Acing The Interview

Interview Success

The most effective strategy for interviews is to prepare, prepare, prepare; preparation is key. Below I will talk about different aspects of the interview process, but remember that mock interviews and practice make the biggest difference.

Most interviews are now called blended interviews. This means that the interview will seek to use multiple elements to assess you. Usually these will be Behaviours and Strengths, but may include a presentation.

Interview Structure

Interviews are usually separated into a basic structure which will be determined by the elements being examined. For example, if strengths are being assessed, a baseline question will be asked to discern engagement and positivity whilst also warming you up.

You may be told the length of the interview. A piece of advice would be to see how long the interview is to last, allow ten minutes for an introduction and then divide the time by the number of strengths and behaviours. In my experience, strengths will last two minutes, and behaviours up to eight minutes.

A Note on Recorded Video Interviews

In some large scale recruitments, such as the fast stream, videos are not done by panel, rather by recorded video. In these you will record yourself answering a pre-recorded question which is read out by an actor. You won’t get another chance to answer or be asked follow-up questions here, so make sure your answer counts and is full.

Example Interview Structure

50-minute interview breakdown:

• 0-10 minutes: Introduction, ID check etc.
• 10-12 minutes: Warmup strength question
• 12-20 minutes: Behaviour I, e.g. Leadership (This will tend to be the lead behaviour if there is one)
• 20-22 minutes: Strength I (This will usually be linked to the behaviour)
• 22-30 minutes: Behaviour II, e.g. Making Effective Decisions
• 30-32 minutes: Strength II
• 32-40 minutes: Behaviour III, e.g. Communicating and Influencing
• 40-42 minutes: Strength III
• 42-50 minutes: Behaviour IV, e.g. Delivering at Pace
• 50-52 minutes: Strength IV

Behaviour Layout for Interviews vs. Statements

If you have ever practiced answering a behaviour question, for example, “tell me about a time when you have had to make a decision or recommendation”, you will notice that the 250 words you would have used is not nearly enough to give a full and elaborated answer. This means your answer should be much longer in interview, how much longer depends on how quickly you can speak.

Talking Speed: A Few Considerations

Your interviewers will need to record what you have said in your interview, as this will form the basis of the mark you are given. With this in mind, it is rather cruel, and counterproductive, to rattle off a behaviour at a million words a minute, as your interviewers will struggle to keep up.

Instead, I suggest you find a talking speed which you are comfortable with and that is intelligible. Practice that and time it. You should leave time for your interviewers to ask any follow-up questions they have.

Back to the structure. You remember STAR, that will again form the basis of our behaviour responses. The only difference is that this time your response may be much longer, perhaps 700 words, depending on how quickly you can intelligibly speak.

The Perils of Scripts

Do not use them. It is as simple as that, you should know what you are talking about and have prepared not to need them. That is not to say that you can’t have a summary of the key points you are going to make. The risk though, is that the question you are answering has a subtle nuance which you didn’t notice so are now answering a question they didn’t ask. It is very difficult to give more than a pass mark to a response that didn’t answer the question.

When you are preparing your different responses, consider how the question might be changed to give a particular piece of nuance. For example, a question on Communicating and Influencing may ask:

“Tell me about a time when you influenced a decision [of someone more senior than you].”

This part in brackets could be swapped for any different factor, for example, emphasising in writing or verbally.

Strengths: Do You Have Them?

Strengths are an interesting and relatively new part of the recruitment process. They aim to assess things which you do regularly, do well and motivate you.

A strength based question tests you based on a ‘hidden’ strength definition. There is a list of them but looking at it isn’t worth your time. So if the interviewers are asking about the strength called Influencer, they will ask about a particular aspect of it, for example:

“When communicating, what’s more important, writing or presenting clearly?”

Preparation

There are too many strengths and variations to prepare each individually. What I suggest you do is practice answering strength based questions, there are plenty online. Practice this one with a friend, asking them to particularly look out for your enthusiasm.

Structure

Remember that you are portraying a strength that:

1. You perform to a high level
2. You feel motivated about
3. You use regularly

Bearing that in mind there are two simple structures you can follow, and one you must never follow.

Never

Please never say “yes”, one word answers are the worst way of answering the question! You don’t use the opportunity to talk about what you think about the topic, or show that you have experience using the strength in your life.

Two Effective Approaches

Bearing in mind you will have two minutes to answer, you don’t have a lot of time.

Generally you can fit:

• One good example with a little discussion, OR
• A good exploration of the topic, referring to times you have used the different aspects of the skill

Closing Thoughts

Remember that these interviews are happening all day and interviewers can get tired. Your job is to make it as easy as possible for them to see your behaviours and strengths as high scoring ones.

If you would like any more support in terms of a practice interview, please contact me.