‘Master the art of interviewing’ Webinar Summary and Recording
Interviewing is a skill that can be refined with practice! Unlock your career potential by joining us for a dynamic 1-hour webinar, where Career Coach Cathy Balfe will guide you through the essential steps to interview success.
What you’ll gain:
- The 4Ps: Learn a proven 4-step approach to mastering interviews.
- Predict: Discover how to anticipate common interview questions.
- Prepare: Gain strategies to craft clear, impactful responses.
- Practice: Understand the importance of rehearsing your answers to boost confidence.
- Addressing Concerns: Cathy will tackle common interview worries and share tips to handle them.
- Final Tips for Success: Walk away with actionable tips to help you shine in your next interview.
The 4 P’s Approach
- Predict interview questions
- Prepare interview answers
- Practice interview answers
- Positive psychology
Predicting Interview Questions
There are various ways and methods to predict interview questions
Job Description
The first place Cathy tells people to start when predicting interview questions is the job description.
The job description gives a detailed outline of the role; key skills, experience and education.
Cathy used a job description for a Programme Coordinator as an example and asks you to identify the key skills and requirements listed.
Now that you have picked out these skills you can start to formulate potential interview questions based on them.
For example, if the role mentions IT skills, teamwork and problem-solving potential questions could be –
- Can you discuss your IT skills?
- Can you give an example when you successfully worked in a team?
- Can you tell me about a problem you had to solve?
Cathy also highlights the usefulness of ChatGPT, by feeding it the job description with the prompt ‘Give me 10 likely questions for this job description’ it can give you a starting point.
She recently was discussing this topic with a recruiter, and they mentioned they have used AI to gather interview questions to ask candidates.
A critical note Cathy makes here is to save the job description of the jobs you apply for as the interview often takes place after the job advert is closed, and you lose access to the job description.
By saving it, you can now look back on the details and prepare for your interview with it on hand.
Internet Search
The second method for predicting questions is searching the internet.
Sites like glassdoor.co.uk, Reddit and other industry specific sites can contain useful advice and information from people’s experiences.
It is also key to be aware of the different types of interview questions –
- Background
- ‘Tell me about yourself’
- Motivational
- ‘Why do you want this job?’
- Strength Based
- ‘What are your top three strengths?’
- Sectoral knowledge/awareness
- ‘What are the current challenges facing our industry?’
- Expectations
- ‘What is your ideal salary for this role?’
- End of interview
- ‘Do you have any questions for us?’
CV and Cover Letter
You can also anticipate questions based on your CV and cover letter.
Interviews can be formatted where the interviewer goes through your CV with you in detail, so be comfortable discussing the material you have submitted.
Cathy recalls an interview where she was asked to talk though her CV and all questions were linked back to her CV.
Searching the company website
Using the example of the University of Warwick, they have set values which questions could be based on.
For example, their value of ‘Thriving on difference’, you could be asked ‘Tell me about a time you dealt with conflict’ and so on.
Companies could also have a careers section on their site or send you interview prep material.
Ask your network
You might know people working in the organisation or same sector that would have insight into the interview process and potential questions.
Video Interviews
If you have been invited to a video interview it is important to know the type, live or pre-recorded.
Pre-recorded are very different from live interviews, you are not talking to a real person, and you might have 5-10 questions with timed thinking time and time limited responses.
You don’t get that immediate reaction or feedback from a person, so it is good to practice these types of interviews, so you are used to speaking with no response and in a limited time.
Preparing Interview Answers
Cathy’s first tip is to type up your answers.
This way you can edit and improve them over time.
Also, you can come back to them for future interviews as a starting point, so you are not starting from scratch.
The STAR Structure
The STAR framework is useful for competency questions where you are asked ‘Tell me about a time when you…’
Popular examples include –
- ‘…worked on a team project’
- ‘…explained a complex concept to someone’
- ‘…resolved a conflict’
- ‘…had to make a difficult decision’
STAR stand for
Situation
- Briefly outline the general situation leading up to the action.
The job and organisation you were in, and when it took place.
Task
- Explain what the specific task or goal was.
Action
- Step-by-step explanation of what you did, demonstrating the skill the interviewer is looking for.
Result
- Outline the outcome (hopefully positive!)
Cathy has created a short example under each heading, noting an actual response would be much longer, especially the ‘Action’ point as this showcases your skill the most.
You should spend 70% of the entire answer on the ‘Action’ section.
Don’t overuse saying ‘we did…’ even when talking about teamwork, it’s important that the interviewer clearly understands your individual contribution.
It can be difficult to expand on the ‘Action’ section, to help this Cathy suggests mind mapping the competencies that are associated with the action/skill.
Competency frameworks are useful for this.
‘Tell me about yourself’
This is a common interview question that many people struggle to answer.
Cathy has a useful structure to follow.
- Education
- Work experience
- Why you are interested in the role
You will give different weight to each section as is appropriate to the job and skills needed.
For example, if your education is especially relevant go in-dept about specific modules, technical skills and your thesis/research.
Cathy also recommends talking in chronological order, in opposition to your CV layout. Think of this answer in the form of a story.
Try not to repeat yourself, pick the best demonstration of a skill and use the other time to bring up additional experiences.
Aim to pick three key skills.
Briefly mention any career transitions, answer the questions in the interviewer’s mind and don’t leave them guessing.
