Successful interviews
This information sheet is produced to assist candidates to have a successful interview with Helping Hand.
Being well prepared before interview means that we will have the opportunity to find out about you, your
experience and your qualities and allow us to make a good decision when comparing candidates.
Interview questions
Helping Hand uses a combination of both traditional and behavioural questions when interviewing.
Some examples of traditional questions are "What are your strengths and weaknesses?" or "What major
challenges and problems did you face? How did you handle them?" or "Describe a typical work week."
These questions seek to explore the experiences you have had in similar roles to the one you are applying
for or find out about how you view your strengths and work qualities.
In contrast, behavioural interview questions ask you to describe how you really did approach something.
They tend to start out with “tell me about a time when…” or “give me an example of how you…” For
instance:
 Tell me about a time when you had to take initiative.
 Tell me about a time when you had to deal with a difficult customer.
 Give me an example of a challenge you faced in your current job and how you solved it.
 Tell me about a time you faced an unreasonable deadline and how you handled it.
 Give me an example of a new approach you developed for tackling a problem.
These types of questions are often followed by probing follow-ups to dig more deeply. Your interview
might ask: What did you do then? What happened after that? What was the result? How did you handle X?
How do you prepare for an interview?
Looking back at your past jobs, prepare good examples using the following technique:
1.
First, go through the job description line by line, and picture yourself doing the job. What will the
person in the role be responsible for? What are the likely challenges?
2.
For each responsibility or challenge, think about what examples from your past you can point to as
“supporting evidence” that you excelled at the job, and write them down.
3.
Keep in mind your experiences don’t need to be direct one-for-one matches. For instance, if you’re
applying for a care worker job without any actual experience, you might talk about the volunteer work
you undertook that involved working with older people. Or if you’re applying for a manager job and
haven’t formally managed anyone, you might talk about how you were the go-to person for training
new employees in your last job and were known as a diplomatic problem-solver. And if you don’t have
a lot of work experience to draw on, you can use examples from school, volunteering and hobbies.
4.
Once you’ve written out your examples, turn them into answers using the SOAR structure:
Situation
Outcome
Action
Result
1
Describe the specific situation or task you were involved in
What was the outcome/goal you were aiming for.
Describe the actions you took
How did it turn out? What did you learn?
5.
Now, make yourself practice your answers out loud. You might feel foolish talking to yourself, but
doing this will make these answers more easily retrievable to you when you’re sitting in that interview
chair.
And lastly, don’t look at these questions as something to dread. Look at them as a chance to really show
why you’re a strong candidate who would be great at the job.
There is a lot more information on line supporting candidates through an interview process – you might
also consider reviewing some of this.
During the interview
When answering questions:

Think of a specific example that answers the question

Think of an example that is work-related, if possible. Or use school, professional organizations, or
volunteer activities.

Think of an example that is not more than 2 years old whenever possible

Give an answer that is 2-3 minutes long

Ask the interviewer to repeat the question if you missed any of it

Pause and think through your answer before starting – know where the story ends before you start
talking
There is no “right” answer, the interviewer wants to learn about how you might work as a future
employee
Avoid using jargon or acronyms that might not be understood by the interview panel.


Answer the question using the SOAR structure:
Situation
Describe the specific situation or task you were involved in
Outcome
What was the outcome/goal you were aiming for.
Action
Describe the actions you took
Result
How did it turn out? What did you learn?
During the interview, if you are not sure how to answer the question, ask for clarification.
What’s important
It's important to keep in mind that there are no right or wrong answers. The interviewer is simply trying to
understand how you behaved in a given situation. How you respond will determine if there is a fit between
your skills and the position we are seeking to fill.
So, listen carefully, be clear and detailed when you respond and, most importantly, be honest. If your
answers aren't what the interviewer is looking for, this position may not be the best job for you anyway.
Good luck with your interview!
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