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Practical Skills to Find Work
Interviews
Interview format
Types of questions
Following the screening of applications employers will compile a shortlist of people who appear to match their selection criteria and invite them to an interview to clarify their potential for the job role and to discuss in more detail the applicant’s interest in the job and organisation.
Prepare yourself for you interviews by having a look at some of the interview formats used by employers.
Interview format:
Telephone
- This method is often used to screen in early stages of recruitment, with questions seeking to clarify details in your resume.
- As you do not have the opportunity to impress the employer with good grooming and professional presentation you will have to rely on creating a positive impression by good verbal skills – clear speaking voice, friendly and polite greetings and articulate delivery of responses to interview questions.
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One to one
- One person conducts the interview to decide if you will be offered the job, or in larger campaigns a consultant may conduct the interview to screen and make a shortlist of candidates for an employer to interview.
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Sequential
- This is a series of interviews for the same position, with candidates progressing to the next interview or being screened out on the basis of interview performance
- The initial interview may be introductory, questions posed to get to know you and why you want the job, as well as clarifying information on your resume and application form. Subsequent interviews can be more technical and seek to explore your skill set and personal motivators further.
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Case interviews
- This style of interview is used frequently in management consulting
- They are designed to test your analytical and quantitative skills, your business intuition and your creativity to resolve business problems.
| TIP! The following websites offer more information on this interview technique
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Panel interviews
- This type of interview allows an employer to get a broader perspective on your abilities by drawing on the opinion of a few people in the organisation
- The panel usually aims for a consensus decision on the interview performance of each candidate
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What type of questions will I get asked?
Although it is hard to identify a typical job interview there are usually some questions that you can anticipate. In designing interview questions employers will:
- Tailor them around selection criteria
- Will pose questions to enable you to talk about your experiences and demonstrate your skills
- Try to identify motivators, values and attitudes through general questions
- Ask technical questions to find out how much you know in your field
- Seek to find out your views on further training through questions on career planning
Types of questions:
Open
- Designed to open up the conversation there is no right or wrong way to answer but you should look for the opportunity to impart information that helps present you in a positive light.
- Sometimes the questions are so general it is easy to underestimate the impact your response can have.
- Avoid simple yes/no responses. Take advantage of the opportunity to respond in more detail.
TIP!
Example of an open question:
| Question: | Why did you decide to study science? |
| Typical Response: | I had always done science at school and thought I would keep going with it. |
| A Better Response: | I enjoyed science at school, had always got reasonably good results and wanted to continue study at university. I chose to major in chemistry in my Bachelor of Science course as I really like lab work and think I am good at it. I attended a careers evening at university and when I heard a presentation by a food technologist I decided it was the type of work I would like to do as I could use the skills I learned at university but also become involved in business development. |
| Why it is better? | This response sounds positive about science career and thoughtful about course decision. | |
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Closed
- These questions have the purpose of gathering information or confirming details for the employer
- Be clear and straightforward in the information you provide and aim to show the positives
TIP!
Example of a closed question:
| Question: | How long did you work at Beaumont’s Hardware? |
| Typical Response: | I worked there a long time because it was easy whilst I studied and they gave me extra work over the summer holidays. |
| A Better Response: | I worked there for about 4 years, working 15 hours during semester and full time over the summer holidays. I started as a retail assistant, but now have extra responsibilities including stock ordering, staff supervision and handling more complex customer enquiries. |
| Why it is better? | It answers the question more specifically and adds information to explain increasing responsibilities at current workplace. |
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Resume/Application Based
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Questions will be posed around the information you have provided on your resume or application aiming to elicit more detail on how your experiences have shaped your learning
- Create a good impression by discussing how your qualifications, skills and previous experiences will help you perform well in a workplace. Even if you feel you are stating information you have written in your application remember employers are also interested in how you verbally communicate so avoid the temptation to use phrases such as “as I have already stated in my resume.”
TIP!
