Interviews

WHY DO EMPLOYERS USE INTERVIEWS?

Historically, interviews have always been used as a way of recruiting or selecting new staff. Despite the development of psychometric tests, in-tray exercises and other ingenious strategies dreamt up by occupational psychologists, it is unlikely that interviews will disappear. After all, it makes sense that employers would want to meet the people they could be working with for at least 40 hours a week! Interviews are useful for you too; they enable you to meet the people behind the glossy recruitment brochure and to see if they meet your expectations.

This section will enable you to perform at your best in a job interview. It looks at:

• background information on interviews
• how interviews are structured
• why employers use them
• what employers want to hear
• how to prepare for a job interview

Being invited for an interview may seem a daunting prospect, but at least it means your written application form or CV has succeeded – someone is interested in you and they want to know more.

An interview has been described as a conversation with a purpose. You should see yourself as an active participant. The interviewer wants to know about you, but you should also be trying to find out more about the job and the company. How well do they fit your profile? Do you see yourself working with them? Do they seem like a company who are committed to their staff?

Normally, when you apply for a job or work experience placement with a large company you will be called for a first interview. However this is changing with telephone interviews becoming a very popular way of sifting prior to a face-to-face interview.

Telephone Interview

This can last anything from 10 minutes up to one hour. You will normally be contacted to arrange a specific date and time for the company to call you. It can be unnerving as you are unable to see the person on the other end of the telephone and so cannot determine their body language.

First Interview

This is often conducted by just one or two interviewers, though sometimes more are involved (known as a panel interview). It can last about 40 minutes. If you impress them at this stage, expect to be invited for a second interview if this is part of the process. The number and style of interviews will vary from one company to another; for instance, some employers use telephone interviews as part of the process.

Second Interview

Second interviews tend to have at least two interviewers but often a whole panel and they are often longer than first interviews. For example, if you applied for a graduate marketing position within a large confectionery company your interview panel may have the Graduate Recruitment Manager from personnel, a senior Company Manager and the Head of Marketing - your possible future Boss. Alternatively, second interviews may be part of an assessment centre. That is to say, the interview will be just one part (albeit a very important one) of a set of selection methods. At an assessment centre you may encounter things like team activities, intelligence tests and individual presentations.

Strength-based Interviews

Some graduate recruiters are now introducing “strength-based interviews” into their graduate recruitment process. They differ from traditional competency based interviews by emphasising the things you ENJOY doing over the things you CAN do.

Some companies have noted that candidates are well rehearsed in their responses to competency questions because they understand the formula for a 'perfect answer'. Instead, they are moving towards a system where people's more innate strengths, those natural aptitudes that people have for a role are tested. In the case of Ernst and Young the system focuses on 16 strengths that relate to their work. It differs from the old competency based system in that at the interview, rather than asking applicants a standard set of competency based questions, a broader range of questions are asked at a higher pace. Interviewers will  look at body language and other signals like voice tone to identify whether someone has pride in what they have been doing or has a specific interest in a subject.

When a candidate is using their strengths they demonstrate:

    * a real sense of energy and engagement;
    * will often lose a sense of time because of being so engrossed;
    * will rapidly learn new information and approaches;
    * will demonstrate exemplary levels of performance;
    * and will irrevocably be drawn to do things that play to their strengths – even when tired, stressed or disengaged

Further information:

Life After Competencies: a presentation given by Emma Judge of Ernst & Young and Martin Galpin, Director at Work Positive http://www.agr.org.uk/Content/Life-After-Competencies-Using-Strengths-Based-Recruitment-To-Discover-The-Real Candidate
Playing to your Strengths? a summary of the background to Ernst & Young’s introduction of SBI by Emma Judge and Martin Galpin
www.work-positive.com/resources/downloads/GraduateRecruiter_Playingtoyourstrengths_full.pdf

The VIA Survey of Character (or VIA-IS) 240 questions; 30-40 minutes to complete. Provides a free, immediate report with a brief description of each strength in descending order. http://www.viacharacter.org/VIASurvey/tabid/55/Default.aspx#BST

WHAT DO EMPLOYERS WANT TO HEAR?

Employers are looking for several fundamentals;

That you have the right skills

Employers want to know that you have the right skills and personal qualities to do the job successfully. They know the type of person who normally succeeds in the role and they do not keep this a secret. Their recruitment brochure, application form or person specification tells you what they are looking for. For example, did the application form ask you to describe a time when you worked with others in a team or group? Or did the person specification list 'the ability to work effectively with others' as a required skill or 'competency'? If so, this indicates that they are looking for good team working skills and they are likely to ask you more about this in an interview. Sometimes interviews feel like they are a repetition of your application form but this gives you an opportunity to bring in other examples and to bring your answer to life.

