What can you expect when you attend an interview? Here are a few tips to help you prepare

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You can never be sure, on arriving for an interview, what techniques will be used to assess your suitability and this will very much depend on the interviewer. There are, however, some contributing factors which may give you an idea of what to expect.

Is this a first, second or third stage interview?

Make sure that you are aware of how many stages there are in the recruitment process. If there are two or three, then it is likely that the seniority of the interviewer will increase in each “round”. This will not always be the case, but in many instances, the first will be more informal, as you get to know the person you would be working with, or it could be a screening interview, conducted by an HR professional. This could be as informal as a chat over coffee or a tour around the office. The second and third stages may be more structured, conducted firstly by the individual you will be reporting to and finally the key decision maker.

Is this a small company or a multinational?

Smaller organisations tend to have a one stage process and the interview often centres around your ability to fit in with the current team, although this isn’t always the case.

Larger organisations may include a number of interview stages and even testing or group exercises and you may find these interviews more formal and structured.

So what can you expect when you attend an interview? There are three main types of interviews and you may find the interviewer uses all three to get a much broader picture of who you are. However, common to all three techniques are the group of questions which relate specifically to their organisation or industry.

These questions are almost always included and are intended to test that you’ve done your homework and not only understand what they do, but also understand the regulatory, industry and legislative landscape in which they operate. The more senior the position, the more in-depth and detailed the answers will need to be.

Competency-based interviews

This technique has become more and more popular and allows the interviewer to get a feel for how you would deal with specific instances and enables them to determine that you can do the job. These questions will centre on the skills looked for in the role, so by doing your homework, you should be able to determine what type of questions you will be asked.

The key to answering a competency-based question, is structure. The interviewer is looking for a very specific response and in order to provide this apply the STAR technique to your answer.

Situation (S) — Put the example in context. In most cases they will require an example that relates to the workplace.

Task (T) — Explain what the problem or situation was.

Action (A) — What did you do to resolve or address the situation and how did you approach this?

Result (R) — What was the result and how did this impact others or the organisation?

One key point to remember when using the STAR technique is to always refer to actions taken by you and not by a team.

The interviewer is not interested in what your previous company did in any given situation, but rather what your specific role was in any given example.

Stress interview

If you have ever watched The Apprentice, you will have seen this technique in action. It is a rather outdated interview style, but can be used to test a candidate’s strength of character and ability to function under pressure. The interviewer may fire questions in quick succession at you, often trying to see whether your answers differ from those previously given.

They may ask you difficult, embarrassing or even offensive questions to gauge your response or they may try techniques such as appearing bored or disinterested in your answers.

In this instance, you just need to remember that they are trying to get the same information as any other interviewer. Keep calm, answer the questions to the best of your ability and keep your answers consistent.

©The Daily Telegraph