Interview Preparation and Advice
 What is the purpose of an Interview?
The interview gives both you and the employer the opportunity to discuss your interest in a particular job and assess your ability to successfully undertake the role being offered.
For you it is your chance to convince the employer that you would be a good, productive employee. It is also an opportunity to find out more about the job on offer, the organisation, what kind of employer they are and what scope there is for advancement? Your aim is to show them that you are the best candidate for the job.
For the employer it is an opportunity to meet you and imagine how you might fit their business environment. It provides them with a means of assessing your behaviour, personality and general suitability for the position on offer. They will be looking for you to expand on the information you have provided on the application form or CV, and are giving you a chance to confirm (or not!) the positive impressions they have from reading your CV. It is also an opportunity for the employer to compare you with other candidates.
How should I prepare for an interview?
Background research
This is critical for success in an interview. Your research should focus on two key areas:
1) General background information about the organisation
2) Specific information on the role that you are applying for
“There is no way you can predict what the interviewer is going to ask you, but you can prepare what you want them to know about your past as a predictor of your future performance.” (http://interview.monster.com)
General information on the organisation can be found using several sources. The Internet is an incredibly valuable source of information on the majority of companies – many sites will freely give you almost all the information that you will need for the interview. You can also talk to people you know who work for the organisation, or people who are their clients or suppliers.
Watch, read, and listen to the news. While you are job searching you should try and monitor current affairs and the business news as often as possible. If an organisation has been in the news recently they will expect exceptional candidates to have noticed!
Focus on the specific role that you have applied for. Make sure you hold onto the adverts for all jobs that you have applied for, as these summarise for you the key details that employers are looking for. Employers particularly dislike ringing candidates for an interview only to find the candidate can’t even remember applying for the job!
Have an understating of the tasks you will be expected to perform in the role and the responsibilities that you might assume. Always obtain a copy of a position description if one is available, it will help you anticipate many of the likely questions.
Think about replies to common questions.
While you can’t prepare for all possible questions, some questions appear in almost every interview and employers will expect you to have answers to such questions as:
- What are your strengths and weaknesses?
- Why do you want to work for this company?
- What do you have to offer us?
- What are your career goals?
- What do you see yourself doing in five years from now? Ten years?
- Why did you choose this career?
- What does success mean to you?
- At the end of the first year, if you got this job, how would you measure your success?
- Are you willing to relocate?
- How much do you expect to be paid?
- What are the most important considerations for you in choosing a job?
- What achievements have given you the most satisfaction? Why?
- Tell me about a time you were under pressure and how you handled it.
- Tell us a bit about yourself.
While it is not a good idea to rehearse exact answers, it is often useful to practice verbalising possible answers to these common interview questions, be it to friends, family, or even to the mirror! This will give you greater confidence when answering questions, and it will also help you to evaluate how your answer sounds before you have to put it to the test in front of an actual interview panel.
Types of Interviews
Behavioural Interviews
This type of interview is a competency-based approach that is founded on the premise that past behaviour/experience is the best predictor of future behaviour/performance. Questions will require the candidate to give a specific example for a given situation, an example of this is “Tell us about a time that you were in a group and you had to take a leadership role?” One framework you can use for answering this type of question is based around the STAR acronym.
Situation (e.g. a group project at University)
Task (What did this group have to do?)
Actions (What did you do specifically for this project?)
Results (What were the outcomes of the project/situation?)
When discussing the results, if it is appropriate or an overall outcome was negative, you could also talk about what you learnt from the experience. For instance, if the group project ultimately failed, what did you learn from it and what have you changed in your approach to group work since so that it hasn’t occurred again? By doing this for behavioural style questions you demonstrate to an employer that you have learnt from past experiences.
Technical Interviews
If you have applied for a job which requires specific technical knowledge (i.e. engineering or IT), it is likely that at some stage in the selection process you will be asked technical questions or have a separate technical interview to test what you know.
Case Study Interviews
Used largely by consulting firms; these can take a number of forms, from a straight forward brainteaser to the analysis of a hypothetical business problem. In either case, you will be evaluated on how you analyse the problem, how you identify the key issues, how you pursue a particular line of thinking, and whether you develop and present an appropriate framework for organizing your thoughts. There is not one absolutely right way to solve each problem, and how you reach your solution will probably be more important than the solution itself. For practise, check the web – many consulting firms put example case studies on their recruitment pages.
Face-to-face interviews
One-to-one interviews
As the name suggests, this is a meeting between the candidate and one interviewer. Try to develop a rapport between yourself and the interviewer.
Sequential interviews
In this case you have several interviews in turn with different interviewers. Usually each interviewer asks questions to test different sets of competencies. However this is not always the case. You may find yourself answering the same questions over and over. If this does happen make sure you answer each one as fully as the time before.
