you give me more details of your training programme?

• What is the ‘‘work culture’’? i.e. informal, formal, do people work autonomously, does everyone come in early, stay late?

• What are the challenges that your organisation is facing?

• What is your personal experience of working for this organisation?

FOLLOWING UP

• The interviewer will probably let you know when you’ll know the result. If they haven't made this clear, ask!

• The next stage may be a second interview or selection centre.

• After the interview, make notes on the questions asked and what you could have done better.

Telephone and video interviews

Telephone interviews• Usually shorter than normal interviews: half an hour

rather than 45 minutes• Only difference from normal interviews is lack of eye

contact: “Have I told you enough or would you like me to tell you more”.

• Don’t speak too quicklyVideo Interviews• Increasingly common: a “robot” asks you questions!• Can schedule for any time• Get about 2 minutes to answer each question• Practice on your phonewww.kent.ac.uk/careers/ivphone.htm for more tips

INTERVIEW WEB HELPPractice Interviews OnlineTeaching, accountancy, banking, journalism, marketing, retail personnel, Civil Service, postgrad. study, scientific research, IT and lawwww.kent.ac.uk/careers/interviews/mockivs.htm

Answers to 150 interview questionswww.kent.ac.uk/careers/interviews/ivquest.htm

Assessment Centreswww.kent.ac.uk/careers/applicn.htm

Employer Aptitude Testswww.kent.ac.uk/careers/psychotests.htm

On-line videos

• INTERVIEWS

• ON-LINE APPLICATIONS

• SELECTION CENTRES

Now streamed on-line in the Careers Award on Moodle (next slide)

Careers Award on Moodle (available until end of July)

• Half the unemployment rate for students who complete the award www.kent.ac.uk/careers/moodle.htm

• DP2650 Email bw@kent.ac.uk if you have problems enrolling

Interview Skills

www.kent.ac.uk/careers Telephone: 01227 823299 Email: careerhelp@kent.ac.ukOpening hours: Monday to Friday 9 to 5 including vacations Drop-in times (no appointment needed: 15 minutes): 10.30 to 12.30 and 2 to 4 pmHelp given for up to 3 years after graduationWeekly careers emails every Monday afternoon

Interview skills

Bruce Woodcock University of Kent Careers and Employability Service

You can download a copy of this presentation at

www.kent.ac.uk/careers/slides.htm

Careers Award Content12 Quizzes: need 75% to pass: allowed unlimited attempts

Complete 3 of the following 7 short, easy assignments

• Employability skills quiz

• How to develop the skills employers want?

• Test your spelling and grammar!

• What makes you happy at work?

• How commercially aware are you?

• Interview preparation

• Practice interview• What are the most

common interview questions?

• Aptitude tests and assessment centres

• CV quiz• CVs and covering

letters: drag & drop quiz

• Career planning drag and drop quiz

• Analyse your skills and learn how to make top quality applications

• Do you want to live to work or work to live?

• Choosing a career: find out what your ideal career is!

• Researching a career • Submit your CV for professional review• Social media in job hunting• Action planning

• I completed the award in my first year and got a placement with a top company due to the skills I gained on the award.• The amount of time put into this is astounding! I spoke to friends from other universities who said they wished they had

something like this.• It would be mad to apply for a job or attend an interview without doing it! • It has made me feel a lot more confident when it comes to applications and interviews in the future and has also made me

think about skills I have that I didn't think I had before.• It was so easy, quick and I learned a lot. Without realising, you have finished the course and have already put together a very

good CV and covering letter. • It covered every aspect, such as how to apply for a job, how to write a good cv and cover letter, analysing your skills and

showcasing them as well as making you think about the reason why we work. I was impressed with the amount of detailed information, links and quizzes which all proved extremely helpful and I learnt a lot that I didn't know before, making me feel better prepared for the future.

Moodle Careers Employability Award

www.kent.ac.uk/careers/moodle.htm

Assignments: complete 3 of these

• Analyse your skills and learn how to make top quality applications

• Do you want to live to work or work to live?

• Researching careers

• Choosing a career

• Submit a CV

• Social media

• Action planning

14 Quizzes: need 75% to pass

• Employability skills quiz• Employability skills quiz: drag and drop• How to develop the skills employers want?• Test your spelling and grammar!• What makes you happy at work?• How commercially aware are you?• Special interests topic lesson• Interview preparation• Practice interview• What are the most common interview

questions?• Aptitude tests and assessment centres• CV quiz• CVs and covering letters: drag and drop quiz• Career planning drag and drop quiz

Interview Quiz!

NOW TRY ANSWERING THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS• About how long should interview answers be?

• Tell me about yourself.

• What are your weaknesses?

• Do you have any questions you would like to ask us? Think of three good questions to ask at interview.

5 minutes

End

PREPARATION - THE KEY TO SUCCESS• Research the employer and the job

• Prepare answers to obvious questions

• Think of your unique selling points• Think of how you would answer

questions about your weaknesses• Prepare some questions to ask• Dress smartly• Leave plenty of time to get there

REAL QUESTIONS FROM CANDIDATES

• What is your Zodiac sign?

• Do I have to dress for the next interview?

• I know this is off the subject, but will you marry me?

• Will the company pay to relocate my horse?

• When is pay day?

• Would it be a problem if I'm angry most of the time?

• Why am I here?

Comments from students who have completed the award

You get a really nice certificate!

It was so easy, quick and I learned a lot.

Without realising, you have finished the course and have

already put together a very good CV and covering letter.

It really blew my mind with some ideas I’ve never known before, such as

portfolio working and working from home. I never thought about obtaining

happiness from my work before.

It would be mad to apply for a job or attend an interview

without doing it! Before the course I had only a vague idea of my

career path and opportunities. Now I am applying for summer internships and know how to

effectively sell my skills to a prospective employer and have a much more focused plan for my future.

The module is very, very useful! I really love how it makes you to think about

your personality and helps you to identify your strengths and weaknesses.

I found the module to be highly thought-provoking as it really encouraged me to consider how my degree will benefit my future and what I can be doing now to

improve my graduate employment prospects.

I enjoyed the depth of the module. It went far beyond some general tips on how to write a good CV and prepare for an interview. Rather it went in to detail about the whole process of graduate job search from the beginning to the end. It was very

instructive .

The amount of time put into this is astounding! I actually spoke to friends from other universities who said they wished they had something like this.

It has made me feel a lot more confident when it comes to applications and

interviews and has also made me think about skills that I didn't think I had

before.

I recently had a very successful interview largely because I put the advice on the module into

practice.

Duty Careers Adviser

• A Duty Careers Adviser is available to help with queries between 10.30 am to 12.30 p.m. and 2 to 4 p.m. every day.

• No appointment needed - just drop in.

Other Presentations.www.kent.ac.uk/careers/casevents.htm

“Sell” your degree• Many employers don’t know what a Multimedia or DA degree

entails.• Lots of “Mickey Mouse” degrees out there• Kent degree has a lot of project work and strong technical skills • Talk about relevant modules (plus marks if good!)• Technical skills: programming, applications such as Adobe Suite• Group projects: work with others in preparation and presentation.

Individual projects: work independently, manage time, project management skills, write report

• Portfolio• Gather and analyse relevant information from a wide variety of

sources• Identify and propose solutions to problems• Communicate with others in a clear and articulate manner• Present ideas and arguments verbally in presentations and

seminars, and informal discussions