Preparing for an interview can be a daunting task, thinking of the different questions that will be asked, exercises that may be required and going to a physical interview or a remote interview. The interview is all about you, employers what to see if you are right for the role and following the advice below will help you secure that position.

Preparing for an interview

When you have been offered an interview, you will be sent the details of the location, whether remote or physical. Details of the structure of the interview, including any exercises and the duration of the interview. These details are key, they allow you to prepare what is needed and what to expect from the interview.

Most interviews are set up to give you between 2-5 minutes to answer a question, with a 15-minute section at the end to ask your own questions. Each answer you give should provide an example of your experience, or how you would best respond.

Practice Makes Perfect

While it is hard to know what questions will be asked during the interview, learning the criteria will help understand what the employer is looking for. Most job descriptions will be broken into sections. Such as, working in a team, communicating with stakeholders and leading projects.

An employer will most likely ask questions based on this, for example: What problems have you had leading a project and how did you overcome this? When have you had to deal with conflict within your team? How have you communicated changes to stakeholders?

Depending on your role, questions will be structured differently, searching your job role and interview questions on google will show some examples people have been asked.

Here are 10 interview questions with answers

Using the S.T.A.R Method

When answering interview questions, also try and use the STAR method, this provides the employer with all the information they need to know to answer their question and helps you shape your answer.

Example: You are asked When have you had to deal with conflict within your team?

S: Situation = Set the scene, providing details of what was happening.

T: Task = What was your responsibility in that situation.

A: Action = What steps did you take to address it.

R: Result = What was the outcome of your actions, what did you achieve, what did you learn.

Always try and use “I” instead of “us”, “we”, “our”. The company wants to know what YOU did, not how your team did.

Exercises

With remote interviews, exercises have now increased in the interview process. Employers giving you a practical task prior to or during the interview to complete. This can be from spell checking a document, a quick quiz, to reworking documents. These are hard to practice for before the interview as you never know, unless the employer sent you details, what they will be.

But Don’t worry.

Exercises are not designed you catch you out, or confuse you in any way. They are usually based on a simple task involved in the role you are applying for.

Example: If you apply for an admin role, it most likely is an admin task such as rewording an email.

Remote or physical interview

Whether your interview is remote or physical, they should be treated the same. Remember this is your first impression of the employers you want to work for.

• Wear something smart.
• Have questions to ask the employer.
• Be 5-10 minutes early.
• Make sure to check the route if in a physical location, how long will it take you to get there?
• Keep eye contact.
• Smile and engage employers when they talk to you.
• Turn your phone off.

If remote,

• Make sure you charge your laptop or is on charge at the time of the interview.
• Be somewhere quiet.
• Make sure all software works ( Example: Teams or Camera)
• Make sure to have your camera on.

Do not read of a note pad!

Hopefully, these will help anyway with an upcoming interview, if you would like to add anything message in the comments or #TellYourStory with MyNeedToLive.