Science Interviews

Bruce Woodcock University of Kent Careers and Employability Servicebw@kent.ac.uk

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

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.

CVs and Applications Resources

• Science CV

www.kent.ac.uk/careers/cv/sciencecv.htm

• Science covering letter

www.kent.ac.uk/careers/cv/placementletter.htm

• Application forms

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

The best way to learn how to excel at application forms is to do the “Analyse your skills and learn to make top quality applications” assignment in the Moodle Careers Employability Award. (More about this later!)

Skills gained on a science degree• Gather and analyse relevant

information from a wide variety of sources

• Identify and propose solutions to problems

• Project management• Technical skills• Work independently (individual

projects)• Communicate with others in a

clear and articulate manner• Present ideas and arguments

verbally in presentations and seminars, and informal discussions

• Sell these on your CV, applications and interviews!

“Sell” your degree• List relevant modules (plus

marks if good!)• Projects – especially if

relevant• Laboratory skills/IT skills • Soft skills – evidence of

teamwork, project management, problem solving etc.

• For non-science jobs (e.g. banking) you would need a different CV focusing on your soft skills more than technical skills.

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 for the interview

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

• 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.

• www.kent.ac.uk/careers/ivdress.htm

Dress Smartly

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 nerves• Nerves are expected in the first few minutes.• The interviewer may be nervous too!• 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 see www.kent.ac.uk/careers/intervw.htm#nerves

PREPARE ANSWERS TO OBVIOUS QUESTIONS

• Why are you applying to our company in particular?

• Why have you chosen to study biology?

• What makes you suitable for a placement?

• Where do you see yourself in five years?

• What have you got out of University?

• What skills have you got?

COMPETENCY-BASED QUESTIONSDescribe 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 QUESTIONS: STAR APPROACH

• 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 bigpest 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

Bioscience Technical Questions

• What is the polymerase chain reaction?

• What do HIV, IgG, PEG2 stand for?

• What structure does NH2-CH2-COOH belong to?

• Suggest a route to synthesise ethylene glycol

• Technical questions about electron microscopes, ice cores, ice conductivity.

• About my final year project (synthesis of dendrivers)

• Revise your project and relevant topics covered in your degree.

HYPOTHETICAL QUESTIONS

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

•  You are the manager of a lab and rising microbial counts had been observed going past acceptable levels in the water supply of the production lab. What would you do to investigate and address this? (GSK)

• BA pilot candidate 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 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.

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?

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.

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

PRACTICE INTERVIEWS ONLINE

• Teaching, postgrad. study, scientific research, IT etc.www.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

• Streamed Videos online• On-line Applications

• Interviews

• Assessment Centres

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

Assessment Centres

• Assessment Centres

www.kent.ac.uk/careers/applicn.htm#Selection

• Coping with group exercises

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

• Presentation skills

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

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

Science Careers Employability Award

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

DX_SCEA: Science Careers Employability Award (2014/2015) https://moodle.kent.ac.uk/2014/course/view.php?id=2755 Email bw@kent.ac.uk if you have problems enrolling

Science Interviews

Bruce Woodcock University of Kent Careers and Employability Servicebw@kent.ac.uk

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

Competency Questions

The hardest part of the form for most applicants - asking for examples of specific skills such as teamwork, leadership, problem solving e.g.

• Describe how your personal planning and organisation resulted in the successful achievement of a personal or group task.

• Give an example of where others have disagreed with your views. How did you deal with this?

• http://prezi.com/0y-aknjsspdh/making-applications-using-the-star-approach/