Interview Skills for PG Students

7/28/2019 Interview Skills for PG Students

1/17

Booklets produced byCareers & Employabil ity50 Park Place.

Booklets sponsored by

CareersInformation,

Support&Ad

vice

Interview Skills for

Postgraduate Students

Helpingtoansweryour

questions


2/17


3/17

Last updated January 2012

CONTENTS

Introduction ................................................................................................. 1

Employers & Recruitment ............................................................................ 1

Preparation is the Key to Success .............................................................. 1

What Questions Might You Expect? ............................................................ 3

Interview Questions for Academic Posts ...................................................... 4

Competency Based Interviews .................................................................... 5

Interview Practicalities ................................................................................. 6

Tricky Questions .......................................................................................... 9

Reference Materials .................................................................................... 11

Further Help


4/17

1

INTRODUCTION

YOU HAVE BEEN INVITED FOR AN INTERVIEW!

You have every reason to feel positive and confident at this point as the employer

has indicated definite interest in you. However, you will clearly be in competition withothers and in order to succeed there are very definite techniques and strategies youwill need to use. This booklet provides some pointers and tips on preparing for aninterview and will help you to present yourself in the best possible light.

EMPLOYERS AND RECRUITMENT

The specific skills you will have gained from your postgraduate study willundoubtedly be sought after by employers, but you cannot rely on those alone to getyou the job. All employers now want recruits who have employability skills inaddition to any technical knowledge required. Examples of employability skills andattributes include communication skills, teamworking skills, analytical and problemsolving skills, flexibility etc. A CBI Survey of employers carried out in 2011 reportedthat 82% of employers rated employability skills as the most important factor ingraduate recruitment.

Employers design their application processes to elicit not only the skills andknowledge that each candidate possesses, but also to ascertain their motivation andlikely fit into the organisation.

Generally speaking, employers are interested in 3 questions:

CAN YOU do the job now and in the future? (do you have the skills andabilities required?)

WILL YOU do the job - how interested are you in the job and the organisation?Are you motivated to carry out the work to the best of your ability?

Will you FIT? ie will you fit in with the working environment and with othermembers in the department and organisation?

PREPARATION IS THE KEY TO SUCCESS

Preparation is a key factor. In an interview you are selling yourself - your skills,abilities, knowledge and personality - to an employer. In order to do this effectively,you must find out as much as you can about the organisation and the employer'sneeds. You also need to spend time researching yourself.

Remember, the interview is also a two way process which should help you to decidewhether you would want to work for a particular organisation.


5/17

2

Reduce your nerves and gain confidence by:

1. Researching yourself and what you can offer

Think about what you can offer the employer what have you done? When?

Why?

Catalogue your achievements consider your research, academic work, workexperience, voluntary work, social and sporting activities

Identify the skills you have developed through your achievements

Consider what motivates you, what interests you, whats important to you in ajob

2. Researching the employer

Be very clear about what the organisation actually does

Try to find out about new developments, expansion plans, newproducts/services, awards won, achievements, press releases, researchinterests

Study employers website which may include employment/careers informationand information about the organisations products/services/courses

Speak to people who know the employer/have worked for the organisation.This is a particularly useful way of finding out about the culture of anorganisation, and what the employer values in its employees

3. Researching the job

Read the job description and person specification, know the skills required forthe job

Check company website for further job details

Speak to people doing similar jobs

Do some research using careers resources (see page 11)

It has been suggested that up to 80% of interview questions are predictable,therefore it makes sense to spend time considering your responses to some of thesequestions before the big day. You mustnt be too rehearsed but it is important thatyou can talk confidently about your achievements and can clearly articulate yourreasons for wanting the job. Practicing out loud will get you used to the sound ofyour voice and will give you confidence. The more you practice, the more fluent youwill sound.


6/17

3

WHAT QUESTIONS MIGHT YOU EXPECT?

Listed below are some of the most usual categories of questions asked.

Questions about you:

Career Motivation/Direction Why have you applied for this kind of work/career? What do you see yourself doing in 5/10 years time? Are you willing to move - how mobile are you? For which other jobs/careers are you applying? What do you want out of life? What other employers have you applied to? What aspects of your previous work have you enjoyed/hated?

