Interview Skills for Digital Media Bruce Woodcock University of Kent Careers and Employability Service You can download a copy of this presentation at

RESEARCHING THE EMPLOYER AND THE JOB May not be able to find out much about small companies - research the industry and ask questions.

HOW NOT TO INTERVIEW Candidate wore an i-Pod explaining that she could listen to the interviewer and music at the same time. Announced she hadn't had lunch and proceeded to eat burger and chips during the interview. Bald candidate excused himself and returned to the interview a few minutes later wearing a wig. Interrupted interview to phone her therapist for advice on how to answer specific questions. Dozed off during the interview. Said he never finished high school because he was kidnapped and kept in a wardrobe.

“Sell” your degree Many employers don’t know what a multimedia degree entails. Lots of “Mickey Mouse” degrees out there Kent degree has a lot of project work and strong technical skills which are attractive to employers. List relevant modules (plus marks if good!) Projects – especially if relevant Programming languages/operating systems/major applications e.g. Flash Soft skills – evidence of teamwork, project management, problem solving etc. Link to portfolio

Portfolios Employer Quote "As someone who has employed many artists and coders over the last few years the most valuable advice is get drawing or get coding. Nothing impresses a potential employer more that a portfolio of work. Team up with each other, one coding, the other on the artwork. Also look beyond the traditional players, look at similar industries, like gaming (video slot machines) and web design.“

Portfolios Go for quality, not quantity - employers will probably spend only a few minutes looking at your portfolio, especially in an interview. Put your portfolio on a web site if possible as it is so easy to access. You simply need to provide the web link on your CV. Place the most relevant work first and start and finish with strong pieces of work. You may be asked to talk about the context for your portfolio examples at interview: where you got the idea for the piece; what your influences were; how you went about writing it etc.

BODY LANGUAGE Dress smartly Shake hands warmly, but wait to be invited to sit down. Smile Try to relax - don’t sit on the edge of your chair, but don’t slouch. Speak clearly and not too fast Don’t fidget

PREPARE ANSWERS TO OBVIOUS QUESTIONS Why are you applying to us? Why have you chosen IT/law etc.? What makes you suitable for this job? What other jobs are you applying for? Where do you see yourself in five years? Why did you choose your degree course? What have you got out of University? What do you do in your spare time? What do you get out of it?

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

COMPETENCY-BASED QUESTIONS Start by briefly outlining the situation Keep the focus on your specific tasks or responsibilities Say what action you took, then try to summarise what you achieved Give concrete results when possible. If you cannot be totally positive about the experience, say what you learned from it. Situation/Tasks/Action/Result

HYPOTHETICAL QUESTIONS "How would you deal with an irate customer?” (customer service interview) Interviewer picks up an object from the desk. "Sell me this pen". (sales/marketing) interview BA pilot - 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.

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 your 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 your 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! The next stage may be a second interview or selection centre. After the interview, make notes on the questions asked and what you could have done better. Multimedia Careers Page

On-line videos INTERVIEWS ON-LINE APPLICATIONS SELECTION CENTRES now streamed on-line All last about 25 minutes and are excellent!

PRACTICE INTERVIEWS ONLINE Teaching, accountancy, banking, journalism, marketing, retail personnel, Civil Service, postgrad. study, scientific research, IT and law Answers to 150 interview questions Telephone interviews

Moodle Careers Employability Award Much lower unemployment rate for graduates who completed the award last year

Moodle Careers Employability Award 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 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

Duty Careers Adviser A Duty Careers Adviser is available to help with queries between am to p.m. and 2 to 4 p.m. every day.Duty Careers Adviser No appointment needed - just drop in. Other Presentations.

Interview skills Bruce Woodcock University of Kent Careers and Employability Service You can download a copy of this presentation at

Comments from students who have completed the award You get a really nice certificate! It was so easy, quick and I learned a lot. Without realising, you have finished the course and have already put together a very good CV and covering letter. It really blew my mind with some ideas I’ve never known before, such as portfolio working and working from home. I never thought about obtaining happiness from my work before. It would be mad to apply for a job or attend an interview without doing it! Before the course I had only a vague idea of my career path and opportunities. Now I am applying for summer internships and know how to effectively sell my skills to a prospective employer and have a much more focused plan for my future. The module is very, very useful! I really love how it makes you to think about your personality and helps you to identify your strengths and weaknesses. I found the module to be highly thought- provoking as it really encouraged me to consider how my degree will benefit my future and what I can be doing now to improve my graduate employment prospects. I enjoyed the depth of the module. It went far beyond some general tips on how to write a good CV and prepare for an interview. Rather it went in to detail about the whole process of graduate job search from the beginning to the end. It was very instructive. The amount of time put into this is astounding! I actually spoke to friends from other universities who said they wished they had something like this. It has made me feel a lot more confident when it comes to applications and interviews and has also made me think about skills that I didn't think I had before. I recently had a very successful interview largely because I put the advice on the module into practice.

Coping with the recession Still lots of jobs out there – 300 on our vacancy database Make sure your CV is top quality Need to be more flexible in terms of choice of job and location – don’t wait around for your ideal job. Consider further study, work abroad (TEFL) or voluntary work to improve skills. Ask us for help if you get stuck! Other hints and tips at

PREPARATION - THE KEY TO SUCCESS Research the employer and the job Prepare answers to obvious questions Think of your unique selling points Think of how you would answer questions about your weaknesses Prepare some questions to ask Dress smartly Leave plenty of time to get there

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?

Vacancy s Form IMPORTANT INFORMATION FOR FINAL YEAR STUDENTS AND POSTGRADUATES WHO GRADUATE IN SUMMER. If you graduate in summer please complete our Vacancy Form if you haven't already done so. This will then ENTITLE YOU TO GET CAREERS HELP FOR UP TO THREE YEARS AFTER YOU LEAVE KENT including weekly vacancy s, use of the information room, and consultations with careers advisers.