Interviews

Job interviews can vary from a 20 minute ‘chat‘, through to an assessment centre process lasting a whole day.  However, certain features are common to most interviews; this Slade Group interview information sheet provides you with tips for interview success.

The Interviewer’s Perspective 

Job selection requires definition and measurement, definition of the job and its requirements, and measurement of each candidate’s capacity to meet those pre-requisites.

Interviewers will work to a plan to find patterns of behaviour, looking for appropriate characteristics that repeat themselves in different work situations – knowing that these will, most likely, again be demonstrated by you when you join a new organisation. 

As part of the plan, the interviewer will endeavour to establish, measure and assess the following:

• Education, training and work achievements.
• General intelligence and special aptitudes.
• Emotional competence; interpersonal relationships, self reliance, dependability etc.
• Circumstances; willingness to re-locate, salary and benefits expectations.

The Interviewee’s Perspective

Whilst your ultimate goal for the interview is to secure the job, the immediate aim is to move forward a step in your job search. 

You will want to achieve certain things from the interview:

• Appropriate presentation of yourself and your credentials
• Gaining increased knowledge about the role of  which you’re interviewing
• Gaining increased knowledge about your prospective employer.
• Clarify that this role is indeed the one for you. 

Interview Preparation

We all have to do them but let’s face it, most of us approach interviews with mixed emotions – anticipation and anxiety are common feelings. Be prepared to reveal a lot about yourself to a virtual stranger, to answer questions ‘out of left field‘ with common sense, overcome nerves,  absorb and filter large amounts of information and at the same time, answer questions succinctly and with insight.  

To increase the chance of an excellent job interview, Slade Group recommends the following points: 

• Confirm the interview place, time, day and date.
• Source up-to-date information on the potential employer organisation.
• Obtain a copy of the position description, if possible.
• Consider your salary expectation as you can expect this to be discussed at the interview.
• Be well groomed and appropriately dressed for the role.
• Refresh your memory regarding your current or recent employer and the roles and responsibilities you have had. You will be expected to speak knowledgably about this.
• Prepare some questions in advance, and feel comfortable about having these written down to take into the interview with you.

Targeted or Behavioural Interview Questions

Interviewers often ask you to demonstrate how you would act in a certain situation or recall how you have responded in similar situations.  This is called behavioural Interviewing and aims to give the interviewer a picture of your behavioural patterns in a range of work based situations.  For example “give me an example of a time when you worked with a team that had difficulty agreeing on a solution to a problem.” 

You can think of them as STAR questions because they want you to:  

Describe the Situation

Describe the  Task

Describe the Action taken

Describe the Results you achieved

In these situations, take your time to think over your experiences at work and draw on a situation as minor or major as you feel appropriate.