Education Record What made you decide to do your postgraduate degree? What have you learnt from your postgraduate degree which will help you in this

job? Why did you choose this subject? Your A levels/school results seem disappointing, what was the reason for that? Why should we take a postgraduate instead of an undergraduate for this job? Explain your project to me (either technically, or to a lay person)?

Evidence of Skills and Behaviours What are your main strengths?

What is your biggest weakness? Have you ever been required to explain a complex idea to an individual? (How

did you do this?) On your current course, how do you schedule your time and set priorities? Tell me about the best/worst decision you ever made. (What have you learnt?) Have you ever felt that you achieved an objective through sheer persistence?

(Tell me about it) Tell me about the best team effort youve been part of. (What was your role and

contribution?)

Questions about the organisation:

What do you know about our business/organisation? What do you think of our application form/brochure/website? What did you think of our presentation last night? (Make sure you attend if there

is a pre-interview presentation locally!) Why have you decided to apply to us? What do you think of our products/services? Who do you see as our major competitors? What do you consider to be the main difficulties facing our management? What do you think will be the most important opportunities/difficulties facing us

over the next 5 years?


7/17

4

Questions about the job:

What do you know about ... ? How would you define consultancy/marketing/personnel etc?

What do you understand by the term management? What qualities/skills do you have which you consider make you suitable? Why do you think you would make a good ... ? Do you think you can cope with the professional examinations?

The University of Manchester Careers Service Reproduced with permission

INTERVIEW QUESTIONS FOR ACADEMIC POSTS

It is difficult to predict all the questions which will occur in academic interviews, butthe following may give you some ideas:

Course Content/New Course Development

What are your strengths and weaknesses in relation to your subject matter? Which course would you not want to teach on and why? Would you make any changes to the current undergraduate programme? How would you market xcourse to an overseas institution? Where do you see the potential for new course development? What would you like to teach? What topics would you like to see covered in the new Masters in y?

Teaching Skills & Methods/Pastoral Care

What are you able to offer this University in the way of teaching? What innovative teaching methodologies have you used? What teaching skills and techniques have you developed over the past year? Do you see any room for change in the way we teach large groups of students in

lectures? What are the differences between teaching undergraduate and postgraduate

students? What are your views about student assessment?

You usually teach in small groups of 20 but the intake this year has beenincreased to 80. What would you do differently? How do you see advances in technology impacting on the role of the lecturer? Large numbers of 1st year students are dropping out of courses in the

Department. What would you do about it? Do teaching and research compliment each other? During your time at x, how did you manage the pressures of teaching and

research?

Research

Where do you see your research fitting in with the interests of the Department?


8/17

5

What ideas do you have for further research and what are the potential sourcesof funding?

How useful have you found the Internet as a research tool?

When do you hope to finish your PhD?

What plans do you have for publishing your PhD?

What is your research plan for the next three years? Where do you see your research going in the next few years?

COMPETENCY BASED INTERVIEWS

Competency based interviews have become the norm in graduate recruitment andwork on the principle that past behaviour is the best predictor of future performance.In a competency based interview, each question is designed to test one or morespecific skill(s) such as teamwork, communication, adaptability etc. The answer is

then matched against pre-decided criteria and marked accordingly.

Prior to the interview you need to familiarise yourself with all the criticalcompetencies required for the job and identify ways in which you can demonstratethat you use them on a regular basis.

Your answers to competency questions need to be clear and concise. The STARapproach can be very useful in giving a structure to your answer:

Consider the Situation or Task

the Action you took

the Result you achieved

It is important to try and avoid using the same scenario or example more than once.Instead provide a spread of evidence in your answers drawing on the breadth ofyour work, life and study. You can even use examples of things that didnt go well ifyou can demonstrate that you learned something positive from the experience.

Examples of competency based questions are as follows:

1. Give an example of a time when you have led a team to achieve a result?

2. Describe a time when you have had to influence others to do something theywere reluctant to do. How did you do it? What was the outcome?