Finally, finish on your motivation for this job or any future goals you have.
This wraps up your answer nicely and doesn’t leaving you trailing off when you run out of things to say.
Practicing Interview Questions/Answers
There are various ways to practice your interview skills.
- Mock interviews with a careers advisor
- Practicing with friends and family
- Interview simulators
- In a mirror or video recording
It is important to practice your answers, so you are familiar with them but not reciting from memory.
You want to sound confident and not robotic.
Positive Psychology
Cathy begins with highlighting a Ted Talk from Shaun Achor.
In his talk he states –
“Only 25% of job successes are predicted by IQ, 75% of job successes are predicted by your optimism levels, your social support and your ability to see stress as a challenge instead of as a threat”
Being positive means, you are more likely to have a positive outcome.
Cathy also brings up Seligman and his work on ‘learned optimism’.
The biggest takeaway from this is how pessimists and optimists perceive the world.
Pessimists
- Bad situations are permanent
- Bad things always happen to me
- Bad situations are always my fault
Optimists
- Bad situations are temporary
- This was a once-off bad thing
- Bad situations are outside of my control
Cathy asks you to reflect on where you fall on the pessimist/optimist scale.
Being too far on either end of the scale is not good, even with optimism.
Using the example of interview preparation, if you are overly optimistic you might not feel the need to prepare as you think everything will all work out.
It is ideal to be somewhere in the green space of realism but not overly one way or the other.
Reframing
How can you shift away from complete pessimism?
Cathy uses the ABCDE Model by Albert Ellis.
Adversity
- The event or situation that triggers negative thoughts and feelings, e.g. did poorly in a previous interview.
Beliefs
- The thoughts and interpretations that arise in response to the adversity.
- e.g. I am bad at interviews.
Consequences
- The emotional and behavioural impact of the beliefs.
- e.g. I am anxious about upcoming interview, affecting my preparation.
Disputation
- Actively challenging and disputing the negative beliefs with evidence and rational thinking.
- e.g. I am not inherently bad at interviewing; many people will have interviews that didn’t go their way throughout their career.
Energisation
- Observe the positive effects of disputing the negative beliefs, such as a renewed sense of hope or motivation.
- e.g. Challenging my belief that I’m bad at interviews, I now see interviewing as a skill I can develop with practice.
I understand that it’s normal for people to struggle with some interviews. This perspective has motivated me to prepare more effectively, and I feel less anxious and more optimistic about the process.
Cathy encourages you to apply an adversity you are experiencing to this model and see if it can reframe your perspective to a more positive one.
Common Interview Worries
Cathy goes through some common interview worries and her suggestions on how to tackle them.
What happens if I go blank or don’t know how to answer a question?
Ask the interviewer to repeat the question or ask for a minute to think it over.
You can also ask to come back to the question later in the interview.
If you don’t know the answer, be honest and say you will try find out afterwards and email the interviewer your answer.
If it is a problem-solving question like ‘How much would you charge to wash all the windows in London’, there is no correct answer.
The interviewer is trying to see your logical approach and that you stay calm under pressure.
What if I am asked a question I haven’t prepared for?
Cathy highlights you can never predict 100% of the questions in an interview.
If you get 8-9 out of 10 you are doing well.
Answering unanticipated questions is a skill you can practice.
Search for difficult interview questions, don’t read them, and record yourself answering the questions at first look.
This will help your proactive and on the spot thinking.
I feel like I am being judged
This feeling of being judged can put a lot of pressure on you and create an uncomfortable situation.
Going back to the reframing ABCDE Model, change your mindset.
In an interview you are helping the interviewer to understand who you are and your background.
This is also your chance to find out more about them and their company.
Interviews are a transaction; you need to find out if they are an organisation you want to join.
Think of interviews as a supportive friend.
They want the interview to go well; they are spending a lot of time preparing as well and meeting with you.
This is my only chance
Like the last worry; change your mindset.
There will be more opportunities and putting undue pressure on yourself will only hinder your performance.
I am worried my nerves will impact my performance
Cathy emphasises two points.
It is important to recognise your stress; this could improve your performance as it means you care about how you do and will motivate you to do your best.
Secondly, if your nerves are becoming too much revert to the ABCDE Model and dispute your beliefs.
Reframe your negative mindset that is causing you to be nervous.
Q&A
Now everyone is so clued up on how to interview well, how do I stand out?
How best to answer situational questions I haven’t experienced (e.g. tell me about a difficult situation at work)
What kinds of questions should I be asking interviewer?
What’s a suitable dress code for women especially in summertime?
How to address employment gaps?
Meet the Host
Cathy Balfe, Career Coach
Cathy has a background in academia and professional services, starting her career in Economics research before retraining as a Careers Advisor. She completed a Postgraduate Diploma in Career Guidance with the University of Warwick and is a Registered Career Development Professional with the Career Development Institute. Cathy worked for 3 years at the University of London, helping hundreds of students navigate their careers. She then relocated to Limerick, Ireland where she started her own Career Coaching business called Career Coach Me. Since starting her business she has worked with over 400 individuals across different industries and seniority levels, helping them identify their future career goals, write strong CVs and application materials and prepare to do well in interviews.
You can find more information about Cathy and her Career Coaching approach on her website and connect on LinkedIn.
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