Panel interviews
In this type of interview, you are questioned by several people sitting on a panel. The actual number of interviewers can vary, but there is usually a chairperson to co-ordinate the questions, a specialist who knows about the job in detail and a personnel manager. Such interviews are popular in the public sector.
Telephone interviews
Telephone interviews are increasingly used by companies as an integral part of the recruitment process. Most commonly they are used as a method of initial screening, but some use them as far down the line as third or fourth interviews. The majority of companies inform you in advance and usually pre-arrange a time with you, but be prepared for those who just ring! Whatever the situation, make sure you allow enough time as telephone interviews can take up to an hour!
Be prepared. You could be called at any time so make sure:
- The message on your answering machine is suitable;
- Flat-mates are briefed to take a detailed message;
- The telephone is answered in a sensible manner - no silly comments by flat-mates, or loud music in the background;
- Keep a list of job applications by the phone, plus a copy of your CV, pen and paper, a diary in case you are invited to a meeting, questions to ask a potential employer.
Video interviews
Although rare, these are not unknown, particularly if you have applied for a position overseas. As far as possible, you should treat them as traditional interviews; dress as you would for a conventional interview, address your answers to the interviewer (i.e. to the camera rather than the display screen) and listen carefully to the questions and instructions, asking the interviewer to repeat anything that you don’t understand.
On the day of the interview
Dress appropriately.
The general rule of thumb is to dress as if you were already working in the job, and then go one notch higher. Impressions are formed in the first 30-60 seconds of an interview. Employers will notice even small details about your clothing (such as clean shoes) and personal presentation.
Be on time.
Few things ruin your chances more than being late to an interview.
Organise reliable transport and allow time to reach the location of your interview. If travelling to an out of town interview, ensure you know the exact location of the interview, that you have allowed plenty of time to reach your destination including delays such as heavy traffic. Take a map and know where you can park in the vicinity of your interview. This is particularly important in Auckland. Take your cell phone in case of emergency delays.
If you do arrive early, find the location of the interview, and take time to pause and relax until about 10min prior to the interview time before entering the building. At this time, make sure you turn off your cell phone prior to entering the interview to avoid undesired interruptions during the interview.
In the Interview
Once you enter the building assume your interview has begun, everyone you speak to has the potential to influence the outcome.
First impressions are very important. Studies have shown that someone forms judgments about you within four minutes of your first meeting and that these judgments form their subsequent impressions. According to www.prospects.ac.uk, the first impression is made up as follows:
55% visual impact (i.e. dress, facial expressions and other body language)
38% tone of voice
7% from what you say
This doesn’t mean that all is lost if you are very nervous at the outset, but try to create the best first impression you can. A warm smile and firm handshake always help.
One, two or more people may interview you, together or separately. The interview may be highly structured or semi formal, friendly or confrontational, whatever the format their objective is to find out as much as possible about you and how you might fit into their organisation.
Your objective is to learn more about them and what they might be like to work for.
Behavioural style questions are most common on the basis that previous behaviour is the best indicator of future behaviour. So you need examples of previous situations the action you took and the result. These can come from University, part-time work, sport or other activities; try to include as much variety as possible.
Try to be clear and succinct with your answers. If you are unsure if you have given enough information you should ask the interviewer if they would like you to elaborate further. If a question is unclear you can ask for clarification.
Be confident about your achievements but do not exaggerate. Conversely do not under sell yourself - if you do not fully inform employers of your achievements they will not fully appreciate your true potential!
It is not usually appropriate to discuss likely salary levels in a first interview, but do be prepared if the employer raises this question. You can contact staff at the Careers & Employment Centre for information on recent graduate salary surveys.
At the end of the interview you are likely to be asked if you have any questions. Do have some questions prepared but keep them brief. It is also acceptable to say that you had several but they have been answered during the interview - if this is true.
Questions you could ask include:
- What is the time frame of notification after the interview?
- How would my performance be evaluated?
- How would I be supervised?
- What opportunities for advancement exist?
- How much travel is required?
Remember to thank the interviewers!
After the Interview
Review your experience. What went well? What could you improve upon? Decide what you need to do to improve your interview skills and seek advice where appropriate.
It is acceptable and often expected that you will write or email the interviewer/s to thank them formally for the interview and reinforce the fact that you look forward to hearing from them. This is a courtesy and also reminds them who you are.
If you are applying to number of companies keep a record of applications, responses, interviews, outcomes and what you have learnt from each interaction/opportunity.
Useful resources on the web
http://interview.monster.com
http://www.job-interview.net/index.htm
These are both very useful sites with lots of information and ideas on preparation, possible questions, potential strategies for answers, and advice on conduct in interviews.
http://www.treatyofwaitangi.govt.nz/
Offiicial information about the Treaty of Waitangi
http://tools.monster.com/virtualinterviews/random/
The Random Interview Question Generator will serve up some of the most common questions for you in random order, giving you the chance to think about potential answers. This is your chance to work out the kinks in your responses, with your computer being the only one listening.
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