The Job Interview
A job interview is your opportunity to convince the employer that you are fully motivated and able to do the role.
Read the job advert/ person specification/ job description. What are the key skills and qualities the role needs? Think of examples you can use from your own experience to talk about. If there isn’t much detail in the job description, look at the job profiles on Prospects instead.
Review your application and be clear about what you can offer the employer in terms of your relevant skills and previous experience.
Research the organisation and sector to preparefor questions relating to commercial awareness.
Plan your journey: If the interview is in person, where is the interview taking place and how will you get there? Leave extra time for delays. Make sure you have contact details with you in case you need to let them know that you are going to be late.
What should I wear? Expectations about what to wear for an interview will vary depending on the organisation you are applying to. For example, you would dress differently for a job in the fashion industry than a job in a firm of solicitors. The general rule is always to be a bit smarter than the people who usually work at this organisation. In a formal company, this could be a suit or dress with smart shoes. You can always ask in advance if you need clarification.
Many people find they get very nervous about job interviews.
If you would like some help with managing your nerves, there are some ideas in our Techniques for handling nerves and anxiety during the recruitment process leaflet.
Practising for an interview beforehand will help you to feel more prepared.
Use the Interview Simulator on Surrey Pathfinder.
Attend workshops on interview techniques.
If you have been offered an interview you can book a mock interview with a Careers Consultant on Surrey Pathfinder.
This type of interview could be a one-to-one interview, a series of one-to-one interviews with different key people in the organisation, or a panel interview with three or four people, where each member of the panel asks questions in turn.
Dress and act as smartly as you would for a face-to-face interview. Make sure that you have your equipment already set up beforehand so you are ready for the call.
Check out your background and if necessary have a tidy up! You can usually blur your background to hide distractions behind you. Avoid speaking over anyone by making sure that the person has finished speaking before you answer their question.
Stop other data-intensive activities on your computer to avoid disruptions to your connection.
If possible, practice on the platform beforehand, e.g. to learn how to share your screen for a presentation. Find more useful tips here.
These are popular with employers who receive a high volume of applications and you will be prompted to record your answers to questions without an interviewer present.
You will be sent a link where you access automated questions and are given a time limit in which to answer them.
All candidates are asked the same set of questions. You will be assessed on your body language and tone of voice as well as the content of your answers.
It’s a good idea to practise video interviews and you can do this using the Interview Simulator in the tools section of Surrey Pathfinder.
These may occur at the beginning of the interview around subjects that you are familiar with. For example “Why did you choose to study a degree in psychology?” or “Tell me about yourself.” The employer does not want your life history, but a brief overview of the key skills/experience/ knowledge you have that are relevant to the role.
You will be asked to give an example of when you have used a specific skill, for example: “Describe a time when you had a difficult problem and what you did to resolve the issue.” Your example can be from any aspect of your life including academic, work experience, part time work or extra-curricular activities.
You need to research the competencies for the role, using the job description and person specification (if there is one) or the company website. Practise structuring your answer using the STAR technique. See our STAR resource.
S SituationT Task (your objective)A Action (how did you achieve your objective – should take up the most space)R Result
Examples of competency-based questions are given at the end of this leaflet.You can find more possible questions and practise answering them using the interview simulator on Surrey Pathfinder.
Employers will not only be interested in your ability to do the job, but also your willingness to do the job. They may assess your motivation with questions about your knowledge of the role itself, the organisation and the sector.
Highly qualified and skilled applicants can be rejected if they don’t answer these questions well as recruiters may doubt a candidate’s commitment and wonder if they have a realistic idea of the role. Examples of motivation questions are:
Why have you applied for this role?
Why this company?
Who are our competitors?
Where do you see yourself in 5 years’ time?
Many candidates will just prepare for these questions by looking at the organisation’s website. You can stand out by researching on news or professional body websites.
Recruiters using strengths questions focus on what you are good at and what you enjoy doing.
Many employers including the Civil Service, EY, Unilever, Microsoft and Barclays International use this form of interviewing.
Working in a role that matches your strengths leads to better performance and job satisfaction. The best way to prepare for a strengths-based interviews is to take time out to reflect on your strengths beforehand, you can do this here.
You may be asked more questions compared to a standard interview, and your tone of voice and body language will be used to gauge your enthusiasm.
Examples of strength-based questions include:
Tell me about an activity or task that comes easily to you
What unique qualities could you bring to the company?
What would you say is a successful day?
What are your top 3 strengths?
These questions will test your technical knowledge relevant to the job and the industry. Sometimes you may have a technical interview separately from a more general interview.
Some recruiters use seemingly random questions to check your ability to think on your feet and solve problems. They don’t expect you to know the answer, but want to know how you could work it out. Examples include:
Approximately, how many babies’ nappies were used in the UK last year?
How would you count the number of hairs on a dog?
What is the angle between the hands on a watch when the time is 3:45?
You don't want to give an answer which will make the employer wary of you such as “I tend to miss deadlines on a regular basis” or “I tend to be a perfectionist.” Neither do you want to give a weakness which is core to the job.
The question is really aimed at assessing your self-awareness and your commitment to personal development, so focus on a real weakness but talk about how you overcome this. Always aim to finish on a positive note even when talking about a negative experience which you have faced.
Interviewers in the NHS will use questions to assess whether candidates share the NHS values. Other organisations may have identified values and may ask about them at interviews. Values questions include:
Tell me about a time when you have had to act with integrity
What would you do if you discovered your manager had over-claimed expenses?
Tell me how you think a patient’s respect and dignity can be maintained
Team Work and Interpersonal Skills- Tell me about a situation where building strong relationships with people was important in achieving your goals?- Describe a situation where you have had to resolve a conflict within a team?
Prioritising and Organising- Recall a time when you had to complete a complex project. What steps did you take to prepare for and finish the project?- Describe a situation in which a number of things needed to be done at the same time. How did you handle it?
Adaptability- Give an example of a situation when you had to adapt to an unexpected change?
Problem Solving, Analysis and Creativity- Tell me about a situation in which you had to perform background research before solving a problem. How did you use the research?- Describe a time when you came up with a creative solution to a problem.
Decision Making and Judgement- Can you give me an example of a complex decision you have had to make and how you went about it?- Can you tell me about a time when you have had to make a decision with incomplete information?
Drive and Determination- Describe a task you completed that you didn’t enjoy. How did you motivate yourself?- Tell me about a situation in which you have had to cope with setbacks.
Commercial Awareness- Tell me about a recent news story relating to our business area that you found interesting. Why?- What do you think will be the most important issues facing this sector in the next five years?
Leadership- Describe a situation in which you took responsibility for achieving something.- Tell me about a time when you have spotted and utilised other people’s talents.
Don’t forget we are always happy to help you with every aspect of your career planning and development, wherever you are in your journey. If you are unclear about where to start or what to focus on first, just make an appointment with a Careers Consultant via Surrey Pathfinder and we can help you develop a plan for moving forward.
Visit our Equality, Diversity and Inclusion careers resources to find out more about diversity initiatives, employer perspectives and support at Surrey.
If you would like more information, visit MySurrey Help to find answers to the most common questions and details on how to ask us a question if you require more support.
