The eGraduate Interview Series

We are starting an Interview series !!!

As  an introduction we'd like to start on the right foot. Today we present to you the first part of this series, and it is called...

'The Interview Chalisa'

• A very brief, but complete guide to interview, just 5 pages !
• Customized for Engineering graduates with checklists, summary & examples!
• 5 pages that you NEED to print !!!

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eGraduate's The Interview Chalisa

(http://egraduate.blogspot.com)

Nerves before an interview is normal, but thorough preparation can minimize this.

Contents

1. Last minute Checklist
2. Preparation in 4 points
3. Handling the Questions
1. Biographical Questions
2. Competency Questions

                                                              i.      STAR strategy

3. Case-Study Questions
4. Strength based Interviews
5. Technical Questions
6. Commercial Awareness

                                                              i.      The wider picture

7. Motivation Questions
3. How you say it
4. Some Typical Questions
5. Tips for telephone Interviews

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The complete file can be downloaded here. 

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Last Minute Checklist :

ü      Be certain of date, time and location.

ü      Plan travel, aiming to arrive early.

ü      Plan outfit – usually business dress.

ü      Prepare compulsory documents (hall ticket, roll number etc.).

ü      Find out all you can: interview length and format, interviewers.

Preparation in 4 steps :

1.       Revisit your application/CV.

2.      Revisit the job/person specification.

3.      Research the employer and sector. This isn’t a memory test of facts and figures - critically research. Reflect, relate what you discover to yourself and form opinions.

4.      Practice and prepare mentally. Think about the impact nerves have on you and anything you are likely to find particularly difficult. Seek support, practice with friends.

Handling the Questions

(Summary)

Biographical questions : Revise CV and think about yourself in relation to the job.

Competency questions : Reply with a Situation as an example, assigned task, your action & result obtained(STAR).

Case study interviews : Your ability to analyse the problem, identify the key issues & ask right questions.

Strength based interviews : You body language & personality should reflect your attitude towards the job.

Technical questions : Revise your projects. And at least 2 subjects preferably related to your project (or of specific interest). Demonstrate genuine interest & understanding, if from different field.

Commercial Awareness : A knowledge about company’s position in the market & knowledge of your sector.

Motivational questions : Be specific of your likings of that job & your enthusiasm about that organization.

(In Detail)

Biographical questions

The questions will be based on the information you provided in your application, such as choices you’ve made and work experience you have. Every interview is likely to have some biographical questions, so always read through your application form or CV beforehand to predict questions that might arise from it. Be prepared to give information about yourself in more depth and try to remember at all times to think about yourself in relation to the job function and the employer. For example, if asked about your interests, emphasise those which give a positive indication of your suitability for the job, highlighting relevant skills or personal qualities. Think in advance about any relevant content like university projects and also your most significant experiences and achievements.

Competency questions

Many employers use questions to assess your skills (or competencies), based on past behaviour. The employer has a list of competencies (read the advertised job description carefully!), usually between six and eight. For example, if one of the competencies is ‘the candidate should be innovative’, the related questions might be:

Tell us about a time when you have taken a different approach or tried something new?

• What was the situation?

• How was your approach different?

• What was the outcome?

• Anything you’d do differently next time?

For any interview it is important to be aware of how you can use your experiences to illustrate your skills, but in a competency-based interview it is vital that you have thought about your examples very thoroughly and in depth. You will need one example, or preferably two (from different aspects of your life and preferably taken from the last three years), to demonstrate each skill or competency, and your examples must stand up to detailed challenging questions.

Use the acronym STAR to structure your answer

S – Situation

Briefly give background to the situation

T – Task

What was your (and team’s) purpose, task or responsibility

A – Action

What did YOU do and how did you do it?

How did you identify and respond to problems or changes

R – Result

What was the outcome: real facts and figures can be very persuasive.

What were the reasons for your success and what did you learn?

Would you do it differently next time?

The ability to reflect on the experience can make the difference between a good answer and an excellent answer – some questions ask for the reflection but it can be a good idea to add it anyway if the example is appropriate. Reflection is usually about what you learned from an experience and how that changed your approach, behaviour or ideas afterwards.

Case study interviews

Case studies are a series of questions centred on a hypothetical business problem or scenario and are used largely by consulting firms. For example: If interviewer asks you to write a 'whole' project, obviously it can’t be done. So actually your approach to the problem is being checked. Most do not have a single right answer and the interviewer is more interested in your ability to analyse the problem, identify the key issues, and think through the consequences. They will also note whether you ask the right questions so do ask for further information, clarify and summarise as you go.

Strength based interviews

The basis is that it everyone has natural strengths and it’s about identifying those strengths and matching to a role. ‘Strengths’ could be a little misleading as that sounds very much like competencies, ‘preferences’ might be a more useful word. The theory is that working to those strengths means enjoying the role more and performing better.

For the recruiter, spotting strengths doesn’t come from the candidate talking about examples of their past behaviour. Instead it comes from seeing the energy and enthusiasm of a candidate. More conscious reading of body language, tone etc. although those have always had a huge impact. You’re likely to have a broader range of questions at a faster pace. Some personal reflection perhaps aided by personality tools might help.

Technical questions

Likely to be conducted by a manager from the function you’re applying to. The questions will be specific to that area of work/job applied. If you cannot prepare whole of your engineering, then you should do at least 2 major subjects very thoroughly. They should generally be related to the ones you did your projects in.  Also sometimes subjects of general interest are mandatory. Like a CS guy should know at least one programming language.

