Interview skills for IS staff

University of Kent Careers and Employability Service

Content1.30 Introduction/Icebreaker

1.55 Interview skills presentation and quiz

3.00 Refreshments

3.15 Interview exercise

PresentersHelen Johnson, Natalie Basden and Bruce Woodcock

Discussion

•What are your experiences of interviews?

•What are your main concerns?

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.

Preparation

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?

The library in changing times• move from books to e-resources and e-learning. • wider perspective: information rather than just books• serving the customer in a business sense, • student satisfaction!

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

Does what I wear really matter?

• 37% of employers decided against hiring someone because of what they were wearing

• 80% of interviewers think it is inappropriate to wear red to an interview

• 99% of interviewers said they would be inclined to mark down female applicants if they wore dangly jewellery

• 95% find low-necked tops and no tights unsuitable interview attire (The Ladders)

• www.kent.ac.uk/careers/ivdress.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

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

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

Every question is designed to assess you against set criteria• “I tried to work out which of these criteria a particular

question was pertaining to, and address that, rather than just the specific question.

• In the public sector there are no really spontaneous questions and nothing is asked without a purpose: they have to do everything fairly and openly.

• So there’s a grid of criteria, with questions that relate to those criteria, and each question you get asked will result in the panel writing down the evidence that shows you meet that criteria.

• Each question is given a score, then the highest total score wins so you have to be hitting those criteria.

• It’s a question of asking yourself, what do they ACTUALLY want from me with this one?”

Successful candidate for a library post

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

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

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

HYPOTHETICAL QUESTIONS

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

• Interviewer picks up a cheap biro from the desk. "Sell me this pen".(sales/marketing interview)

• BA pilot interviewee: was 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 for you to work out your answer beforehand.

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

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

• Just 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 the 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 the 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!

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

On-line videos

• INTERVIEWS

• ON-LINE APPLICATIONS

• SELECTION CENTRES

• streamed on-line

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

• All last about 25 minutes and are excellent!

Further Help: Interview Skills Web Pageswww.kent.ac.uk/careers/applicn.htm

Interview skills

University of Kent Careers and Employability Service

You can download a copy of this presentation at

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

Task 1

• Get into pairs, decide who is the interviewer and who is the candidate

• Interview question: Give me an example of a situation where you have had to refuse to compromise

• Interviewer – take notes identifying whether the answer uses the STAR approach (Situation, Task, Action, Result)

• You have 5 minutes

5 minutes

End

How not to interview!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sd_dGhHAAFc&feature=related

• Men - conventional suit with a conservative shirt - plain pastel shades or modest stripes and dark shoes. Don't wear light coloured socks or too much aftershave!

• Women - conventional suit or coordinating jacket and skirt. Dark colours suggest authority but bright can work with care. Wear tights. Don't wear lots of frills, trousers unless smart, very high heels or lots of make-up, perfume or jewellery.

Dress Smartly

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?

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

UoK Careers Fair

The thing that annoys me the most in the interview

process is when a candidate hasn’t bothered with

their physical presentation. We want to see

business dress – wear a suit. Make an effort, do

your hair, don’t be scruffy!

Tom: Audit SupervisorBaker Tilly

Alison, Vanessa, Caroline, LizCanterbury Christ Church PGCE

We look for how the candidate is presented. They need to be professional. We also value

communication skills and confidence. The thing that annoys us most in the interview process are the

‘know it all’ candidates!