Interview Skills
Bruce Woodcock
University of Kent
Careers and Employability Service
bw@kent.ac.uk
You can download a copy of this presentation at
www.kent.ac.uk/careers/slides.htm
Skills gained on a 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
• IT skills
• Soft skills – evidence of
teamwork, project
management, problem solving
etc.
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
Dress Smartly
• 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
BODY LANGUAGE
• 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
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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
• How long should interview answers be?
• Why are you applying to our organisation in particular?
• Tell me about yourself
• Why should we take you rather than the other
candidates?
• What are your weaknesses?
• Do you have any questions you would like to ask us?
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
Experience of prioritising
competing demands
Desirable
√
Experience of working with
a diverse client group
√
Skills/Abilities
Essential
Ability to achieve targets within
agreed timescales
√
Ability to work autonomously and
as a team member
√
Ability to work with people
at all levels
Desirable
√
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
 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/0yaknjsspdh/making-applications-usingthe-star-approach/
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 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 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.
PRACTICE INTERVIEWS ONLINE
• Teaching, postgrad. study, scientific research, IT etc.
www.kent.ac.uk/careers/interviews/mockivs.htm
• Answers to 150 interview questions
www.kent.ac.uk/careers/interviews/ivquest.htm
• Telephone interviews
www.kent.ac.uk/careers/ivphone.htm
• Streamed Videos online
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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
ELECTRONICS CAREERS PAGE
www.kent.ac.uk/careers/electronics.htm
Duty Careers Adviser
• A Duty 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.
Moodle Careers Employability Award
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
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
DX_CEA Careers Employability Award (2014/15)
www.kent.ac.uk/careers/moodle.htm
IBM Mentoring Scheme
IBM are mentoring first-year students looking to do a placement as part of
their degree or second year students considering life after University.
Mentors are Kent graduates and interns. You can be studying for any degree and
don't need advanced computing skills.
Why? IBM is keen to encourage students to consider their careers sooner. We want
to make students aware of how competitive today’s job market is and give them
guidance on how best to promote themselves. This will give them the best chance of
applying not just to our schemes but other employers’ too. The scheme also provides
a fantastic chance for students to improve and enhance their skillsets before they
begin applying. It is a virtual mentoring scheme where the majority of contact with
students is either via email, telephone or by Skype.
The scheme will run between January and April.
If you would like an IBM mentor please email bw@kent.ac.uk with a copy
of your CV and an answer in not more than 200 words to the following
question in the next week. "How would you benefit from having an IBM mentor
and why should you be selected for this scheme rather than other students who
apply". The students with the best answers will be selected to take part in the
scheme. The earlier you apply, the better your chances of acceptance.
More details are at www.kent.ac.uk/careers/IBM.htm
Interview Skills
Bruce Woodcock
University of Kent
Careers and Employability Service
bw@kent.ac.uk
You can download a copy of this presentation at
www.kent.ac.uk/careers/slides.htm
Careers Employability Award
www.kent.ac.uk/careers/moodle.htm
Email bw@kent.ac.uk if you have problems enrolling
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.
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