Example of responding to a resume based question:
| Question: | You mention on your resume that you have been an active member of the Monash Science Society for a couple of years. Tell us a bit more about that. |
| Typical Response: | I went to the meetings and helped organise a career night with some other people. |
| A Better Response: | I went to a lot of the social activities arranged by the society and also got involved in a committee to organise a career event for biological and life science students. In a team of 4 we organised speakers from industry to talk about job opportunities in their company and recent graduates to talk about how they got work. My responsibilities included arranging 2 industry reps to talk and catering for the night. It was a successful night with 80 students attending with many of them saying they found it helpful. I also kept to the budget. |
| Why it is better? | By providing more detail an employer gets an impression of the skills you have used – collaborating with others, liaising with employers, budgeting and organisational skills. |
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Behavioural/Competency
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How you have behaved in the past as a predictor of how you will approach people and situations in the future, is the basic premise for this interview technique
- Questions are usually phrased to get you to talk about your experiences in detail, highlighting how you dealt with more challenging or complex situations and to describe the outcomes of your action and what you learned
- Personalise examples that you use. Sometimes one specific example is a much better statement of abilities than lots of general comments about your skills.
TIP! Example of a response to a behavioural or competency based question:
| Question: | Tell us about a time when you weren’t pleased with your performance. What did you do about it? |
| Typical Response: | I failed a subject in 1st year and I wasn’t happy about it so I decided I needed to work much harder to get good academic results. |
| A Better Response: |
In my 1st year at university I failed a subject because I didn’t spend enough time studying – I thought it would be easier than it was so I worked more hours at my part time job. When I failed a subject I was really disappointed in myself and realised I needed to do things differently to perform better. I reduced my work hours and made sure they were regular hours each week, I used study plans that had worked for me during VCE and I took up going to the gym to keep myself fit, healthy and motivated. This worked for me as I improved my academic results all round and got a very good result for the subject I repeated. |
| Why it is better? | It provides a specific example of improving performance by taking responsibility for change in behaviour and attitude resulting in a better outcome. |
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An excellent technique for responding to behavioural questions is called the STAR technique. It is a good way to structure your answer to keep you on track and make it easy for the employer to follow what you are saying.
| Situation |
Set the scene for the employer by briefly stating the background to the situation or detailing the problem that had arisen. |
| Task |
Explain what needed to be done to address the problem or complete a task and detail the specifics of your role or responsibilities. |
| Action |
Now discuss the options you considered and then explain what you did and why you decided to take that course of action. Include information on any difficulties and problems you faced. |
| Result |
What was the result of your action? Results can be quantifiable, quality outcomes or result in improved knowledge and a learning experience for yourself. |
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Hypothetical
- Primarily aimed at identifying your problem solving skills and ability to think logically through an unfamiliar scenario, these questions provide you with the opportunity to demonstrate your logical thinking skills, your ability to make a decision and back up your judgment, as well as the chance to display maturity and commonsense.
TIP! Example of a response to a hypothetical question:
| Question: | If you were in the workplace and asked to deal with a problem that you had not confronted before how would you go about it? |
| Typical Response: | I would do a lot of research and try and work out the problem. |
| A Better Response: | I would talk to other people including my supervisor and work colleagues to make sure I understood what needed to be done and to clarify anything that would affect my decision like timeframes and budgets. As research I would talk to people and ask if anyone had relevant experience that could be helpful, check reference materials and technical documents. During my research I would analyse the critical elements of the problem and begin to make plans to tackle the problem, looking at options and then working out what I think would be the best solution. I would also build in some checkpoints to my plan including testing, getting feedback and other forms of monitoring and then make changes if needed. |
| Why it is better? | It is a more detailed example that incorporates a problem solving model and shows a logical course of action. |
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Case Interviews
- Used frequently by management consulting firms this style of interview is looking for candidates to display their creativity, business acumen, numerical reasoning skills, analytical skills and abilities to communicate ideas effectively.
- Questions can be
- Brain teasers/puzzles
- Business problems that require a recommendation and framework for action
- Creative ideas for addressing issues on business strategy or business operations
| TIP! The following website provides more information on this style of interview
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Technical Questions
- You might be asked specific questions that check your knowledge and experience within a discipline field or area of expertise. eg experience in a laboratory technique, IT competencies.
- Questions may be posed in a straightforward way or they may be tested through a written problem. For example, a programming problem that requires you to produce a written result and then answer follow up questions.
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| Tips! |
- The following websites offer more information on the Case interview technique
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