OCR Award and Certificate in Employability Skills

Unit 11: Preparing for and learning from interviews

Planning for a job interview including: Arrangements for your interview Researching information about the job Preparing your questions and answers Your interview Reviewing your performance This unit is about:

Arrangements for your interview Sam telephones his local cinema in response to an advert he has seen in the job- centre for a part-time sales assistant

Arrangements for your interview He talks to the manager who asks him to come along at 2pm the following Wednesday for an interview Sam needs to prepare!

Arrangements for your interview Find out the times of the bus to get him to the interview for 2pm and times of the buses back home afterwards Print a copy of his CV and personal reference to take with him to the interview He needs to:

Arrangements for your interview Prepare the questions he would like to ask them Research the cinema company Prepare answers to the questions he thinks he may be asked He needs to:

Researching information about the job Sam is going to the cinema with friends on Saturday evening and takes the opportunity to speak to one of the cinema staff to find out what it is like to work there

Researching information about the job When he gets home he checks the local bus timetable to make sure that he can get to and from the cinema at those shift times He discovers that there are 3 shifts most staff work - 10am to 2pm, 2pm to 6pm and 6pm to 10pm

Researching information about the job He finds out that they have a SuperSaver Tuesday when all tickets are priced at £3 He looks on the cinema website to find out more about the company

Researching information about the job He finds out that on Monday afternoons they show old black and white films He also discovers that after 6 months staff get a 10% staff discount on cinema tickets

Preparing your questions and answers Sam prepares for questions he may be asked at interview such as: What customer service experience do you have? Which days are you willing to work, including weekends?

Preparing your questions and answers He prepares a list of his strengths, skills and experiences: Confident communicator Captain of his local football team, organising weekly training sessions Experience of working with people of all ages – as a volunteer for the area’s local fun runs

Preparing your questions and answers What hours would you like me to work? What activities would I be doing? He writes down in his notebook the list of questions he wants to ask at his interview: Who would be my boss? Is there a chance I could be asked to cover for colleagues at short notice? How much am I going to be paid? How often am I going to be paid? When will I hear if I’ve got the job?

Your interview He knows first impressions count so he has decided to wear smart casual clothes and he got his haircut the day before the interview Sam arrives 10 minutes early and reports to the reception staff When the manager approaches him, Sam shakes his hand and gives his name. He waits for the manager to ask him to sit down

Your interview Sam answers the interview questions as clearly and positively as he can He has his notebook of questions ready and waits until the end of the interview to ask them One of his final questions is when he will hear back from the manager He shakes hands with the manager before he leaves, thanking him for his time

+ Reviewing your performance He arrived on time for the interview and had prepared well for the questions he thought he would be asked Sam thinks about his interview when he gets home What went well and what did not go so well?

- Reviewing your performance He could have practised his answers better when asked about his experiences with customer service – he forgot to mention he helped his Uncle Richard during the Summer at his farm shop He could have been more relaxed and confident

Sam got the job

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