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

Selection methods of top employers in 2014

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

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 specification

Experience/Knowledge

Essential Desirable

Experience of prioritising competing demands √

Experience of working with a diverse client group √

Skills/Abilities

Essential 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. If you cannot be totally positive about the experience, 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

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.

On-line videos

• INTERVIEWS

• ON-LINE APPLICATIONS

• SELECTION CENTRES

• now streamed on-line

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

• All last about 25 minutes and are excellent!

INTERVIEW WEB HELP

Practice 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

Telephone interviewswww.kent.ac.uk/careers/ivphone.htm

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

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

Careers Employability Award on Moodle

• 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

Employability Fest 26th Oct. – 6th Nov.

www.kent.ac.uk/ces/empfest

Careers Fair

130 employersTues 3rd Nov 12 to 3 pm, Sports Hallswww.kent.ac.uk/ces/careersfair

AXA, Allianz, Accenture, CIMA, Deloitte, Fidessa, GT, Halifax, ICAEW, Lloyds, Morgan Stanley, PwC, RSM, Institute of Actuaries, Kent-Teach, DSTL, Airbus, IBM, Civil Service etc.

www.kent.ac.uk/ces Telephone: 01227 823299 Email: careerhelp@kent.ac.uk

Opening hours: Monday to Friday 9 to 5 including vacations

Drop-in times (no appointment needed): 10.30 to 12.30 & 2 to 4 pm

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

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

Coping with the recession

• Still lots of jobs out there – 300 on our vacancy database

• Make sure your CV is top quality

• Need to be more flexible in terms of choice of job and location – don’t wait around for your ideal job.

• Consider further study, work abroad (TEFL) or voluntary work to improve skills.

• Ask us for help if you get stuck!

• Other hints and tips at

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

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?

Vacancy Emails FormIMPORTANT INFORMATION FOR FINAL YEAR STUDENTS AND POSTGRADUATES WHO GRADUATE IN SUMMER.

If you graduate in summer please complete our Vacancy Email Form http://www.kent.ac.uk/careers/contact.html if you haven't already done so.

This will then ENTITLE YOU TO GET CAREERS HELP FOR UP TO THREE YEARS AFTER YOU LEAVE KENT including weekly vacancy emails, use of the information room, and consultations with careers advisers.

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