Interview Skills Hannah Salton and Harriet York

Agenda BT Types of Interview The recruitment process Preparation On the Day Interview Questions Afterwards Q & A

Who is BT? BT is a communications services company Not just a phone company! Retail – traditional side of the company - what you use i.e. Phone, broadband, BT Vision... Global Services – providing business solutions to MNCs and government Openreach – they own the phone lines, telephone poles... Operate – make sure everything is working Innovate & Design – research, leading edge tech, develop systems... Wholesale – own and wholesales out the network to different service providers About BT

Our company We have around 15m customers We have over 1m shareholders We operate in 170 countries We invest £1.1bn in R&D year on year to support our drive for innovation We do business in an ethical and sustainable way About our people 147,000 people in 50 countries (105,000 permanent employees) Almost 800 apprentices Over 150 current graduates on our Grad Scheme About 10,000 home workers About BT

Types of Interview How many can you think of? Telephone Interview Face to Face Interview Assessment Centre made up of... Presentation Role Play Formal Interview Business Case Group Exercises

The recruitment process Assessment Centre A mix of capability interviews, role play scenarios and paper based tests. Assessment Centre A mix of capability interviews, role play scenarios and paper based tests. Your career starts here Interview and Testing A mix of online psychometric tests and telephone interviews. Interview and Testing A mix of online psychometric tests and telephone interviews. CV and Application Form Self- Selection Tool Standard online application system. CV and Application Form Self- Selection Tool Standard online application system.

Preparation Know the organisation Know yourself The key to ANY interview is preparation...

On the day Remember the three interview Ps – be Pleasant, Professional and Prompt.

On the day Remember the three interview 3’s – be Pleasant, Professional and Prompt. Listen! – it’s easy to get caught up how you’re going to answer the question and forget to listen to the entire question. Be aware of the tone and rhythm of your voice. Be yourself!

Interview Questions Demonstrate that you are serious about the organisation Why have you applied to us? How have you dealt with a difficult situation When have you had to take on additional responsibility When have you had to achieve a difficult task or goal When have you had to challenge unacceptable behaviour Capability questions What do you think you can bring to the role/organisation?

STAR Situation Task Action Result ACTION What did you do? Most importantly, why? RESULT Did you achieve your objectives? What was your learning? SITUATION Set the scene. Briefly! Don’t waste word count SITUATION Set the scene. Briefly! Don’t waste word count TASK What was the task? When was it? How did it come about? Interview Questions – competency based

Afterwards Ask for feedback! What’s the most important thing to do after an interview?

Any questions? For more information on the BT Graduate Scheme please visit