However, the term ‘technical’ is now used to cover any function and may not be related to your degree discipline. So imagine you are applying for a IT role in an CS company and you are an ECE graduate. A technical interview with that employer will be questions mostly relating to IT, and not ECE. Don’t panic; if you didn’t need a CS degree to apply then they won’t expect you to be a Computer scientist in the interview. What they will expect your answers to demonstrate is genuine interest, understanding and opinions.

Commercial awareness

Virtually all employers will expect you to demonstrate an understanding of and interest in their world. A common area candidates fall down on is commercial awareness; it takes significant work - particularly if your degree is unrelated. Essentially this means knowing a company’s position in the market place, having an insight into what is happening in the sector and the impact this could have on the organisation. For public and charity sectors you will need to understand how those organisations run – how they’re funded and what factors may impact on their operations.

The wider picture

You may be asked questions on a range of current affairs so be prepared to talk about your opinions on a range of issues, particularly in relation to the impact on your chosen sector. You may well be asked to defend a point of view, or be challenged on a particular issue. Do not be afraid to disagree with the interviewer, or defend your view in a discussion.

Having an opinion you can defend is more impressive than agreeing but not being able to say why!

Motivation questions

As well as the skills, experience and personal qualities for the job, you will be judged on your motivation for the job and the organisation. Much of an interview is about deciding if you would fit into the organisation.

Expect to be asked about why you want the job and why you are applying to that particular organisation. Here you should try to focus on showing a good match between what motivates you/ what you’re good at and what the organisation does, show that you have ideas about what you want to achieve and are keen to get started. Your hopes and ambitions being a good match to what the employer hopes from you is much more convincing than simply reciting a catalogue of the employer's virtues. A little flattery, with evidence that you have researched the company, never goes amiss. But be specific; don’t just say ‘because you’re the biggest’ without being able to explain why that is important to you.

Don’t be afraid to show your enthusiasm and to let the employer get to know you. Talk about what you’ve found you’re good at, what you’ve found rewarding/ fascinating/ fun and how that relates to them. If you sound convinced of the match so will the interviewer, they will find the interview less tedious and they’ll imagine getting more from you because you really want to be there.

How you say it

Communicating persuasively has never been all about the facts you convey or even the exact words you use. If you transcribed interviews it probably wouldn’t be the most articulate, fluent interviewee on paper who got through. Appearance, body language and voice all play a huge part is conveying your intelligence, confidence, passion and personality. In fact the first impressions are even before you speak: how you enter the room, your smile, appropriate eye contact and a firm positive greeting.

Once it’s made, maintaining the first impression is easier than changing it. Throughout the interview (indeed whole visit if given a tour) speak clearly, listen attentively maintaining good eye contact, and do not be afraid to ask for clarification if you do not understand the point the interviewer is making. Don’t give one-word answers; make the interview a conversation not an interrogation. Do not hesitate to volunteer information if you feel it is relevant. On the other hand, don’t talk non-stop. If you feel you have made your point wait for the interviewer to make the next move. Have the confidence to ask ‘does that answer your question’ if you’ve forgotten what the question was or suspect you’ve wandered off topic.

Some typical questions

Tell me about yourself:

• What are your strengths/ weaknesses?

• What experience has most influenced your development as an individual?

• What aspects of your course have you liked/disliked the most?

• What major problems or disappointments have you encountered and how did you deal with them?

Questions about your projects, work experience, other activities:

• What did you learn from these?

• What did you contribute to them?

• What do you get out of them?

Competencies:

• Tell me about a useful relationship you have built.

• Tell me about a problem you solved.

Motivation:

• Why do you want to join this organisation?

• What would you be able to contribute to this organisation/type of work?

• where will you be in 5 years time?

Commercial/ current affairs:

• How do you think the merger with....will affect our high street image?

• What do you think the United Nations should do about the situation in....?

• Pick a company who have recently grown. What have they done well/ badly? What could our company do for them?

Other topics:

• Questions about geographical mobility & relocation.

• Questions about pay.

• Questions relating to another activity forming part of the day. For example, they may ask you opinion of the whole interview process.

You are usually asked if you have any questions at the end of the interview so it’s a good idea to have some prepared beforehand. Beware - it is usually easy for the employer to tell when someone has questions they don’t really need the answer to or aren’t interested in. For that reason better questions may arise from what you’ve picked up during the interview and presentation/introductions. It shows you are taking in new information and developing your interest, knowledge and opinions.

Some typical questions you might ask:

• Questions about training and career patterns of recent graduate entrants.

• What the interviewer likes about working in this organisation.

If all your questions are answered during the interview, don't be afraid to say so. Tell them that you had a particular question in the starting but the answer was revealed in so and so way.

Tips for telephone interviews

It could be a short screening interview, checking some facts from your application and your reasons for applying. Or it could be as in-depth as a first face to face interview, so prepare as above.

• You can have prompts of your competency examples to hand.

• Bias relating to physical appearance is removed, although some people still find it helps to dress smartly.

• In the absence of facial expression and body language you may have to work harder to convey interest and enthusiasm.

• Don’t be thrown by lack of feedback and encouragement, it can happen in any interview but is more noticeable on the telephone.

• Visual cues can tell you if your answers are on the right track so you’ll need to pause now and then to give the interviewer chance to interrupt. On the other hand if you are thinking about an answer you may need to let the interviewer know you are still there!

• Don’t eat or smoke – you wouldn’t in a face-to-face interview and telephones can amplify noise.

• Although not seen, a smile and comfortable posture will impact on your anxiety levels, breathing and therefore your voice.

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The complete file can be downloaded here.

DOWNLOAD

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