Interviews Made Easy
Overview of talk
• Interviews explained
• How to prepare
– Advance preparation
– Company/job research
– Review your skills and find evidence
• Stages of the interview
• Answering questions
• Practice interviews
Purpose of an Interview
Two-way communication process
Employer:
You:
Looking for a person to fit the
job
Looking for a position that
fits your skills
Getting the fit right
Interviewer
Interviewee
Can you do the job?
I am capable
•Qualifications
•Experience
•Skills & aptitude
•Qualifications
•Experience
•Confidence and examples
Will you do the job?
This is what I want
•Attitude, motivation, enthusiasm
•Willingness to learn
•Enthusiasm and evidence of ability
to perform and learn
Will you fit in?
I will fit in
•Personality
•Easy to get on with
•Friendly, interested, enthusiastic
•Positive attitude
Understanding the “fit”
Matching yourself to the job
Employer
You: Evidence X 3
Qualifications
Require a degree in…..
yes
Experience
Must have at least 3 years
experience in …
yes
Job
Description
Responsible for….
Initiate ….
Manage…..
Generate……
Yes, can do (how, when, where)
Yes, can do
Yes, can do
Yes, can do
Essential skills
Excellent interpersonal skills Cold calls
Work as part of a team
H&S team
Work on own initiative
Filing
Desirable skills Proficient in Microsoft office
Clean driving licence
Presentation
Sch board
New client
Decision can be made here
Reports
Team lead
Open
lunch
Preparation – advance preparation
Day before
The day
The wait
•Know where you are going
•Run through before hand if possible
•Good night’s sleep
•Clothes' ready
•Light breakfast
•Leave in plenty of time (rush
hour/parking)
•Bring charged phone with contact no
•Arrive 10-15 minutes early to calm down
•Re-read CV and notes
•Deep breaths & positive thoughts
Preparation: Company/job research
Understand the
organisation
Understand the
job
Know what you
want to get across
•Re-read the job description
•Identify current
circumstances/issues
•Identify current successes
•Identify the specific requirements
and skills
•Understand how you will match and
mismatch them
•Know how you will add value
Preparation: Skills check & evidence
Activity
Description
Achievements/
skills
Relevance
to job
Assistant Training
Manager
•Identify training needs
•Prepare training plan
•Survey design,
research skills
•Report writing
 yes
•Conduct training
•Evaluate training
•Presentation skills
•Analytical skills
yes
•Organised a dinner
dance for 300
•Raised 5,000 for club
•Organisational and
administrative skills
•Budget
management
•Leadership,
negotiation and
delegating skills
Yes
Voluntary Work:
Chairperson of xx
Club
•Chaired a committee
of eight
Yes
yes
Stages in an interview
Opening
•Introductions and welcome
•Very brief
•First impressions count
Business
•Goes through CV
•Asks Q’s on experience, skills and
abilities.
•Looks for evidence
•Matches candidate to the job
Your chance to ask questions
Over to you
Closure
•Thanks candidate and explains the
next move
•Last impressions count
Making an impression
It takes just 4 minutes!
55% Visual Impact
38% Tone of Voice
7% Content
Everyone thinks they are a good judge of character
Visual
Tone
Words
Non-verbal behaviour
Hand shake
•Dry, firm and confident (judge of
character)
Eye-contact
•Establishes rapport
•Indicates interest, confidence and
sincerity
•Smiling indicates warmth and
friendliness
Facial
expression
Posture
Gestures
•Good posture shows confidence and
potential to develop
•Own the chair
•Should be minimal, natural and
meaningful
Interview types
Traditional
Interviews
Structured, formal interview
Sample Questions
•Tell me about yourself
•What are your strengths & weaknesses?
•What experience have you got of ….?
•How would you approach ……?
Behavioural/
Competency
Interviews
Past behaviour predicts future behaviour
Sample Questions
•Describe the responsibilities you undertook in your last
employment?
•Give me an example of how you work under pressure?
•Tell me about a time when you were faced with a
problem and how did you solve it?
Answering questions
Opening
Question
“Bring me through your CV”
•Career Commercial
•60 seconds to 2 minutes
•Agenda for interview
•Choose highlights
•3 areas
–Work experience
–Relevant training/education
–Personal development/other
Answering questions:
“Bring me through your CV”
I have 3 years sales experience working with a company
called “Diagnostics” where I work alone and am
responsible for the South and South East region. My
client base includes doctors, hospital staff and other
care providers. Not only am I responsible for the sale
and after care of our medical aids but I organise inservice training for medical professionals and patients.
In a voluntary capacity I have worked as part of a team as
I am on the committee of my local xxxx club. I have
organised numerous fund raising events from a dinner
dance to a race night; raising sums of money from
€3,000 to €5,000. For these events I recruited
volunteers and have chaired committees of 5-9 people.
Answering questions
Behavioural/ “Give me an example of when you
competency worked well as part of a team”
interviews
STAR Technique
S
T
A
R
What was the SITUATION you faced
What TASK were you assigned
What ACTION did you take
What was the RESULT
Team skills: STAR example
Situation
I am an active member of my local …… club. Last year I was elected
Chairperson of a committee which undertook the challenge of organizing
and overseeing the annual fundraising event.
Task
We decided on hosting a sit down meal followed by music and dancing.
This was an event that took months of organization from choosing the
venue to raising sponsorship.
Action
As the leader of a committee of eight people, each with different ideas, I
found that good communication between members of the group and
working as a team was essential. As chair of the committee, I had to lead
the team and make each person feel as though they had an important role
to play. I identified the main duties and delegated responsibility to those
most interested and skilled in particular areas and followed their progress
closely. However, there were some conflicts within the group but as chair it
was my responsibility to take into account other people’s ideas and advice,
& to ensure any disagreements were sorted out.
Result
Our hard work was worth it as we overcame problems, both logistical and
financial, and raised over €5,000 for the club as well as providing a
fantastic evening of entertainment with 300 guests attending the function.
Last impressions count!
A good final summary will:
• reinforce everything you have said already.
• be remembered when the decision is being
made.
Make one last effort to sell yourself.
People will remember you the way you tell
them to remember you!
After the interview…
• Record the questions while still fresh.
• Reflect on your performance.
• Review by asking for feedback if
necessary.
Practice interviews
Anticipate
questions
•Work history
•Suitability/fit for job
•Skills competencies
Role play
•With a friend or in front of a mirror
•20-30 minutes for 4-5 nights in advance
•Say answers out loud
•Seek feedback
•Boast
Flexibility
Prepare Q’s
to ask
•Need to be flexible with answers
•Not to many – can use time to sell yourself
Company:
Work:
Training:
current work in hand/future plans
additional tasks to be undertaken
will training be provided?
Practice interviews
Opening
•Can you bring me through your CV highlighting what you consider to
be relevant to this position?
Business
Work history
•How long were you working for .. and what did you do?
•Tell me about a particularly challenging piece of work that you did?
•Can you explain this gap in your employment?
Suitability
•What do you know about this company?
•Why should we employ you?
•What are your key strengths?
Skills
•How would you persuade a new customer to give you the
sale/work?
•How well do you work as part of a team?
•Can you give me an example of a project you managed from
beginning to end?
Over to you
•Have you any questions for us?
Closure
•Thank you and you will hear from us next week.