3. Give an example of a time when you showed initiative in solving a problem?

4. Describe a time when you were working under pressure with competingdeadlines and it was impossible to meet them all. What did you do?

After listening to your answer to a competency question, the interviewer may want to

probe further about how you tackled a particular situation. For example, probequestions which could follow on from question 1 above might include:


9/17

6

How did you allocate tasks? What did you do if people didnt agree with the task theyd been given? How did you motivate the team? How did you ensure you kept to the deadline?

How did you measure the success of the project? Did you have any problems with some people not working as hard as they

should? How did you tackle this? What would you do differently next time?

It is important to carefully consider the scenarios you use be sure that you are ableto answer further detailed questions about them. If you notice that the interviewerseems to be asking increasingly difficult questions, dont panic! They may just betesting how far they can push you because they think youre good.

INTERVIEW PRACTICALITIES

Prepare YOUR questions

Before the interview you need to re-read your CV/application form, anticipate likelyinterview questions, think through your responses and practice out loud. During theinterview you will have the opportunity to ask a few questions of your own. This partof the interview is not just an opportunity for you to gather more information, but alsoa chance for the interviewer to see how interested/motivated you are.

Remember that at this stage, you need to convince the interviewer of the benefits toTHEM of employing YOU. Therefore avoid asking questions about salary/annualleave/pensions and benefits and instead ask questions which demonstrate yourgenuine interest in, and enthusiasm for the organisation.

Aim for 2 or 3 questions, write them down and put them in your pocket. This meansthat you wont have to worry that you will forget them all and be lost for words at theend of a gruelling interview. In addition, if they haveanswered all your questions(not unusual at the end of a full day of assessment exercises), you can reach foryour list, and demonstrate that you had thought of these questions, but they have allbeen answered, thank you very much.

Here are some ideas for questions you could raise:

How have your best recruits progressed in the past? I understand your firm operates performance appraisal - how would my performance

be evaluated during the first year? As a postgraduate, I have particularly strong analytical (or problem solving or

research) skills where could that be of most benefit in your organisation? Im really interested in starting in IT/marketing/finance. However, is it possible for

potential managers to move into other job functions as they progress? Can you give me a fuller picture of your training programme? (Assuming this is not

made clear in the literature.) What groups of people will I be working with in my day to day job?


10/17

7

Where would I be based - is this particular function located solely in ... ? What are the possibilities of using my languages? Are there opportunities to work overseas? Why is your company so successful - what would you say is the secret? What do you make of the recently announced trading loss?

Is your firm planning a new programme of expansion or are you entering a period ofconsolidation.

How do you see the company performing over the next few years?

A fall-back is to ask the interviewer themselves what they most like about working forthe organisation many interviewers are only too happy for a brief chance to talk aboutthemselves at the end of a long day listening to everybody else.

On the other hand, bearing in mind the impression you are trying to create, here are afew questions to avoid.

How much will I get paid?(creates a very mercenary impression if asked at the interview )

Will I start on a higher salary/grade than an undergraduate?(Many organisations dont distinguish between undergraduate and postgraduate startingpositions for any discipline positions and worry that postgraduates will thinkthemselves above their graduate vacancies this question will confirm their fears.

What about holidays/pension scheme/canteen/parking/public transport to the site?(you can find this out when they offer you the job)

Questions about the job, organisation or training covered in the recruitment literatureor website.(The HR department probably spent many hours writing this, and wont be impressedby someone who hasnt bothered to read it)

Clever detailed questions about the organisation e.g. on page 34 of the annualreport(The interviewer may not have a clue embarrassing them wont improve yourchances)

The University of Manchester Careers Service Reproduced with permissionDon't forget the details

Check venue/travel arrangements to make absolutely certain you will arrive atleast ten minutes before the interview. Nothing is more likely to jeopardise aninterview than arriving late!

Know whether you are having a general interview or technical interview as thismight affect your preparation.

Plan what you will wear. At an interview your appearance needs to be

impeccable.


11/17

8

Make sure that you wear the style of clothes that the interviewer would expect,and if in any doubt, choose the more formal of your dress options.

