Académique Documents
Professionnel Documents
Culture Documents
Preparation
Agenda
1. Purpose of the interview
2. Preparation
3. Types of questions
4. Creating an impression
5. Do’s and don’ts
1.Purpose of the interview
What interviewer looks for:
The ‘Fit Factor’ –
Knowledge/Skills/Attributes
Professional/technical competence
Work ethic
Personality and disposition
Achievements and adding value
Your role as Salesperson
Your goal is to convince You need to
the interviewer that you
be selected – think of
demonstrate
yourself as the product You can do the job
that you are selling! You want the job
Good salespeople know You will fit in
their product and can sell
the key benefits
2. Preparation
Know the job – do your research
Be very clear about the job and person
requirements
Understand what the core aspects / tasks
of the job will involve – what is being
asked of you?
Professional standards, ethnics, values
Know the sector
Research
The organisation (Who they are; history)
Strategy, priorities and challenges
Government strategies
Professional bodies (RCN, GTCNI, NISCC,
HPC)
Get yourself ready
Prepare answers to likely interview
questions
Identify any questions you want to ask
Determine what to wear
Be sure about time and place of interview
Get any documents ready to take with you
3. Types of questions
Types of questions
General questions Competency (or
Selfawareness behavioural) questions
Work experience Time management
Knowledge of Communication
organisation Team Work
The future Customer Focus
Flexibility
Relationship building
What competencies will I be
assessed on?
The recruitment advertisement will usually contain clues,
for example:
STAR technique
Situation
Task
Action
Result
Example response using STAR
Q: Good time management is important to be effective as a teacher / social worker /
nurse. Give me an example of how you organise your time. What techniques and
tools do you use?
Situation In 2007 I was working as a HR Officer for a local council. I was
responsible for managing the planning and delivery of training.
Task I was given the task of managing a number of projects being delivered
at the same time and all were working to tight time scales.
Action Firstly I developed an action plan, identifying key tasks and deadlines,
who needed to be involved and kept informed, how often and so on.
On a daily basis I used Microsoft outlook to plan my diary, place
reminders for tasks to be completed, block out time to complete
actions. I used lists to help me monitor my progress each day/week.
I prioritised tasks on the basis of importance and urgency. I reviewed
my action plan on a weekly basis and provided updates to relevant
managers. I was also able to identify when I required support and
negotiated movement of deadlines on occasion
Result The result was that I managed to deliver all projects on time, in
budget and exceed expectations.
Activity
Preparing for competency interview questions
Insmall groups identify 3 competencies you might be
questioned on at interview
Individually produce answers for at least 2 of these
competencies using the STAR technique
Also produce an answer to the question ‘tell me about
yourself’
4. Creating an impression
Communicating with Impact
Visual
55%
Vocal
38%
Verbal
7%
First impressions count!!
First impressions
Arrive 10 mins early
Waiting room
Smart and professional attire
Opening conversation
Confidence and Approachability!
First impressions are important
Give a firm and positive handshake
Good posture and body language.
Pay attention to eye contact
Be yourself and be honest
Listen to the question – if you don’t understand,
ask for further explanation
Take a second to think before engaging mouth!
Be positive
Be sensitive to the interviewer - look for signals of
boredom / irrelevance
At the end of the interview…
Ask the job-related questions you
prepared for the interview.
Thank the person for the interview and
their interest in you as a potential
employee or student.
Shake hands firmly on the way out. Don’t
forget to smile!
5. Dos and Don’ts
Do’s
Preparation and research Show off the research
Eye contact and posture you have done on the
Turn off your mobile! company and industry
when responding to
Avoid using poor questions
language, slang, and
‘filler speech’ Show what you can do for
the organisation rather
than what they can do for
you
Don'ts!!
Fidget Be negative about
Lose focus on the former employers
question being asked Enquire about terms
Rely on your and conditions or
application or CV to benefits
do the selling for you Lie!
Draw attention to
negative attributes