That you know what it is you have applied for

You may not have a full grasp of the day to day duties of an Account Planner in advertising, but you should have done as much research as possible to find out. For example; have you read their recruitment brochure thoroughly? Did you attend the careers seminar on advertising? Have you picked the brains of an ex-Oxford Brookes graduate working in advertising? If not then contact the Alumni office and look at the Occupational Profiles section of the Prospects website.

That you really want to work for them

Employers quite often ask who else you have applied to. They want to know if you have given serious consideration to your future career. If you answer that you have applied for a range of different roles from accountancy to IT, they may think you are a bit clueless and haven’t researched things thoroughly.

If you have applied to a few similar firms, point out what attracts you to them. For example, did you meet some of their new graduates who gave the company a glowing reference? Or does their mentoring programme interest you because they seem to be supportive of new graduates? Be warned, they want to know why you want to work for them, not why you don't want to work for the other organisations. There is a great deal of information and advice available on the internet about interviews.

INTERVIEW PREPARATION

Research the Company

It may seem obvious, but one of the biggest complaints from employers is that candidates have not researched the company enough. Read the brochure, look at their website or consult business directories like Kompass and Key British Enterprises which give background information about most businesses. You will find some of these types of directories in the reference section of a library or in the Careers and Employment Centre.

You should also keep an eye on the business sections of newspapers to keep up-to-date with what's going on: if you are asked about the biggest challenge facing the company over the next 12 months, it would be useful to know about the recent merger with one of their competitors. If you miss something really basic, you will stand out for the wrong reason!

Anticipate Questions

This isn't about perfecting word for word answers to the obvious questions but about making sure you've thought about what the employer is likely to ask and why they asked that question. Typical questions that come up time and time again include:

• Why do you want the job?
• Why do you think you are suitable for the position?
• What can you bring to the firm?
• Why have you applied to us?
• What are you good at and what are you not so good at? Other typical questions relate to skills or competencies and personal qualities. For example; "describe a time when you have worked with others in a team". This is likely to lead to:
• What was your role?
• What did you learn about yourself?
• What would you do differently next time?
• Describe a problem that you have had to solve
• How did you go about solving this?
• Why did you choose the solution that you did?
• Would you approach the problem the same way a second time?

The types of competency questions you may be asked depend upon the ones that the employer has identified as being important. These will be listed in their recruitment brochure or in the job specification.

Bass, ASDA and PWC have all listed the competencies they want from their applicants on their websites. See Additional Resources for web addresses and hot links.

Look the part

This may seem obvious, but first impressions count, so what you wear is important.

If you are applying for a job in finance, in the City or in which you will be meeting clients, the interviewer will be asking themselves if they can put you in front of a client, representing the firm. The answer will be "no" if you dress inappropriately for the role.

A more relaxed outfit may be more suitable for positions within some occupations - for example social or care work. Practice sitting down in your outfit to make sure you can, and try breaking in new shoes before the day.

Handling Nerves

You are likely to be nervous - it is possible that the interviewer will be nervous too. Most people have their own ways of handling nerves, but normally you can help control them by reminding yourself that you have done as much preparation as possible.

Try the following:

• Check the directions and have a contingency plan in case transport links fail.
• Give yourself plenty of time to not only arrive but also to find the building and the room.
• Take a deep breath and remind yourself that the interview is a two way process.

Telephone Interview Tips

Make sure you arrange for the interview to take place when you can guarantee peaceful surroundings, i.e. not when all your housemates are there or when you are on a train. Make sure your mobile phone battery is fully charged and that you are in a place that has good reception, if in doubt use a land line. Have your application form or CV handy (you may need to refer to it) and also some spare paper and a pen (just in case you need to write some down). Try not to dress in your pyjamas, try and dress professionally, this way you’ll feel more professional. Standing up when talking can make you feel more confident (sales people do this all the time). During the conversation make sure you understand the question, if you don’t or you didn’t quite hear due to a bad line, ask them to repeat it. Speak slowly and clearly and check with the interviewer to see if they want more information. Always ask “what happens next” at the end of the interview so that you know what to expect.

For some hot tips on interviews click here.

Practise your interview techniques

It’s always worth practising your interview skills before the big day itself. Obviously practising with friends and family is a good way of building up your confidence, but the Careers and Employment Centre can also help. We can simply sit down with you to discuss the type of questions that might come up at your interview and how you might go about answering them. Or we can offer you a “video interview” which we treat as a mock interview. During this we will ask you a number of questions that are commonly asked at graduate interviews (usually around 10 minutes), and then for the next 20 minutes we will review your performance on a TV screen whilst giving feedback at the same time. For more information contact the Careers and Employment Centre.