Don't overlook the importance of clean shoes, well pressed clothes, good haircut,tidy appearance.

Remember also that the colours you wear can give you a more serious/businesslike or informal/frivolous look.

If you can afford to invest in yourself by buying a new suit or jacket, it will dowonders for your confidence.

On the day

Your interview begins the moment you step inside the organisation! Be courteousand friendly towards everyone you meet, starting with the Receptionist.

The impression you create in the first 60 seconds can be most important in creatingthe right rapport between you and the interviewer. Its suggested that effectivecommunication during the initial few minutes of the interview can be broken down asfollows:-

55% Body language

38% Tone of voice

7% Message content (but this doesnt mean you should talk rubbish!)

Four important areas of non-verbal communication worth paying attention to are:

Eye Contact: Look at the interviewer during conversation but without staring.Eye contact conveys listening, interest and honesty.

Facial Expression: Smiling naturally and frequently indicates a good rapport withthe interviewer and indicates that you are confident and relaxed.Be careful to avoid the embarrassed smile, the fixed grin orsomething that resembles a scowl or inane smirk suggesting

hysteria or worse!

Posture: Sit well back in the chair that you moved slightly to one sidebefore sitting down, to prevent being placed in a confrontationalposition across a table opposite the interviewer. Avoid sitting onthe edge of the seat or slouching. You may like to lean slightlyforward when listening or replying to show your interest. Keepyour hands relaxed on your lap or on the arm of the chair andavoid fiddling with pens, clothing or hair.

Gestures: Try and find the right balance. Too much gesticulation and

sketching points in the air can detract from the verbal message


12/17

9

and may be seen as aggressive. No movement at all is notnatural and may be considered as passive and rigid behaviour.

Never lie in an interview your body language, tone of voice or the words you use

will probably give you away classic lying tells include scratching your nose andnot looking directly at the other person when speaking.

During the interview

Take a few deep breaths and compose yourself.

Speak clearly and not too fast.

Always be positive and enthusiastic.

Do make sure you ask for clarification if you dont understand a question this isfar preferable to rambling and thereby demonstrating that you didnt understandthe question.

Be ready to recognise the simple question calling for a brief answer.

After the interview

Its a good idea to make notes after each interview. These will prove invaluable ifyou are called to a second interview or assessment centre.

Make sure you know what happens next and when you can expect to hear the resultof your interview. If you dont hear within the time indicated consider sending a politee-mail thanking the interviewer for the interview and asking what the position is.

If you are getting interviews but no job offers, you need to look carefully at yourinterview performance. Some organisations will offer interview feedback. This isentirely at their discretion but its worth asking because any information/advice youcan gain may help you to modify your interview technique ready for future interviews.

TRICKY QUESTIONSSome interview questions are more straightforward than others. Here are a fewsuggestions for answering some of the more difficult questions.

What are your weaknesses?

Avoid clichs like Im a perfectionist, I work too hard and instead try to give anexample of a genuine weakness and show what you have done to overcome this. Itis OK to show that you are not perfect, but that you understand where you need toimprove and what you are going to do about it:


13/17

10

Until recently my IT skills were a bit rusty, but I have now enrolled on a course in myspare time which has given me greater confidence.

The interviewer could ask you about a gap:

I notice you took 4 years over your degree rather than 3. Why was that?

Dont make excuses, be clear in your explanation and talk about what you learntfrom the experience e.g. I did change my course at the end of the first year as Irealised that my real interest lay in ... and I have had consistently good marks sincedoing so.

How has doing a postgraduate degree prepared you for doing this job?

If applying for non academic posts, dont assume that employers will immediatelyappreciate the range of skills you have developed through postgraduate level study.

You may need to translate your experience from academic terminology to moremainstream vocabulary, for example:

Thesis = reportsResearch group = teamwork, creativityScholarship = planning, creativity, analysisRunning experiments, implementing methodology = project management, problem

solving


14/17

11

REFERENCE MATERIALS

A range of reference books and othermaterials are available in the Careers& Employability Centre (please ask at

Reception).

