1. Interview Skills Careers and Student Employability

2. Overview Interviews – the facts Types of interviews Interview questions Contacts Questions

3. Question time  What is an interview?  How do we feel about interviews?  What percentage of applicants reach the interview stage?

4. The Interview: facts  If you reach the interview stage of an application process you are there for one reason – the employer believes you have the potential to do the job!  It remains for them to decide if you are the best candidate  Selection = prediction. It is not an exact science!

5. Interview facts Employers judge prospective employees in the first few minutes as follows:- 55% on how we look 38% on how we sound Only 7% on what we say

6. Presentation Look good– clean clothes, hair, shoes, nails Wear appropriate clothes Positive body language Turn off your mobile phone Don’t panic! Sell yourself

7. Planning Plan your route www.tfl.gov.ukwww.tfl.gov.uk Remember the name of your interviewer(s) and their contact number Take a copy of your application and a pen & pad Arrive early (at least 30 minutes) If you take a newspaper – make sure it is a quality one

8. Types of interviews  Telephone - before- during – after  http://employability.uelconnect.org.uk/page s/interviews_and_assessment_centre/0/int erviews_and_assessment_centres.html http://employability.uelconnect.org.uk/page s/interviews_and_assessment_centre/0/int erviews_and_assessment_centres.html  Face to face – before – during – after  http://employability.uelconnect.org.uk/page s/interviews_and_assessment_centre/65/f ace_to_face_interviews.html http://employability.uelconnect.org.uk/page s/interviews_and_assessment_centre/65/f ace_to_face_interviews.html

9. Interview questions Typical questions Motivational Questions Competency Questions Scenario questions Random Questions

10. Motivational Questions  These are questions designed to assess your level of interest in the job/role/company/sector.  Examples: “Why have you applied for this role”? “Why are you interested in working for us”?  Motivational questions/responses illustrate very well the 93/7% split

11. Competency Questions  Most jobs – including trainee graduate roles- are built around a specific set of competencies e.g. communication, interpersonal, problem solving  Questions will be asked to assess your potential in regard to these competencies  Typical structure – “Can you tell us about a time when…..”

12. The CAR approach  CAR can be used to respond to competency questions  Context: describe the context in which you are deriving your answer  Action: the steps you took to resolve the given situation (Most important!)  Result: the result of your actions and any reflections you can make on them

13. Scenario Questions  Similar to competency but more hypothetical e.g. “How would you handle this situation”?  Responses can either be based on previous experience or how you imagine you might respond in the given situation

14. Random Questions  In certain environments e.g. non public sector the employer may ask more random questions either based on your application or simply to assess how you react to unpredictable questions

15. Useful websites  http://www.uel.ac.uk/employability/index.htm http://www.uel.ac.uk/employability/index.htm  http://www.uelconnect.org.uk/employability/ http://www.uelconnect.org.uk/employability/  http://www.uelconnect.org.uk/employability/interv iews/index.html http://www.uelconnect.org.uk/employability/interv iews/index.html  http://www.prospects.ac.uk

16. Further Support  Book a mock interview with a CaSE Careers Consultant  Attend CaSE’s Career Development Workshops  Attend our “Day in the Life” programme to hear from employers about how they work  Attend our annual Careers Fair – 5 th June  Go online to our website -Interview Simulator!