Interviews

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Interviews

• Com 417 M1
• Grainne McGregor
• g.mcgregor_at_ulster.ac.uk

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• An interview is a meeting of two or more people,
  face to face, to accomplish a known purpose
• The interview is simply a conversation with a
  purpose

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Why interviews are still used

• Pragmatic grounds, it is easy to arrange and
  carry out
• Interviews provide information difficult to
  obtain in other ways how the candidates express
  themselves, are they pleasant and personable etc
• Applicants like not to be judged totally on paper
• Provide an opportunity for candidates to ask
  questions
• Both sides have a vested interest in continued
  use of interviews warts and all

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You are entitled to expect

• To be treated with courtesy
• Given adequate opportunity to say what you want
• Made to think hard and quickly at some stage of
  the interview
• Interviewer will withhold judgement until end of
  the interview
• Interviewer will base his/her assessment on your
  suitability on information relevant to the
  performance of the job

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What the interviewer is entitled to expect

• You are serious about your application
• You are honest in your answers to questions
• You are courteous and attentive
• You will be able to talk about anything you have
  indicated as being of special interest to you

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Factors assessed during interview

• Appearance
• Friendliness
• Poise
• Personality
• Conversational ability
• Alertness
• Knowledge of workfield

• Qualifications
• Skill
• Experience
• Drive and initiative
• Overall impressions

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Types of interview

• Telephone
• Screening
• Structured criteria-based interview
• Panel
• Operational/technical

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Criteria based assessment

• Candidates asked the same questions
• Focus is to explore your life against 6-8
  criteria
• Questions more detailed/persistent/probing than
  typical screening interview
• Need to give examples/evidence to illustrate each
  of the criteria

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Operational Interview.Can candidate

• Think logically and quickly?
• Think flexibly and perceptively?
• Analyse problem with multiple solutions?
• Weigh up options?
• Set realistic priorities?
• Sustain an argument?
• Demonstrate a breadth of interest in job
  relevant areas?
• Show a depth of ability in job relevant areas?

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Preparation for the interview

• What you have to offer
• What the employer wants
• About the company
• Anticipating questions

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Preparation

• What you have to offer
• Read over your application/CV
• Technical skills
• Personal skills and evidence

• What the employer wants
• Critical, as interview will be based upon it
• Web sites brochures
• Interviewer will complete an assessment sheet

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Anticipating questions

• Your life a series of key events. Use each
  event to demonstrate employability skills
• Magee Campus social life, college life,
• Managing study/work/social life
• Example summer job in shop. What was your
  personal contribution? What did you do to make a
  difference to the organisation? When you worked
  with others what did you contribute to the group?

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• Motivation
• How did you approach the routine aspects of the
  job? Why didnt you go back the following year?
• Lessons Learnt
• What did you find out about yourself, working
  there?
• How was the place managed?
• How would you do things differently if you went
  back?

• The organisation
• Show you know something more than the obvious
• Know the competitors and dont put anyone down

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Successful candidates

• Positive
• Articulate
• Personable
• Matched an assessment of their skill to the job
  applied for
• Realistic view of their development needs
• Capable of covering the range of questions put to
  them

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Unsuccessful candidates

• Failed to prepare
• Did not display a reasonable knowledge of the
  job/area applied for
• Did not give direct answers to questions
• Not analytical and did not transfer their
  learning between contexts
• Good degree is not enough

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• W walk like a winner
• H keep your hands under control
• O - You cannot win friends and influence
• O - people if you dont have eve contact
• P pause before you enter to gain composure
• S smile
• I intellect think before you speak
• E engage the interviewer take control

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Summary

• Getting an interview means that you are more than
  half way to getting a job.
• Interviewers really want you to succeed. They
  would really like to fill their vacancies
• Interviewers are not interrogators. Act like an
  adult, not a victim
• Interviews are never perfectif you make a
  mistake, just keep on going.
• How you come across at an interview is almost as
  important as what you say.

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Make a Confident Exit