Interview skills: How to present yourself with confidence Career Development Centre University of Ulster

Aim: To equip students with the ability to articulate their experiences and skills to employers with confidence

Learning Outcomes: By the end of the session you will:  Know broadly what kinds of skills, qualities and abilities graduate employers seek in potential employees, and how these are measured.  Be able to assess and critically reflect upon your interests, values, abilities and personal transferable skills in preparation for interview.  Recognise the role of appearance and body language.  prepare for different types of question and activity.  Know how to review performance.

Types of interview  first and second interviews  one to one and panel interviews  competency based interviews  telephone interviews  interviews for post graduate courses

What do employers want?  responsibility  self control  social skills  leadership  sense of purpose  oral communication  clear thinking  imagination  common sense  problem solving  motivation  flexibility  teamwork  decision making  analytical skills

The importance of skills  Have you done any of the following?

Competency based interviews Example: Valley Police Force key competency requirements

How do employers decide?  Employer evaluation sheet

Planning & Preparation  Assess yourself and practise!  Research the job obs/p!elmjX  Research the Company  Prepare to answer questions  Structure your answers using STAR

STAR  Situation What situation were you in just before you demonstrated the skill?  Task What task did you set yourself? What was the problem or challenge?  Action What action did you take? Be explicit about the role you played: don't attribute others' actions to yourself or, worse, play down the fact that you were key to the action.  Result What was the outcome? What made it successful or unsuccessful? What would you do differently another time?

On the Day: Bringing it all together  Positive thinking: putting things into perspective, last minute doubts, controlling nerves Positive thinking  Appearance: tips for men and women  Voice: tone, speed, volume  Listening skills: engage, eye contact, clarify. Listening skills  Body language: the importance of how you walk, sit and act Body language  Ask questions!.  Exercise: What is the body language saying to you? Simon Reichwald, CEO

After the Interview  Ask yourself honestly is this the job for you?  Negotiate your terms  Note what went well and not so well. Use the Interview Reflection Form to capture this information

Summary: Learning Outcomes  Know broadly what kinds of skills, qualities and abilities graduate employers seek in potential employees, and how these are measured.  Be able to assess and critically reflect upon your interests, values, abilities and personal transferable skills in preparation for interview.  Recognise the role of appearance and body language.  Prepare for different types of question and activity.  Know how to review performance. Further information: