General Advice for Interviews

- Research the company in advance including the industry / setting in which the business
operates;

- Look into common tasks you might be expected to carry out and the responsibilities and
skills required for the role you are applying for;

- Think about what skills you could bring to the role; experience comes in many shapes and
forms;

- Set yourself practice questions;

- Some candidates share previous interview questions online. For example, you may be able
to find previous questions that candidates have been asked for specific companies/roles on
Glassdoor. This could help to gauge the type of questions you might be asked on the day;

- Compare your C.V to the job description and see how your experience is suited to the role
that you are applying for;

- Prepare your own questions for the interviewer to show you have researched and thought
about the role; and

- Arrive to the interview ahead of time, well-rested and full of energy!

Common Interview Questions

Perhaps, but not always, there may be some pleasantries to start e.g., how was your journey
here? Did you find us okay? Etc.

1. Please tell us a bit about yourself

E.g. you could say: where you studied; your hobbies and interests; what you get up to in
your spare time; sports; family orientated etc. It is important that you can show that you
make the most of your spare time!

2. Why have you applied for this role / what attracted you to this role?

What is it about the role that interests you?; what is it about the job description that
jumped out at you?; what skills do you have that match the role?; is there anything
specific that grabbed your interest? It may help to break your answer down into 1) what
you like about the role and where that interest comes from; 2) why you believe you
would be good at it and are well-suited to the role; 3) why the role with the company
specifically got your attention – what is it about the company that attracted you to them?
If you can align the company and the role specifically to you, it shows you have thought
about the decision to apply.

3. Why this company?

Again, hopefully the company carries out its business really well. You could look at the
website ahead of the interview and make a note of any awards they have received. E.g.
Investors in people is a fairly common award and could indicate that the company value
and invest in their people so there could be scope for progression. Sometimes, your
interviewer might ask questions that incorporate the company’s values so this could be
something to research as well. You could ask yourself, what is it that really makes this
business stand out?

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4. Short-term and long-term goals / where do you see yourself in X number of
years?

Here, your interviewer is wanting to see what your plan is for the future. You could
separate this into personal goals and professional goals.

5. When have you worked in a team to achieve a goal?

This could be through sport, during education or during extracurricular activities. What
was the goal, what was your role in the team and how did that contribute towards the
(hopefully) desired outcome?

6. What are your greatest strengths and weaknesses?

A similar question might be phrased as ‘how would your previous supervisor, teacher,
etc. explain you in three words?’ It could even be phrased as ‘how would your
friends/family describe you?’

7. Why are you a good fit for this role? What skills could you bring to the role?

Again, think about the role in advance. A useful exercise is to compare a copy of the job
description to your C.V. Think about the skills you have and how they would help you in
the role, how are you a good fit? How does your experience tie in with the requirements
of the role? For example, you might have great people skills which means you would
deliver great client and customer service.

8. What subjects do you find the most interesting / what did you enjoy about your
schooling/education?

What subjects did you enjoy and why? Do any of them relate to the role you are
applying for?

9. When have you made a mistake? How did you address it?

What went wrong, how did you fix it and most importantly, how did you learn from it?

10. How have you dealt with conflict?

Again, the interviewer is looking to see how you get on in a team and how you might
handle different situations with colleagues, customers, etc.

11. An example of when you have delivered excellent customer service / gone above
and beyond?

Can you think of an example of when you have gone the extra mile to deliver on a task?
How was that effort received?

12. When have you had to make a big decision?

Here, you can demonstrate how you have and would deal with additional responsibility.
You can be honest, though. Think of times that you have shown initiative. It doesn’t have
to be an example of making a really risky decision, perhaps just an example of where you
have had limited guidance and supervision and have effectively dealt with a problem by
yourself.

13. What is your greatest achievement and why?

What are you proud of having achieved and why? The interviewer is usually looking for

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 just one example. Think, why is this example particularly important to you? What steps
did you have to take to reach the achievement?

14. What have you been up to since school/colleague/university?

15. Can you give me an example of when something has gone wrong and how you
dealt with it?

16. What makes you stand out compared to other candidates?

17. Do you have any questions for us?

Confidence

Interviews are commonly seen as a scary thing – but they shouldn’t be! It’s an opportunity for
you to see if you like the employer and the business you could potentially be working for as
much as it is an opportunity for them to meet you. Turn those nerves into excitement and go for
it!

Three tips for speaking with confidence:

1. Don’t be afraid to take some time to think about your response. It is okay to take some
time to digest the question being asked. You can also take time between sentences;
this will give the interviewer the chance to digest your answers too! Avoid filler works
such as ‘like’ and ‘erm’ if possible. Rather than using filler words, don’t be afraid to take
pauses between your sentences;

2. Speak the truth! It’s much easier to talk confidently about things you believe in and are
passionate about. Think about great public speakers and some of the celebrities that
you admire and respect – do they believe in what they say?;

3. If you phrase answers as statements, rather than questions, this can really help to get
you point across. Tonality is really important and comes with experience and practice.
The below video helps to set this point out more clearly; and

4. Watch this video!