1. Preparing for Interviews
Gilda Moss
Monash University Careers and Employment
Ground Floor, Campus Centre (Building 10), Western Extension
Tel:
May 2006

2. THE INTERVIEW Employer wants to ascertain:
That you are committed to your chosen profession
That you have the skills and right qualities
Assess your emotional intelligence
That you are genuinely interested in their organisation
Your ‘added value’ and/or potential
Whether you will you ‘fit in’

3. BEFORE THE INTERVIEW Research!!
Knowledge of the organisation (and the industry)
Main business area/service areas
Main customers / clients
Organisation’s culture and values
Use websites, promotional material, speak to people
Read respective industry publications / websites
Knowledge of Yourself
Key message: “why should the company offer you the position?”
Prepare notes on:
Why you want the role
Assess the skills you have to offer & match these with what is required
Any achievements?
What motivates and challenges you
Commercial awareness
Your interests

4. BEFORE THE INTERVIEW Prepare!!
Anticipate potential questions and practice answers
Work out what questions you are going to ask, questions relate to the selection criteria
Decide on appropriate appearance and what to take
a folio with your resume, covering letter, original academic transcript and good references
Plan how to get there and be 10 minutes early

5. Typical basic interview format
Welcome / introductions
Outline interview structure
Questions asked by interviewer to measure candidate against firm’s required criteria
Questions asked by candidate
Conclusion

6. Remember to ….. Make good eye contact Use a firm handshake
Stand up to greet the interviewer
Smile
Wait for the interviewer to offer you a seat

7. DURING THE INTERVIEW Clear, audible English
Keep answers interesting and succinct
Use examples
Show enthusiasm in your tone and language
Smile and use humour, don’t over do it
Do not be afraid to think before you speak
Be yourself!
At the end thank the interviewer/s
Reiterate your interest

8. Interviewers want to know that ...
You can do the job
You will do the job
You will fit in

9. TYPES OF QUESTIONS Resume based Questions that attempt to bring out:
Your key skills
Your motivations
Your personal and work values
Knowledge & understanding of the industry
Situational Questions
“If a client did this, what would you do?”
Behavioural Questions
Companies will have defined the behaviours most suitable for their organisation and built questions around them
Based on the premise that previous action is a good indicator of how you will approach things in the future
Requires specific examples
Requires evidence of behaviour
Give us an example of a time when you had…to resolve a conflict / make a major decision / deal with a difference of opinion / deal with an uncooperative colleague.

10. RESPONDING TO THE QUESTIONS
HOW CAN ONE PREDICT THE QUESTIONS?
The selection Criteria or key requirements as highlighted in the advert or on the organisation’s website is the best indicator
For example
If they are looking for a candidate with initiative, excellent organisational skills or relevant experience, then they are likely to ask questions on those topics
USING THE STAR METHOD
Situation - Explain specific situation or problem that had arisen
Tactics - What needed to be done to address the problem
Action - What you actually did and how you did it
Results - What was the outcome; Consider both quantitative and qualitative results

11. An Example Using The STAR Method
·   Describe a problem you have faced in the last 6 months. How did you handle it?
Advertising revenue was falling off for my Uni
newspaper, Lot’s Wife, and large numbers of Situation / task or specific problem
long-term advertisers were not renewing contracts.
I designed a new promotional packet to go with
the rate sheet and compared the benefits of Lot’s Wife
circulation with other ad media in the area. I also set-up Action/s you took
a special training session for the account officers with
a School of Business Administration professor who
discussed competitive selling strategies.
We signed contracts with 15 former advertisers
for daily ads and five for special supplements. Results you achieved
We increased our new advertisers by 20 percent
over the same period last year.

12. Behavioural Interviewing- Primary Probes
What was your role?
Can you give me an example?
What did you do?
What were you thinking?
What did you say?
What were you feeling?
What was the outcome?
What did you learn?

13. TYPICAL INTERVIEW QUESTIONS - general
Tell us about yourself?
Why do you want to be a lawyer/engineer/
accountant etc?
Why should we consider you?
How the candidate engages the
interviewer/s;
Aspects of their personality, values etc. Rated on depth of answer and warming up to interview
Motivation / influences / career
aspirations; commitment
Rated on confidence and understanding of own skills and linking them with the
requirements of the position

14. TYPICAL INTERVIEW QUESTIONS - general
What do you consider to be your weakness?
Why are you interested in our organisation / company?
Where do you see yourself in the next 5 years
Do you have any questions?
Rated on ability to identify weakness and what they have done or doing to overcome it
Rated on knowledge of the company; how their skills fit; how will they benefit the Company
Rated on the understanding of the
position; clarity of their goals; realistic expectations and long term commitment to the organisation

15. QUESTIONS YOU CAN ASK
How do you measure an individual’s success in your firm?
I heard about X—what do you think about it? (An industry or firm event—something that’s been in the news or that you discovered in your networking and research.)

16. Closing The interviewer… Thanks you for coming to the interview
Describes the follow-up procedure
You should ….
Also thank the interviewer
Reiterate your interest
If necessary, clarify how & when you will be contacted

17. Types of Interviews - structured - unstructured
One-on-one
Panel
Behavioural
Stress
Group
Assessment Centre
Final or Closing interview

18. Group Interviews …. features
Usually comprise 6-12 candidates
Each group is assigned an activity or specific exercise
Each member is observed by an assessor, and performance against specific behaviours are measured & recorded
The activity is designed to gather evidence of behaviours based on the selection criteria and is structured in such a way that it fully engages the participants

19. REASONS FOR REJECTION Insufficient career direction
Failure to project your qualifications
Absence of initiative
Need for more self confidence
Shabby or inappropriate personal appearance
Lack of enthusiasm
Lack of genuine interest in the organisation
Inability to express self clearly
The intangibles