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

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

3. 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.

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

5. 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

6. The importance of skills  Have you done any of the following? http://gradnav.ulster.ac.uk/units/unit-s004.shtml

7. Competency based interviews Example: Valley Police Force key competency requirements http://gradnav.ulster.ac.uk/units/unit-int033.shtml#hint1

8. How do employers decide?  Employer evaluation sheet http://gradnav.ulster.ac.uk/units/units028.shtml

9. Planning & Preparation  Assess yourself and practise! http://gradnav.ulster.ac.uk/units/unit-s001.shtml http://gradnav.ulster.ac.uk/units/unit-s001.shtml  Research the job http://www.prospects.ac.uk/cms/ShowPage/Home_page/Explore_types_of_j obs/p!elmjX  Research the Company http://gradnav.ulster.ac.uk/units/unit-int048.shtml  Prepare to answer questions http://gradnav.ulster.ac.uk/units/unit-int043.shtml  Structure your answers using STAR

10. 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?

11. 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? http://gradnav.ulster.ac.uk/units/unit-int021.shtml Simon Reichwald, CEO http://gradnav.ulster.ac.uk/units/unit-int020.shtmlhttp://gradnav.ulster.ac.uk/units/unit-int020.shtml

12. 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 http://gradnav.ulster.ac.uk/units/unit-int029.shtml http://gradnav.ulster.ac.uk/units/unit-int029.shtml

13. 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: http://gradnav.ulster.ac.uk/units/unit-int035.shtml http://gradnav.ulster.ac.uk/units/unit-int035.shtml