This lesson focuses on the interview stage of the job application process. The activities in this lesson are useful for people preparing to be interviewed for a job and for those who have to conduct interviews.
To prepare for an interview it’s a good idea to anticipate the type of things that you might be asked.
The first stage is to prepare some notes that will help you to organise your thoughts before the interview.
Think about your own situation and imagine you were preparing for a job interview. Make some notes under the following headings:

My Qualifications

My Experience

My Personal qualities

 

 

 

 

 

 
You can usually anticipate the kind of questions that you will be asked at an interview. The questions in the following exercise are typically used in job interviews. Many of them appear quite obvious and simple, but they do require careful consideration.
Match the questions with the advice on how to deal with them.

 

Question

Advice

2.01

Why do you want this job?

F   Think carefully about this question. Stress the positive aspects that have attracted you to applying for this position. NEVER mention the negative aspects of your current job.

2.02

Why do you want to leave your old company?

 

2.03

What has been your biggest success?

 

2.04

What has been your biggest failure?

 

2.05

Do you feel you are ready to take on greater responsibilities?

 

2.06

Aren't you a bit over qualified for this position?

 

2.07

What can you contribute towards the company?

 

2.08

Where do you see yourself in five years time?

 

2.09

Tell me about yourself.

 

2.10

Aren't you a bit too old for this job?

 

 

Advice

 

Advice

A

Tell them about your achievements in your previous position that are relevant to the new position you are applying for.

F

Think carefully about this question.  Stress the positive aspects that have attracted you to applying for this position.  NEVER mention the negative aspects of your current job.

B

Don't be afraid to ask the interviewer to clarify if the question is about your personal life or your professional life.

G

Stress the positive reasons why you want to join their company.  Don't mention things like more money or shorter hours!  And don't say `for better prospects', as this doesn't mean anything. 

C

Be very careful not to say anything negative about your present employer. If you do, your new company will wonder what you will say about them when you leave them.  Instead, say that you want opportunities for growth, you want new challenges and opportunities to improve your skills and experience.

H

You should pick an achievement that is tied to their needs, preferably one that didn't occur years and years ago!

 

D

Try to pick a failure, such as a personal characteristic, that you were later able to correct (for example `difficulty in accepting criticism', which is a difficulty that a lot of people face!) 

I

Show how you have progressed throughout your life and how you have accepted and taken on responsibility for the actions of yourself and others.  If you haven't really had many work related responsibilities you can mention other responsibilities you have had outside work.

E

Tell them that you feel that your extra experience would enable you to make a bigger contribution sooner than someone with less experience.

J

No-one expects you to really know the answer to this.  Say you don't know exactly, but you hope that the skills and experience gained with this company will help you to progress further in the field of etc.
Now think about how you would answer these questions. What would you say in an interview?
You have looked at some of the preparation required when you are going to be interviewed for a job. It is equally important for an interviewer to be prepared for the interview.
Read these guidelines for conducting an interview then try the activity below.
Try to use open questions e.g. ‘What did you enjoy most about your previous post?’ This encourages the candidate to expand.
Avoid closed questions. This often restricts candidates to yes/no answers and does not require them to give examples. Too many closed questions makes the interview less fluent and less natural.
Compare ‘Did you enjoy your last post?’ with the open question in the previous point.
Hypothetical questions are often inappropriate because they do not examine the candidate’s experience and proven ability e.g. ‘What would you do if ….?’ Concentrate on facts, examples and evidence.
Personal questions are inappropriate e.g. ‘Who did you vote for in the last election?’, ‘What is your father’s salary?’
Keep your questions relevant to the context of the job.
Encourage candidates to give examples from their previous experience.
Look at these questions and decide if they are appropriate for an interview situation. If they are not appropriate, say why not.

 

 

Appropriate (Yes/No)

3.01

What would you do if you didn’t get on well with your line manager?
Hypothetical. Depends on the circumstances, therefore difficult to answer honestly.

No

3.02

What extra responsibilities would you be prepared to take on?

 

3.03

What do you enjoy most about working in a team?

 

3.04

What are your strongest qualities?

 

3.05

Are you married?

 

3.06

Could you give an example of a work problem you were able to solve successfully?

 

3.07

How often do you go to the pub after work?

 
Re-order the words to make possible interview questions.

Questions for people with previous work experience

4.01

are your present main What your responsibilities in job?

 

What are your main responsibilities in your present job?

4.02

are What satisfying the job most parts of the?

 

 

4.03

do you What will think be the challenges of job main this?

 

 

4.04

you want present do to Why leave your job?

 

 

Questions for people with little or no previous work experience

4.05

do think job How education you has your prepared for you this?

 

 

4.06

did What most you at enjoy college?

 

 

4.07

you What do with do time outside your studies?

 

 

4.08

did you to university Why study are taking the choose subjects you at?

 

 

Answer the relevant questions for your situation depending on whether you have previous work experience or not.
 
 
 
 
Read the interviewers’ notes about a candidate made during the interview. The notes have been made on personality rather than the competencies or experience required for the job. In some organisations this type of information would not be considered relevant and would not be included as part of a fair interview process. However, the impression you create DOES stay with the interviewers, so it is important to create as positive an impression as possible. The ideas here should help you to work on your own performance.

Candidate 1

 

Enthusiasm

Said all the right things, but seemed to be too rehearsed. Didn’t appear to be very natural.

Handling difficult questions

Had a satisfactory response for all questions, but did not expand fully. More examples from personal experience would have been useful.

Self-awareness

Showed good awareness of own abilities – strengths as well as weaknesses. Gave some examples to highlight these.

Confidence

A little nervous at first, but settled and became more comfortable as the interview progressed. Very softly spoken at first.

Overall impression

Pleasant, self-aware. Good, thoughtful responses. A little lacking in self-confidence but otherwise fine.
Now read the notes made about a second candidate. Complete the interviewer’s notes using the words and expressions in the box.

Recognise                 energy                self-belief              positive          achievements            relevant

Candidate 2

 

Enthusiasm

Very outgoing personality – perhaps a little overly keen to please – but motivated and full of [5.01] energy.

Handling difficult questions

Ignored some questions that were obviously not expected by giving answers that were often not directly [5.02] _______________ to the original question.

Self-awareness

Doesn’t seem to [5.03] _______________ any weaknesses. Talked at length about [5.04] _______________.

Confidence

No problem with [5.05] _______________. Very confident personality.

Overall impression

Enthusiastic, confident and [5.06] _______________. Needs to be more aware of  areas that need to be developed.
Now decide which of the two candidates you think performed better based on these notes.
What advice would you give each candidate to improve their performance in future interviews?
Are any of these issues relevant for your own performance?

 

 

 

 

 
In this lesson you have:
prepared notes about yourself for an interview situation
examined possible questions you might face in an interview and looked at how to respond to them
looked at the types of questions to include and those to avoid when preparing to interview someone for a job
In the next e-m@il lesson you look at the issues that can arise when your company asks you to re-locate i.e. move to a different city or country.