Interview Tips: Answering and Asking Questions

So far we have covered preparing yourself for an interview and how to research for your interview which is everything you need to do leading up an interview. The tips below focus on the main content of the interview and covers how to structure your answers in an efficient way.

Interview Questions:

Most interviews will follow a similar format and cover off similar style questions. As much as it is important to prepare for these questions, they can often to be difficult to predict.

Instead, focus on the structure of your answers. A useful strategy is the STAR technique:

·??????Situation - briefly describe the where/when/who;

·??????Task - outline the task or objective (what you hoped to achieve).

·??????Action - describe what you did - focus on your role and your input.

·??????Result - what the outcome was and what skills you developed.

Focus on a range of competencies and how you have dealt with these before in both a professional and personal capacity. These can include examples such as: making difficult decisions, problem solving and leadership skills etc.

There will usually be a section discussing your CV and career history. Be open and honest about reasons for leaving your past employment but always stay positive and professional.

You will also be asked about your own ambitions and goals and what you expect from your next move. Once again be honest about any specific goals you want and need. If you have a specific career path you are set on going down or any specific training requirements make sure that this organisation can support you in this.

If you don't know the answer the question, stay calm and don't panic. There's no harm in staying something along the lines of 'Sorry this isn't something I have encountered before but would you mind telling me about it?" Turn the question around and as they go further in detail you may be able to find a link or a skill that you can relate back.

Also don't discount the "standard" interviews that you hear about all the time. They are still asked and are usually the ones to throw people off. Questions like:

• What are your 3 main strengths and 3 main weaknesses?
• "Why should we hire you over someone else?"
• Why do you want to work for us"

Your Questions:

A big thing to remember, is that you are interviewing the organisation as much as they are interviewing you.

Are you sure they are right for what you want and need at this stage of your career?

Make sure you ask questions throughout and don’t hesitate to ask anything that you need to know. There will be an opportunity to ask questions at the end of the interview. You will probably find that most of your questions are covered through out the interview and if that’s the case don’t panic and feel the need to ask something for the sake of it

Good questions to ask include things such as:

• Training and development opportunities
• Are there are upcoming changes happening within the business?
• What do they see for your future? Do they have an idea of where they want to see your role developing?
• What does the wider team look like?

Make sure you have covered all of the basic requirements of the job so there are no cases of missed communication if it does progress; these include things like, working hours and travel requirements etc.

Ending:

End the interview on a positive note – if not told already ask about when you should hear back and expected time frames. You can always let the interviewer know that if need any more information and anything expanded on then they can contact you.

You can always ask about the next stage and what that would entail.

Thank them for their time and don’t be afraid to show enthusiasm for the role.

Good luck for any upcoming interviews and I hope this series of articles has helped!