Making an Impact: The Graduate JobInterview, AGCAS DVD 2007

At the Assessment Centre, AGCASDVD 2009 (includes excerpts oninterview skills)

Selection Success in One (coveringWhy Ask Me That? Your Jobs On lineand The Assessment Centre) AGCASDVD 2004.

Books

You're Hired! Interview Answers:Brilliant Answers to Tough InterviewQuestions, Trotman 2010.

Youre Hired! Interview: Interview Tips

and Techniques for a BrilliantInterview, Trotman 2009.

Moving On In Your Career: a Guide forAcademic Researchers andPostgraduates Lynda Ali & BarbaraGraham, RoutledgeFalmer 2000.

The Art of Building Windmills: Dr PeterHawkins, GIEU 1999.

Knockout Job Interview Presentations,Rebecca Corfield, Kogan Page 2010

Great Answers to Tough InterviewQuestions, Martin John Yate, KoganPage 2005 (6th Ed)

Vault Guide to Finance Interviews,Vault Inc 2005

Succeeding in Your Medical School

Interview, Matt Green and Tony Edgar,Apply2 Ltd 2009

Successful Presentation Skills, AndrewBradbury, Kogan Page 2010 (4th Ed)

Presentation Skills The EssentialGuide for Students,Patsy McCarthyand Caroline Hatcher, Sage 2002

R:\General\literature\Interview Skills for PG students JHAug 2012.doc


15/17

12


16/17

FURTHER HELP

If you have found this booklet useful, you may want to pick up or download our otherbooklets, from:

www.cardiff.ac.uk/careers

Career Central is an extensive online careers resource accessible from ourhomepage www.cardiff.ac.uk/careers by signing in using your Cardiff usernameand password. You will find a wealth of information, activities, video clips andreflection exercises covering all aspects of career exploration, job hunting, workexperience and much more.

Careers & Employability also runs a series of workshops in conjunction with thesebooklets. You can find out more about these on our website.

THIS BOOKLET IS AVAILABLE IN WELSH AND ON CD

on request at the Careers & Employability Centre

Careers & Employability aims to offer a fair and equal service to all its clients, regardless of their sex,ethnic origin, age, sexuality, religion or disability. We are able to offer additional support to studentswho may benefit from extra help. Please contact us for further details.

DISCLAIMER

The information and advice provided by Careers & Employability is given in good faith and allreasonable efforts have been made to ensure accuracy. Neither Cardiff University nor the individualmembers of staff shall be liable to any person in contract, tort, statute or otherwise for any loss,distress or damage of any kind howsoever caused (except for death or personal injury caused by thenegligence of Cardiff University or the individual members of staff). All information and advice isprovided only on the basis of this disclaimer


17/17

50 Park Place, Cardiff CF10 3ATTel: (029) 2087 4828 Tel: (029) 2087 4828

e-mail: [email protected] e-mail: [email protected]

Careers & Employability is part of the Universitys Registry, Governance & StudentsDirectorate and will provide you with the professional careers-related support youneed during your studies and beyond.

The new Careers & Employability Centre opened in July 2010. It is free for you touse and is open weekdays from 9am - 5pm throughout the year. Whether you arejust beginning to think about your future, have made some plans or simply havent aclue what you want to do there is an array of help available to you so please makeuse of it. Start today by reading this booklet and utilising the events and services onoffer.

2n Floor, 50 Park Place, Cardiff

Minutes from the Students Union and a short walk from mostAcademic Schools.

Offering information, advice and guidance; appointments,drop-ins and workshops;

A wide range of resources Employer events

As well as these services at the Centre we have a presence atCardigan House, Heath Park Campus. We also have GO Wales

situated at 5 Corbett Road, Cardiff. Please see the Web forfurther details: www.cardiff.ac.uk/carsv

What is Careers & Employability?

Where is the Careers & Employability Centre?

GO Wales

Cit Hall

MainBuilding

GlamorganBuilding

StudentsUnion

Careers &Employability

Centre

Interview Skills for PG Students

Documents

Transcript of Interview Skills for PG Students