A graduate job interview can be a pretty scary prospect but with a bit of thought you can make things a lot easier for yourself. The purpose of interviews is for the employer to gain a deeper understanding of a candidate's graduate employability skills and capabilities as well as personality and general attitude. The interviewers will be looking to weed out unsuitable candidates at an early stage by trying to determine if the candidate is a suitable fit for the company and the role. In this section you can also find out about:
- Types of interviews
- Job offers
- Negotiating with employers
Preparation for your graduate interviews
An interview is not something you can just wander into and 'wow' them with your personality, and it's even harder when faced with a telephone interview, which removes all the impact of body language. Well-prepped candidates are more confident and provide more thorough answers to common graduate interview questions. If you know how to give complete answers, you worry less and are able to ask better questions. All of this improves the odds that you will be assessed fairly, especially if the focus of the interview is on detailed discussions about your major accomplishments. Similar preparation should be conducted for graduate telephone interviews.
Preparation is even more important for applicants who are applying to roles that are located far away, possibly even abroad. Graduates are becoming more and more globally mobile and the job market reflects this. With this comes the issue of interviewing global applicants, to overcome this companies are turning to technology such as Skype.
Do prepare thoroughly by:
- Researching the company and vacancy - look at the web site, read brochures/company literature, check the job specification and become familiar with it and the skills required. Check to see if the company or competitors have been in the press recently.
- Look at your graduate CV/application form the night before to try to spot obvious questions e.g. Why did you take that year out? Why did you get a poor grade in maths A-level?
- Check travel arrangements - book tickets in advance, telephone to confirm both interview and travel arrangements 24 hours in advance.
- Online interview? Download the platform the day before, check you are able to log in or join the meeting if possible, and check your mic and camera are working. This will give you time to do some troubleshooting.
- Check to see if there will be any tests - revise relevant skills before the day.
- Don't rehearse your answers word for word - it will sound very false. You need to have the information ready but still sound natural.
On the day
- Arrive on time - try to be at the interview location ten minutes before the interview. If you arrive half an hour early walk around the block and try to relax. Contact the employer if any problems arise. If you have a problem attending the interview contact the employer immediately, e.g. traffic.
- Positive body language - warm handshake, maintain eye contact, do not fidget, sit up straight, do not cross arms in defensive manner, try holding hands gently in your lap, convey enthusiasm and interest in the job.
- Do dress appropriately. If in doubt, err on the side of smartness rather than being too casually dressed.
- Do try to smile and look happy to be there and be enthusiastic. Nerves often make both these difficult.
- Do be prepared to talk and 'tell the story'. Yes/No answers won't give the interviewers enough information to go on.
Avoid these common mistakes
- Appearing passive or cynical
- Overbearing concern about salary
- Coming across arrogant or conceited
- Untidy personal appearance
- Unclear communication
- Talking about other job applications
- Having little knowledge about the employer or their activity
- Having no career path to discuss
- Not speaking passionately about your apparent interests
- Being rude or short when asked a challenging question
At the interview
Ask the "universal question"
Discussions about major accomplishments should dominate the interview session. Since most interviewers don't usually do this naturally, you can take the initiative. Ask this question if you feel the interview is going nowhere:
"From what I understand from the recruiter and my research, this job involves (for example) launching new products and setting up a national advertising programme. If this is correct, could you explain it more thoroughly? After that I'd like to give you some examples of projects I've worked on that are comparable."
Something like this will allow you to then describe some important related university or work experience projects you have carried out.
Showing enthusiasm and energy at an interview is probably the most important factor
In this economic climate when there are perhaps fewer jobs and more graduates looking, it is possible that although looking good on paper they are not offered the role just because they don't convey enthusiasm, excitement or a sense of urgency that a company is looking for. Make sure you leave an interview conveying a strong desire, energy and enthusiasm to work for that company. You should leave having the interviewer thinking you want the job, even if you do not. It is important to remember that a negative or apathetic attitude has a way of sticking in people's minds and so does a positive one.
Selling your strengths and strengthening your weaknesses
No matter how suitably qualified or confident a person is, a job interview is a stressful situation. It is filled with questions that can catch you off guard, especially an inexperienced new graduate with little or no prior interview experience. Make sure you know your own strengths and weaknesses. A good idea is to write down four or five strengths and one or two weaknesses. Include a short, one-paragraph example of some accomplishment you have achieved using each strength. With the weaknesses, write up a specific situation where you have turned that weakness into a strength, or have overcome the weakness.
Write up your two most significant accomplishments
To improve your verbal pitches, prepare more detailed write-ups for your two most significant accomplishments. Each of these should be two to three paragraphs in length, no more than half a page each. One should be an individual accomplishment, and the other a team accomplishment. Make sure you include examples of your strengths in both write-ups. Most candidates get a little nervous in the opening stages of an interview, which can result in temporary forgetfulness. The write-ups will allow for better recall of this important information in these times. They'll also be the basis of the examples in the SAFW response.
Answers!
Learn the "optimum answer". Answers should be about two minutes long. Much more than three minutes and candidates can be perceived as boring or unable to get to the point. Less than a minute and they're branded as dull and lacking interest. It has been suggested that candidates use the acronym SAFW to form their interview answers:
- S: make an opening Statement
- A: Amplify that statement
- F: provide a Few examples
- W: Wrap it up
The examples part is the most important. This is the demonstrated proof behind the opening statement. Interviewers will use these examples to form their judgements about candidate competency. Most candidates talk in generalities. This is not as convincing as a specific example. The answer will be more meaningful if the candidate shows how one or two of their strengths, like creativity and perseverance, were required to achieve the results described in the example. Examples can be drawn from your university, employment, voluntary and social experiences, but ensure they are relevant and positive.
- Try to anticipate questions - prepare answers to likely questions
- Give positive answers - if you have a weakness steer away from it and/or counteract it with a positive attribute
- Prepare relevant questions - ask positive questions about the company and job e.g. training issues, career progression, the people that you would be working with, how the role would interrelate to the rest of the business
When answering comptency questions where you are expected to give real life examples of how you have previously demonstrated the employers values or requirements, remember to use the STAR technique.
- Situation: a brief overview of when it was or where you were working, etc.
- Task: what did you have to do, what was the objective?
- Action: how did you approach the task? What actions did you take to ensure a good result?
- Result: what was the outcome? (Obviously make sure it's positive!)
If you are perapring for a competency interview it's a good idea to try ask what kind of areas or values will be discussed so you can think of some examples in advance. If this information is not available, you may find some clues in the job specification or on the company website!
At the end
Ask for the job! At the end of the interview, tell the interviewer that you are interested in the job, and would like to know what the next steps are. If the next steps seem evasive or unclear, ask if your accomplishments seem relevant to the performance requirements of the job. Understanding a potential gap here allows you to fill it in with an example of a related accomplishment.
Thank the interviewer for his/her time at the end and perhaps follow up with an email or letter expressing your enthusiasm for the role.
Also think about the interview soon afterwards and make a note of things which went well and not so well to help you in future interviews. Some employers may even be prepared to give helpful feedback to unsuccessful candidates.
