“Let’s really ace your job interview…”


Interviews are an integral part of your job search.  An interview is a forum that facilitates the exchange of information in an interactive conversational manner.

What is an interview?

  • An opportunity for you to showcase your potential
  • An opportunity for you to expand on your resume and selection criteria
  • An opportunity for the employer to assess your abilities and experience
  • See what drives/motivates you to achieve – will you fit their team?

Preparation for interview

  • Organise your clothes for the interview in advance.  Remember to dress conservatively — suitable to the culture of the company and the image you wish to project
  • Assemble relevant information beforehand (for example, documentation and qualifications) and prepare and rehearse responses
  • Research the company (using their website, published materials and contacts) so that you are able to ask "intelligent questions"

Arrival

  • Be 10 minutes early!  Don't be late and don't arrive with "baggage".  If you walk in carrying unnecessary items, you may give the wrong first impression
  • Smile.  Make eye contact and give a firm handshake
  • Interviewers frequently use "small talk" to break the ice.  Follow the interviewer's lead on this, but don't initiate a lot of small talk yourself.  This could set the wrong tone
  • Use positive body language
  • Be polite, confident and competent
  • Build rapport with the panel
  • Listen to questions being asked

Interview Questions

Interviewers often seek practical examples of past behaviour, which help demonstrate your competencies.  You should be prepared to share examples of achievements or past behaviours – have a think about the questions below, and depending on the role you’re going for, you may want to prepare some answers.  When answering interview questions, ensure you describe the context, the action you took and the results of your action. 

Common questions

  • Tell me about yourself?
  • Why did you leave your last employer?
  • What makes you the best person for this role?
  • What are your greatest strengths?
  • What are your weaknesses?

Behavioural/competency based interview questions

These are the questions that will help the interviewers understand if your past experience has developed your skills in a way that means you’re able to meet each of the selection criteria for the role. Use examples, provide relevant detail and make sure you talk about how your actions ended in successful outcomes in the workplace.

Pro-activity

  • Tell me about a time where you have used your initiative to maintain productivity at work
  • Can you give me an example of a time where you had an innovative idea that was implemented at work?
  • Tell me a time when you were one step ahead and it resulted in a successful outcome

Interpersonal skills and communication skills

  • Can you give me an example of a time when you disagreed with procedure you’d been asked to follow? Tell me how you handled that situation?
  • Communication is important in the workplace; can you tell me how your communication skills have helped you solve a problem?
  • What is your process for sorting out issues with co-workers? Can you give me an example?
  • What do you see is the difference between communicating with an internal and an external customer? At which end of the spectrum do you feel most comfortable?
  • Gaining co-operation from all levels of people is required in this position.  Give me an example of a situation when you had to tailor your communication style to gain co-operation of others to achieve a business objective?
  • Can you tell me about a time when you disagreed with the procedure you were following? What did you do in this situation?

Computer skills

  • Can you please provide an example of when your computer skills helped the company you were working for?
  • Give me an example of a time when you used your computer skills proactively to become more efficient in your role?
  • Have you done any formal training to improve your computer skills?

Organisational skills

  • Can you tell me a time when you changed a process which resulted in a better outcome for the organisation or your team?

Attention to detail

  • Describe the things you do to control errors in your work.  Tell me about the last time those methods helped you? What did you do?
  • When working on a repetitive task, it is easy to get bored and overlook important details that could cause problems later on.  Describe a time this happened to you
  • We all have had occasions at work when something important escaped our attention.  Can you tell me about a time this happened to you? What caused this to happen?

Team work

  • Describe a time you worked with a group/team to determine project responsibilities.  What difficulties did the team have? What was your role?
  • Describe a situation in which you were able to help out a team member
  • How can you tell if you’re doing a good job?
  • Can you think of a time you personally felt disappointed with your performance?

Prepare pertinent questions to ask towards the end of the interview.  Some examples include:

  • Is it a new or existing position?
  • What are the reporting relationships?
  • What resources are accessible to the position?
  • What is the criterion for measuring success?
  • What is the next step?
  • What long term career opportunities are available?
  • Don't initiate any discussion about remuneration at the first interview.  However, be open and honest if the interviewer asks