I'm sure that I'm not the only person that comes out of an interview thinking about the questions that the interviewers ask and mentally (if not physically) kicking yourself that you should have said this or you shouldn't have said that. But in the heat of the moment, when you've only got a few seconds to consider your best example to give, it is sometimes difficult to think of the best one. And I'm sure you've also had the constant questions from colleagues or family and friends saying "How did it go? What did they ask?"
So what can you do to ensure that you give your best answers to the questions posed under pressure? Here is a list of 6 tips to help you prepare… 1. Prepare your best examples before hand Your strongest example should be the one you put in your application form or covering letter/statement. You should be pretty confident to talk about this, however, do not be too complacent as the interviewers may ask you questions about this experience that you least expect. Make sure you read your application or examples beforehand so you can explain confidently as you won’t always be able to refer to it when in the interview. 2. Have a few other examples to call upon It is good to have a few extra examples in addition to your main one that you can call upon to cover a particular competence or skill if the interviewers ask “Can you give me another example of when you ….?” This doesn’t always mean to say that your first example or answer was wrong, they might just need to see that you have other examples in different situations. 3. Try to anticipate what they will ask Think about other situations in your life where you have been the interviewer. Can’t think of a time? Well how about the time when you had to interview for a housemate when you were at uni or you were looking for the best childminder or babysitter? What did you look for, what did you ask them? Put yourself in the interviewer’s shoes and think, if I was asking questions of this person what would I want to know. Look at your CV or application form against the person spec or job description and think about any gaps you could get asked about. 4. Don’t make it up When thinking about questions you might get asked, rather than think about what you would do, think about what you have done. Most interviews now should be behaviour or competence based with questions similar to “Can you give me an example when you’ve had to deal with a difficult situation?” rather than made up or hypothetical ones eg “What would you do if you found yourself in a difficult situation?” The first allows the interviewers to get a real life example rather than an ideal answer but where you’ve never actually been tested. 5. If you can’t think of the answer to a particular question, stall for time We’ve all been there when you’re asked a question and your mind goes blank and what is only a few seconds of trying to think of an example seems like an eternity of silence, try to gain a few more seconds of thinking time by: · taking a sip of water · asking them to repeat or rephrase the question · asking if you can come back to that at the end of the interview 6. Write down what they actually asked you, what you said and what you should have said I know sometimes when you’ve come out of the interview, the last thing you want to do is analyse it and think about what you did or did not say, however, take some time to sit down and write down all the questions they asked you, what you said and what you feel you should have said. If you do this after every interview, even the ones where you got the job, you will build up a library of questions and answers that you can review again when you have your next interview. With the benefit of hindsight, and a little preparation your next interview should be a breeze.
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December 2022
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